Continental Divide, the "backbone" of a continent. In North America, from N Alaska to New Mexico, it moves along the crest of the Rocky Mts., which separates westward-flowing streams from eastward-flowing waters. In SW New Mexico the divide crosses an area of low relief; it becomes more distinct in N Mexico, where it follows the Sierra Madre Occidental. In the United States it has been called the Great Divide, a name also occasionally used to designate the whole Rocky Mt. system, especially the southern section, where the high, rugged ranges presented an almost impenetrable barrier to westbound explorers and settlers. Glacier Glacier National Park, 1,013,572 acres (410,497 hectares), NW Mont.; est. 1910. Straddling the Continental Divide, the park contains some of the most beautiful primitive wilderness in the Rocky Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. , Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park, 2,219,791 acres (899,015 hectares), the world's first national park (est. 1872), NW Wyo., extending into Montana and Idaho. It lies mainly on a broad plateau in the Rocky Mts., on the Continental Divide, c.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Rocky Mountain national parks lie on the Continental Divide, and the

Continental Divide National Scenic Trail runs along it (see National Parks and Monuments National Parks and Monuments

National Parks
Name Type¹ Location Year authorized Size

acres (hectares)

Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information. , table).

Continental Divide

Most notable watershed of the North American continent. The mountains comprising it extend generally north-south, thus dividing the continent's principal drainage into waters flowing eastward (e.g., into Hudson Bay in Canada or the Mississippi River in the U.S.) and waters flowing westward (into the Pacific Ocean). Most of the divide runs along the crest of the Rocky Mountains, through British Columbia in Canada and through the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico in the U.S. Its central point is Colorado, where it has many peaks above 13,000 ft (3,962 m). It continues southward into Mexico, roughly paralleling the Sierra Madre, and into Central America.