The Edmondson Blog

I remember years ago, on the way back to Denver Airport after a family ski holiday, passing over the "Continental Divide". I didn't take much notice of my father as he explained its significance (nothing changes...) but I thought I'd find out more about what the divide is now.

The Continental Divide or Great Divide is the name given to the North American portion of the mountainous ridge which separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from:

1) those river systems which drain into the Atlantic Ocean (including those which drain via the Gulf of Mexico)

and

2) along the northernmost reaches of the Divide, those river systems which drain into the Arctic Ocean.

A secondary, non-mountainous divide further separates other river systems that drain into the Arctic Ocean (including those which drain via Hudson Bay, James Bay, and Ungava Bay) from those which drain into the Atlantic Ocean (including those which drain via the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway).