Mountain Desert Trek 2026
The Mountain Desert Trek is the Gulch's most ambitious expedition: six weeks of backcountry travel, cultural immersion, and hard-won mastery across the American Southwest. Designed for older teens ready to push their limits physically and intellectually, MDT moves through landscapes that demand everything you've got and rewards you with skills, friendships, and self-knowledge that last a lifetime. You arrive as a curious adventurer. You leave as someone who can lead your own trek.
Mountain Desert Trek 2026
Age Range: 16–18 years old
Min Group Size: 6 / Max 18
Gender: All genders
Instructors: 2–3
43 days on trek
Cost: $8,200 (scholarships available)
2026 Dates: June 21 – August 2
Focus: Leadership, Mastery & Adventure
2026 MDT Itinerary
Our itineraries are carefully planned and thoughtfully flexible. Routes may shift depending on weather, permits, or other circumstances — your Gulch leader will keep you informed of any changes along the way.
Days 1–12: Northern New Mexico & Great Sand Dunes - MDT launches into the Southwest headfirst, learning the rhythms of Gulch road life, tackling a day of rock climbing, and culminating in a four-day backpacking expedition through the mountains above Great Sand Dunes National Park, where towering dunes give way to unexpected wilderness. Along the way, trekkers explore the high desert of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, beginning to read the landscape they'll spend six weeks learning to understand.
Days 13–14: Fourth of July Rendezvous at Cottonwood Gulch Basecamp - MDT returns to Basecamp for Rendezvous — the Gulch's beloved all-community gathering — where all treks converge for celebration and connection, coinciding this year with a local rodeo for the Fourth of July. A rare chance to breathe and remember you're part of something bigger.
Days 15–18: Bikepacking the Zuni Mountains - Swap your pack for a bike saddle. MDT takes to the forgotten back roads of the Zuni Mountains on a multi-day bikepacking adventure, carrying daypacks while the gear truck leapfrogs ahead to camp. A different kind of hard, and a different kind of satisfaction.
Days 19–21: Service on the Navajo Nation - MDT gets their hands dirty alongside one of the Gulch's longest-standing partners, contributing to restoration work rooted in modern ecological science and traditional ecological knowledge. A reminder that leadership is as much about what you leave behind as where you're going.
Days 22–23: Wilderness First Aid Certification - Trekkers earn their Wilderness First Aid certification, a skills-based training in assessing and responding to emergencies in remote environments. One of the most practical things you'll carry out of the summer.
Days 24–35: Southern New Mexico & The Gila - The final road loop takes MDT deep into the Gila National Forest for a week-long backpacking expedition through one of the most remote corners of the Southwest. Trekkers also engage with the complicated story of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program — a window into the messy, necessary work of human-wildlife coexistence — and visit the Gila Cliff Dwellings, a reminder of the cultures that thrived here long before we arrived.
Days 36–41: Final Projects at Cottonwood Gulch Basecamp - The last week belongs to you. Working alongside Gulch specialists, each trekker designs and completes a personal project reflecting their own curiosity and growth. Past projects: blacksmithing a knife from a century-old railroad spike, building rock dams to restore riparian habitat, inventorying reptile populations, and early-morning birding surveys. Mastery made tangible.
Days 31–32: Final Night & Departure - One last night at Basecamp, a closing campfire, and the airport. Thirty-two days in the Southwest has a way of staying with you.
Praise for Cottonwood Gulch Summer Treks
What Makes MDT Different?
The Deepest Adventure We Offer
MDT is the Gulch's longest, most challenging trek — and that length is the point. Six weeks is long enough to actually change. Trekkers don't just pass through these landscapes, they learn to read them, work in them, and take responsibility for them. The physical challenges build sequentially, each one preparing you for the next:
- Two wilderness backpacks through unique Southwest ecosystems
- Bikepacking the forgotten roads of the Zuni Mountains
- Designing your own adventures & mentoring younger trekkers
By the end, trekkers aren't following an expedition. They're leading one.
Mastery Is the Outcome
MDT is built around a simple idea: real growth requires real challenge, physical and intellectual, applied over time. Every element of the trek is designed to compound — skills, confidence, and responsibility accumulating week by week until trekkers are ready to lead. That mastery takes many forms:
- Earning a Wilderness First Aid certification
- Contributing to active land restoration on the Navajo Nation
- Summiting peaks above 13,000 feet
- Designing and completing a personal final project alongside Gulch specialists
The knife you forge, the habitat you restore, the species you document aren't just activities. They're evidence of who you've become.
For Prairie Trek, Turquoise Trail Trek, and Mountain Desert Trek there is the option of a trekker to apply to be a Cook’s Assistant or Quarter Master (CA and QM). Click here to apply.
