A closed, single-loop, approximately 100-mile mountain course on 4WD roads, dirt trails and cross-country terrain in the San Juan Mountains, run counter-clockwise in 2027: Silverton to Cunningham Gulch, Maggie Gulch, Pole Creek, Sherman (Lake City area), Burrows Park, over Cinnamon Pass to Grouse Gulch (called Animas Forks through 2025), Engineer, Ouray, Governor Basin, Kroger's Canteen, Telluride, Chapman (Ophir), KT, Putnam, and back to Silverton. The course crosses thirteen major passes above 12,000 feet, including the 14,048-foot summit of Handies Peak (the high point), and touches its low point at Ouray (7,678 ft). Runners finish by "kissing the Hardrock", a ram's head painted on a block of stone mining debris, rather than crossing a conventional finish line.
COURSE-CHANGE / MILEAGE CAVEAT (read before using any station mile below): the CCW aid-station mileage in this file comes from the 2025 edition (the last time Hardrock ran counter-clockwise), the most recent CCW chart Hardrock has published as of this research (Aug 2026). It measured 102.5 mi to the Silverton finish over 14 intermediate aid stations. For the 2026 Clockwise edition, Hardrock made a PERMANENT change: the Animas Forks aid station moved back to its pre-2021 Grouse Gulch site, removing the Animas Forks/CR 9 loop and shortening the course by 0.64 mi (now 101.8 mi in the CW direction, per the 2026 CW chart). Since that is a permanent, direction-independent course change (not a one-year CW quirk), the 2027 CCW course almost certainly also uses Grouse Gulch and is almost certainly close to 101.8-101.9 mi rather than 102.5 mi -- but no 2027-specific CCW aid-station chart, course description or GPX has been published to confirm the renamed station, its exact mile, or the finish mile. distance_miles and published_distance_value are therefore left null rather than asserted, and every aid-station mile at/after the old Animas Forks station (Engineer through the Silverton finish) should be read as 2025-vintage and roughly, not exactly, correct for 2027. There is no schema field for "which direction/edition of an alternating course this row describes" (course_selection is banned per the fill brief as unmerged), so the direction is recorded only in this course's name/description and here in prose; see _meta.notes.
A closed-course, approximately 100-mile mountain run on 4WD roads, dirt trails and cross-country terrain through the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, connecting Silverton, Ophir/Telluride, Ouray and Sherman (Lake City). The course alternates direction every year; the run reverses so that the previous year's uphills become the next year's downhills. Finishers "kiss the Hardrock", a ram's head painted on a block of stone mining debris, rather than crossing a conventional finish line.
Founded in 1992 by Gordon Hardman, John Cappis, Charlie Thorn, Dale Garland and Rick Trujillo as a tribute to the hardrock miners who worked the San Juans. The run has been held every year since except 1995 (too much snow), 2002 (nearby forest fires), 2019 (too much snow) and 2020 (COVID-19). It alternates clockwise and counter-clockwise direction each year; 2025 ran counter-clockwise, 2026 ran clockwise, and 2027 is scheduled counter-clockwise.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 |
Silverton
9,318 ft
|
? | ● | ? | · | ? | 9.30 |
| 9.30 |
Cunningham
10,378 ft
|
10:45am | ● | ● | · | ? | 6.10 |
| 15.40 |
Maggie
11,838 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 5.00 |
| 20.40 |
Pole Creek
11,244 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 9.40 |
| 29.80 |
Sherman
9,638 ft
|
8:15pm | ● | ● | · | ? | 4.20 |
| 34.00 |
Burrows
10,588 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 10.60 |
| 44.60 |
Animas Forks
11,003 ft
|
2:30am | ● | ● | ● | ? | 6.00 |
| 50.60 |
Engineer
11,798 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 8.00 |
| 58.60 |
Ouray
7,678 ft
|
9:00am | ● | ● | ● | ? | 7.60 |
| 66.20 |
Governor
10,673 ft
|
12:30pm | · | · | · | ? | 3.60 |
| 69.80 |
Kroger's
13,098 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 4.90 |
| 74.70 |
Telluride
8,748 ft
|
4:00pm | ● | ● | ● | ? | 9.70 |
| 84.40 |
Chapman
10,158 ft
|
8:45pm | · | ● | ● | ? | 6.60 |
| 91.00 |
KT
10,628 ft
|
12:45am | · | · | ● | ? | 5.60 |
| 96.60 |
Putnam
11,427 ft
|
? | · | · | · | ? | 5.90 |
| 102.50 |
Silverton
9,308 ft
|
6:00am | ● | ● | · | ? | ? |
2WD from Silverton, about 30min. Take CR 2 NE from Silverton 4 miles to Cunningham Gulch following signs to the Old Hundred Mine Tour; after the Animas River bridge at Howardsville, turn right (south) up the valley. At 2mi past that turn, do NOT turn onto Stony Pass Road; angle right (southwest) toward the Highland Mary trailhead, then go 2mi more past a corral to a large clearing between the road and the creek. Expect parking marshals and a walk of up to a mile; carpool parking (2+ people AND 2+ crew passes) is available further along. Bathroom facilities are very limited. The manual advises crews not to wait at Cunningham for the runner's whole ~8-hour stay window; return to Silverton (20-30min) and come back.
docs.google.com4WD from Grouse Gulch (formerly Animas Forks), about 2hr: NE on CR 2, then right onto CR 9/Cinnamon Pass Road, over Cinnamon Pass toward Lake City (~13mi, passing but not stopping at Burrows Park), becoming Hinsdale CR 30, then right (west) on CR 35 to the BLM latrine/Cataract Gulch Trailhead. Alternate 2WD via Lake City and Lake San Cristobal Road, about 3hr45min.
docs.google.comGrouse Gulch sits at 11,000' with no utilities or cell service and very limited parking. Per the 2026 manual, crews stage at the Eureka Staging Area (CR 2, 8.2mi from Silverton, open 2p Fri-4a Sat) and are held there until their runner crosses Oh! Point (~mile 53 in the CW numbering used by the manual); only vehicles with the runner's specific crew pass may proceed the final ~3mi/25-30min to Grouse Gulch. No restroom at Grouse Gulch itself; vault toilets are 0.6mi past the aid station at the old Animas Forks site. In 2025 (as "Animas Forks") the same road (CR 2/CR 9) was used to access this station directly by auto; the Eureka staging-and-release system is a 2026 change.
docs.google.com2WD from Silverton, about 45min via US 550 north over Red Mountain Pass. In town, turn west on 9th Ave, follow it 2 blocks to a gravel RV lot on the right for parking (or streetside once full). Do not park in the Ouray Hot Springs lot before 10:00p. Aid station is on the west side of the park between the gazebo and restrooms.
docs.google.com2WD from Silverton, about 1hr15min via US 550 north to Ridgway, CO-62 west, then CO-145 south into town. Quick stops: metered parking on CO-145/Colorado Ave. Longer stops: Silverjack parking garage (paid, 3-block walk) or the free Shandoka lot (10-block walk); crews may no longer park in the Town Park lot as of 2026 per the Town of Telluride. A 20-minute unload zone exists at the east end of Pacific Ave. 4WD alternative via Ophir Pass Road, about 1hr. Pacers may not leave vehicles at this aid station.
docs.google.com4WD from Silverton, about 1hr, via US 550 north to the Ophir Pass Road turnoff (marked with a large green sign near MP 75), then the dirt road up and over Ophir Pass (11,800') with a rough, steep 2-mile descent; park in the designated Ophir lot (on woodchips, not grass) and hike ~1.9mi east along Ophir Pass Road to the aid station. Alternate 2WD via Ridgway/CO-62/CO-145 into Ophir, then hike ~1.75mi. No crew, spectator, media or drop-off of any kind is allowed along Ophir Pass Road itself, and a crew parking pass must be displayed. No bathroom facilities for crews at the parking area or aid station.
docs.google.comNobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.
This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.
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.
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.
NavRun builds your pacing from your own training, then turns it into a plan your crew can follow: when to leave and where to park.
Start free