Posted March 8, 2019 –
Nearly all Colorado Trail travelers carry the CT Databook. Mile by mile it describes the route including the water sources that are so essential to replenish supply and stay hydrated. You’ll see people referring to it often.
As the Trail has changed over the years, so has the CT Databook. It is now in Edition 7 which is the first-ever that’s waterproof and, each edition has undergone major refinement. You can read about and buy it via the new Colorado Trail Foundation website, here:
Colorado Trail Databook 7th Edition at the CT Store via ColoradoTrail.org
Though this newest, current edition of the pocket guide is in color with water symbols and handy maps, the book wasn’t always this way.
First Edition Colorado Trail Databook, 1999.
The 1st Edition CT Databook was published in 1999. Pictured here, it was on regular paper and needed to be protected in plastic to keep it from swelling and disintegrating. Much shorter and simpler, there were no symbols or maps, but it still described the Trail (as it was then) with mileages and references. It worked. And trail users were grateful to finally have a pocket-sized guide.
