Is crew access allowed on the 50K course?

Yes, crew access is allowed on the 50K course. 1 crew vehicle per runner. Crews should not go sit and wait at aid-station crew-access spots (limited parking); know your runner's approximate arrival time. Do not block roadways or entrances. No access to runners at unauthorized locations. Watch for runners on roadways and at crossings. The park itself charges a $10 per-car entrance fee, cash only, which every crew vehicle pays in addition to the runner's own car -- all races start/finish at the park Visitor Center, reached by driving to the top of the park and not turning off. 50K crew note: 'Please note 50k runners DO NOT go to the Fox Creek aid station listed above -- 50k crew, do not go here -- your runner will NOT be there! The only crew access spot for 50k runners is Rock House Ridge Aid Station & Visitors center (located within the park).'

Are drop bags allowed on the 50K course?

Yes, drop bags are allowed on the 50K course. Same 1-gallon Ziploc / not-returned rules as the 50 Mile. 50K gets exactly one drop bag location: Camp Store, mile 20.

Are pacers allowed on the 50K course?

No, pacers are not allowed on the 50K course.

What is the cutoff time for the 50K course?

The overall time limit for the 50K course is 11 hours from the start. All cutoff times are for LEAVING the aid stations, not arriving. Handbook FAQ ranks this course 'Intermediate.' 'Cutoffs are not made with ONE pace set for the entire day, but each pace is different and based off the terrain and elevation for each specific segment.'

Ultras · US · VA

Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50k / 25k

2026 Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50K / 25K

50K · 30 miles

Ran · this year's race is done.

Held as scheduled May 2-3, 2026 (50 Mile and 50K on Saturday, 25K and 8 Mile on Sunday). 50 Mile: 125 finishers of 131 starters. 50K: 259 finishers of 266 starters. 25K: 170 finishers of 175 starters.

Race dateMay 2-3, 2026

Duration2 days

Start7:45am

When167 days ago

First held2015

Who's going to Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50k / 25k?

I'm running itPlan your weeks and your aid station times I'm crewingWhen to leave, where to park, at every stop I'm pacing or cheeringAsk your runner for their Out Here link

Free. You can start with nothing.

Official website Results Aid stations Notify me if this race changes

Free, and always will be. NavRun makes money from race-day planning for runners who want it, never from this. Ultras change constantly, sometimes the morning of. Always confirm with the race director and the official website before you rely on anything here.

Distance 30 miles

Climb 4,500 ft

Descent 4,500 ft

High point not checked yet

Time limit 11:00:00

Aid stations 6

Started 266

Finished 259

Finish rate 97%

The course

Where it goes loop · 6 aid stations

Course line from the race's own GPX. Source file.

A 30-mile loop starting and finishing at the Grayson Highlands Visitor Center, sharing the Seed Orchard and Camp Store aid stations with the 50 Mile course but skipping the 50 Mile's Fox Creek/Skulls Gap out-and-back spur, instead routing through Rock House Ridge before passing near the Visitor Center for a cutoff check and finishing 1.4 miles later. Crosses the same open highland balds and wild-pony range as the 50 Mile.

Same terrain character as the 50 Mile: ATRA describes the venue as '100% on un-paved trails' with 'more single track than you can imagine,' waterfalls, streams, rhododendron tunnels and 100+ year old stone walls, and warns of exposure on the balds: 'especially on the ultras, you are fully exposed on high mountain tops with no trees... High winds of 30-50 mph are common.' The 'Visitor Center' checkpoint at mile 28.60 is a cutoff-only mat near the Start/Finish, not the finish itself -- the course finishes 1.4 miles later. GPX track measures 30.01 mi against the published/chart total of 30.00 mi.

The race

What this one is

A 50 Mile, 50K and 25K trail race sharing one start/finish at the Grayson Highlands State Park Visitor Center in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, crossing the open, treeless highland balds where a managed herd of wild ponies roams. The course runs over Little Pinnacle / Haw Orchard Mountain at 5,089 feet, described by the American Trail Running Association as the highest race in Virginia, with views of Mount Rogers, the state's highest point.

Run Bum Tours' own registration page calls the 2027 edition the '13th annual Grayson Highlands trail races,' implying a 2015 first year, corroborated by ultrasignup.com's own results archive for this event listing back to 2015. The American Trail Running Association's event page separately states a first year of 2018, a conflict recorded here rather than resolved. The 50K-specific results on UltraSignup go back to 2016 and the 50 Mile distance's results only as far as 2020, consistent with the event having grown its distance lineup over time, though no source states this directly.

Getting in

Getting in Entry, lottery and what the race asks of you before race day.

Lottery: not checked yet

Lottery opens: not checked yet

Lottery draw: not checked yet

Field cap: not checked yet

Registration: UltraSignup ultrasignup.com

Qualifying: not checked yet

Minimum age: 18 runbumtours.com

Transfers: No runbumtours.com

Deferrals: No runbumtours.com

Running, crewing, pacing or still deciding

How NavRun helps with Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50k / 25k Eleven hours, and four stations with a clock on each.

You are running it

You reach Rock House Ridge, mile 24.3, before its 4:30pm cutoff, and you already knew that this morning.

An arrival time for all 4 stations, each next to its cutoff, worked out from your own training.

Start free →

You are deciding

You find out Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50k / 25k is months of work away, not years, and you start.

Put in a race you have already run. NavRun shows you where this one sits from where you are.

No account needed →

Crew access, pacers and drop bags

The rules that shape your day Anything marked "not checked yet" is a gap in what we hold, never a no from the race.

Crew allowed: Yes docs.google.com

Vehicles per runner: 1 docs.google.com

Pacers: No docs.google.com

Muling: not checked yet

Drop bags: Yes docs.google.com

Cupless: Yes runbumtours.com

Course marking: Fully Marked docs.google.com

Night running: not checked yet

Dogs: Not allowed runbumtours.com

Headphones: not checked yet

Crew rules: 1 crew vehicle per runner. Crews should not go sit and wait at aid-station crew-access spots (limited parking); know your runner's approximate arrival time. Do not block roadways or entrances. No access to runners at unauthorized locations. Watch for runners on roadways and at crossings. The park itself charges a $10 per-car entrance fee, cash only, which every crew vehicle pays in addition to the runner's own car -- all races start/finish at the park Visitor Center, reached by driving to the top of the park and not turning off. 50K crew note: 'Please note 50k runners DO NOT go to the Fox Creek aid station listed above -- 50k crew, do not go here -- your runner will NOT be there! The only crew access spot for 50k runners is Rock House Ridge Aid Station & Visitors center (located within the park).' docs.google.com

Pacer rules: not checked yet

Drop bag rules: Same 1-gallon Ziploc / not-returned rules as the 50 Mile. 50K gets exactly one drop bag location: Camp Store, mile 20. docs.google.com

Cutoff philosophy: All cutoff times are for LEAVING the aid stations, not arriving. Handbook FAQ ranks this course 'Intermediate.' 'Cutoffs are not made with ONE pace set for the entire day, but each pace is different and based off the terrain and elevation for each specific segment.' docs.google.com

Aid stations

Every stop, and what you get there ● yes ○ no ? nobody has checked – does not apply to this race

Mile	Station	Cutoff	Crew access	Bag	Pacer	Med	To next
0.00	Grayson Highlands Visitor Center	?	●	?	○	?	13.80
13.80	Seed Orchard	12:45pm	○	○	○	?	6.20
20.00	Camp Store	2:40pm	○	●	○	?	4.30
24.30	Rock House Ridge	4:30pm	●	○	○	?	4.30
28.60	Visitor Center	6:10pm	○	○	○	?	1.40
30.00	Grayson Highlands Visitor Center	6:45pm	●	?	○	?	?

Same race, other lines

Other distances and other years

Other distances: 50 Mile (50.5 miles)
25K

Other years: 2027

What it looks like out there

Somebody has been out there with a camera the tables say the climb is long. these say what long feels like.

3 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.

Official channel

Run Bum Tours YouTube

Official channel

Social account

runbumraces

Social account

Run Bum Tours

Social account

All (3) Official channel (1) Social account (2)

These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.

Add to this page

What you know every one of these is read by a person before it changes anything

Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know.

Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.

Which distance? Leave blank if it applies to the whole race.

Which stop? Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Give it a short title: Optional. Something like “Cal Street, mile 62 to 78”.

What do you wish someone had told you? Write it the way you would say it to someone at the start line.

Were you there? Optional, and it decides nothing. It only tells the next runner where this is coming from.

What year? Optional.

Your email: Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this note.

Website: Leave this field blank.

See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit.

This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.

Which detail? Optional. Filled in for you when you start from a specific line on the page.

What does the page say now? Copy it as it appears, so we can find it.

What should it say? The corrected value.

How do you know? Required. Where it came from: the race email, the runner manual, what you saw on the day.

A link that shows it: Optional.

Or a photo of it: Optional. A screenshot or a photo of the sign works.

Were you there? Optional, and it decides nothing.

What year? Optional.

Your email: Optional, only so we can come back to you about this correction.

Which distance? Leave blank if it is about the whole race.

Which stop? Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Website: Leave this field blank.

Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send it over.

Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.

What does it show that the page cannot? Required. A line is plenty. Where the climbs are, what the footing does, what the last twenty miles look like.

Were you there? Optional, and it decides nothing.

What year? Optional.

Your email: Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this one.

Where is it? A YouTube link, a race report, a photo gallery, whatever it is.

What kind of thing is it?

Who made it? Optional, and we credit them on the page.

Website: Leave this field blank.

Have the GPX? Send us the link.

We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.

Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.

We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.

Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 145 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.

56% of what we track for a course is filled in. The rest says "not checked yet" rather than guessing.

See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit
Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know
Got footage of this course? Send us the link
Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.
Anything else: [email protected]

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.