CDT Southern Terminus in NM Bootheel to Reopen in 2027 After Border Wall Completion

The granite obelisk at Crazy Cook Monument, the southern terminus of the Continental Divide Trail deep in Hidalgo County's Bootheel, will be released from military control once U.S. Customs and Border Protection finishes its adjacent Smart Wall project, which CBP has estimated for completion in late 2027. The Continental Divide Trail Coalition announced the timeline after negotiations with the Army and federal land agencies, and the Bureau of Land Management will regain custody of the terminus section at that point. The rest of the National Defense Area is set to be returned to the BLM in early 2028.

The New Mexico National Defense Area was established in April 2025, when over 100,000 acres of land along the U.S.-Mexico border were transferred to the U.S. Army for a period of three years. The NMNDA includes the southernmost 1.1 miles of the CDT and its terminus monument. The transfer generated immediate confusion about whether hikers could legally approach the obelisk at all. A customs official said the Army would return the land to the BLM so hikers "won't be subject to prosecution for entering the NDA," though the rest of the militarized border zone would remain as is for the remainder of the three-year transfer.

That confusion has already produced real consequences. A New Mexican reporter and photographer were briefly detained near Sunland Park's border wall in January for standing in the military zone, roughly 40 to 50 feet from a single small sign marking it.

CDTC executive director Teresa Martinez called the negotiated timeline a product of sustained advocacy. "It's a testament to the power of collaboration," Martinez said, thanking federal lawmakers and officials at Fort Huachuca for being willing "to work together to find solutions." She acknowledged the situation was unprecedented for everyone involved. "This was a new situation for all of us," she said. "Since the establishment of the NDA, we have been in close communication with the Army, land managers, and other officials, and have strongly advocated for the importance of access to this region for all visitors of the CDT."

On the ground, construction activity has already transformed the Bootheel landscape around the terminus. While crews have not yet begun to raise the steel bollard wall, a 26-mile dirt stretch of Commodore Road that leads to the southern terminus has been graded in preparation for barrier construction, and in photos shared by the CDTC, a road once only suitable for high-clearance, off-road vehicles now looks smooth.

The legal framework behind the construction bypassed normal public input channels. Construction near trail monuments would ordinarily be limited by the National Trails System Act, but the Secretary of Homeland Security has the ability to bypass certain laws in the name of border security, which allowed the federal government to supersede the act and proceed. According to the CDTC, "due to the use of the special authority that established the NDA," the federal government never formally gathered public comment on the impacts of construction.

The construction push is also squeezing the local economy that thru-hikers depend on. Contractors working on barrier construction are occupying most of the local temporary housing in Hidalgo County. CDTC will continue to operate a shuttle with a drop-off location at Mengus Well, approximately two miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, outside of the NDA, as directed by the U.S. Army.

The permit process for accessing the terminus remains in place until the BLM handback occurs. The 1.1-mile section was ceded to the Army in April as part of a 109,651-acre land transfer, with the goal of shoring up border security in zones without a wall. Once CBP meets its late-2027 completion estimate and the terminus monument clears the NDA, hikers will no longer need Army clearance to stand at the start, or finish, of one of America's most demanding long-distance trails.