Follow the canyons of the American River from Robie Point to Driver’s Flat and back. Runners join the Western States Trail at Robie Point, cross the historic No Hands Bridge and climb the Clementine trail to the Foresthill Divide Loop and Driver’s Flat, then descend to Mammoth Bar and the Confluence Trail and climb back to Auburn. Steep climbs and fast descents on some of the best single-track the area has to offer, with wildflowers and river views on the way to a finish line in the Endurance Capital of the World.
Four distances on the canyons of the American River and the Western States Trail, all of them finishing on High St in downtown Auburn. The 100 mile and the 100K start high up at China Wall and run the trail down to town; the 50K and the 25K start in Auburn and go out and back. It is the spring race on the Western States course: the 100 mile and 100K are Western States qualifiers, and the top three women and top three men in the 100K take a Golden Ticket straight into Western States. Auburn calls itself the Endurance Capital of the World and closes its main street for the finish.
The race began as The Canyons 50k, an inaugural trail race through the canyons section of the Western States Trail run out of Foresthill on 3 May 2014 by race directors Charles Sheya and Tim Madden. It grew into a four-distance weekend based in Auburn, joined the UTMB World Series, and now runs a 100 mile, a 100K, a 50K and a 25K over one weekend in late April. The 25K moved to Friday evening for 2026.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew access | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | Downtown Auburn - Start | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 4.00 |
| 4.00 | Confluence - 1 | ? | · | · | ? | ● | 3.20 |
| 7.20 | Clementine | ? | · | · | ? | ● | 8.40 |
| 15.60 | Drivers Flat | ? | ? | · | ? | ● | 7.90 |
| 23.50 | Mammoth Bar | ? | · | · | ? | ● | 3.70 |
| 27.20 | Confluence - 2 | ? | · | · | ? | ● | 4.00 |
| 31.20 | Downtown Auburn - Finish | 5:00pm | ? | ? | ? | ● | ? |
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