The trail ascends and descends among the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, passing through dozens of wilderness areas and national forests. The route travels through five biomes, ranging from tundra to desert. Its northern terminus is Glacier National Park, where it winds among glacial lakes. It then follows the Idaho-Montana border for 80 miles (130 km), passing Montana's Big Hole National Battlefield, and enters northwestern Wyoming past the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park. From there it runs just east of Grand Teton National Park, travels the spectacular alpine peaks of Colorado—including Rocky Mountain National Park and the trail's highest point (14,230 feet 【4,337 metres】)—and finally yields to the deserts of New Mexico. A number of historical and cultural sites exist along the route, including abandoned mining towns, portions of the Oregon Trail, and the 1,000-year-old Zuni- Acoma trade route across the lava flows of El Malpais National Monument in west-central New Mexico. The trail is the most rugged, most remote, and least developed of the eight U.S. national scenic trails, and wildlife such as bald eagles, osprey, pika, mountain goats, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, bears, bighorn, and elk may be sighted in its vicinity. Plant life ranges from pine forest to desert cactus. Each year about a dozen people endeavour to hike the entire trail, which takes about six months.

In 1966 Benton MacKaye, a founder of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, proposed to the U.S. Congress the idea of a trail along the Continental Divide. Congress authorized study of the proposal in 1968 and in 1978 officially designated the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. It incorporated about 1,900 miles (3,100 km) of preexisting trails and routes, while some additional 1,200 miles (1,900 km) were to be acquired to complete the path. Management and completion of the trail was made the joint responsibility of the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. By the beginning of the 21st century, the trail was about 70 percent complete, with most of the unfinished portion in Wyoming and New Mexico. The longest continuous (and nearly complete) stretch of trail is from the Canadian border to Yellowstone National Park, a distance of some 800 miles (1,300 km); the trail also is largely complete in Colorado.