50 Mile Course

The 50 mile course begins at the Virgin town park at 6:00am sharp on Saturday. It starts out following Hwy 9 for about a mile and then turns to cross the river at Camino del Rio. A hundred yards or so after crossing the bridge, you’ll go through a gate and get on a double track road heading straight for Gooseberry Mesa. You’ll follow this trail for about 3.5 miles where you’ll top out on the mesa at a water-only station.

After reaching the top of Gooseberry Mesa, take an immediate right onto single track, which you’ll follow for about 3.5 more miles until you reach aid station #1, which is called “Gooseberry Point”. (Approx. mile 9.6). From here, you’ll run a half mile out to the point of the mesa and back to the aid station at mile 10.6. Make sure to get your hand marked at the turnaround!

After aid station #1, you’ll skirt around the south edge of the mesa for a couple of miles until you start the Secret Harris Trail, which you’ll follow for about 8 miles until it hits the main Gooseberry Cattle Grate TH, where the next aid station will be (mile 20.85). Drop bag #1 will be here. There will be a water-only station along the trail at about mile 15.

Continue on the dirt road for about 4.5 miles, where the road will “T” with Smithsonian Butte road at a water only station. Turn right here and head south for about two and a half miles to aid station #3 at approximately mile 27.85. Your crew can see you here. The name of this aid station is “Smithsonian Butte Rd. Turnoff”.

Cross over Hwy 59 and follow course markings up onto Little Creek Mesa. It is a gradual ascent of 500 ft over 7 miles to aid station #4 on the edge of the mesa. A water-only station will be available about half way between aid stations #3 and 4. Drop bag #2 will be at this aid station. (Little Creek Mesa aid station, approx. mile 35.)

The descent coming off of Little Creek is nearly as steep and rocky as the ascents going up onto Gooseberry mesa. At the bottom of the nearly 2 mile descent, you’ll pass through Kokapelli Golf Club onto a dirt road at which you’ll turn left and follow for just under 4 miles to aid station #5 (mile 40.75), which is located at the Diamond Ranch Academy. Your crew can visit you at this aid station. Drop bag #3 is here. The aid station name is “Gould’s Rim”.

After leaving aid station #5, you’ll follow the Gould’s Rim trail for about a mile up to the Hwy 59 crossing. On the other side of the highway you’ll follow a dirt road for about a half a mile, then you’ll turn left onto the JEM trail single track. After about 3.5 miles you’ll come to aid station #6 at about mile 45.5. The name of the aid station is “Virgin Dam TH turnoff”.

Continue on the JEM trail for another 2.5 miles where you’ll hit Sheep Bridge road and turn left. You’ll follow this road about a half mile up to Hwy 59, where you’ll turn right and head down the home stretch of about a mile along the shoulder of Hwy 9 to the finish line at the park.

The total elevation gain is about 3,550 ft. for the course.

Aid Station and approximate mileage	Cutoff time	Crew accessible?	Drop bags available?
Gooseberry Point (9.6/10.6)		N	N
Cattle Grate TH (20.75)		N	Y
Smithsonian Butte Turnoff (27.75)	1:00 pm	Y	N
Little Creek Mesa (35)	3:30 pm	N	Y
Gould’s Rim (40.75)	6:00 pm	Y	Y
Virgin Dam TH turnoff (45.5)	7:00 pm	Y	N