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Ultras · US · AL

Mount Cheaha 50K

Registration open
Race dateFebruary 20, 2027
Start7:30am
Whenin 119 days

Who's going to Mount Cheaha 50K?

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 Entry Aid stations Crew access 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
31.6 miles
Climb
not checked yet
Descent
not checked yet
High point
not checked yet
Time limit The race
9:30:00
Aid stations
8
Started
not checked yet
Finished
not checked yet
Finish rate
not checked yet
The course

Where it goes point to point · 8 aid stations · rust marks a stop your crew can reach

Course line from the race's own GPX. Source file. Recorded 2026.

A point-to-point trail run from the Porters Gap trailhead on Hwy 77 to the summit of Cheaha Mountain in Cheaha State Park, the highest point in Alabama. It follows the Pinhoti Trail, Skyway Loop Trail and Silent Trail through the Talladega National Forest, with six aid stations.

The Lake Trail near the finish is known as Blue Hell. The stretch from Hubbard Creek to Silent Trail is a little more than 7 miles, so runners are told to fill their hydration bottles. Race day temperatures run from the low 30s to the low 70s.

The race

What this one is

A point-to-point 50K that climbs from the Porters Gap trailhead on Hwy 77 to the summit of Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama. About 80% of the course is singletrack in the Talladega National Forest, with scenic overlooks, creek crossings, lakes and waterfalls.

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 pinhotitrailseries.com
Qualifying
not checked yet
Minimum age
not checked yet
Transfers
No ultrasignup.com
Deferrals
No ultrasignup.com
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
not checked yet
Pacers
not checked yet
Muling
not checked yet
Drop bags
not checked yet
Cupless
not checked yet
Course marking
Fully Marked docs.google.com
Night running
not checked yet
Dogs
Not allowed ultrasignup.com
Headphones
not checked yet
Crew rules
Crews may visit only the aid stations marked for crew access on the aid station chart, with all four tires completely off the roadway. Runners may accept aid from crews within 100 ft of an aid station. Aid station supplies are for runners only. Crew passes for Cheaha State Park are paid in advance in cash at packet pickup: $5 per adult (12+), $2 per child (4 to 11), $2 per senior (62+), free for ages 3 and under, and free for active military, retired military and veterans. docs.google.com
Pacer rules
not checked yet
Drop bag rules
not checked yet
Cutoff philosophy
Nine and a half hours. A runner who reaches an aid station after its cut-off cannot continue, and must also leave each station before its cut-off. 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 Start - Porters Gap
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ? ? ? ? 3.34
3.34 Chandler Springs
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ● ? ? ? 5.16
8.50 Clairmont Gap
NoneSignal wrong?
 10:06am ● ? ? ? 6.37
14.87 Adams Gap
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ● ? ? ? 4.00
18.87 Hubbard Creek
NoneSignal wrong?
 1:18pm ○ ? ? ? 6.93
25.80 Silent Trail
NoneSignal wrong?
 3:23pm ● ? ? ? 2.70
28.50 Cheaha Lake
NoneSignal wrong?
 4:13pm ? ? ? ? 3.10
31.60 Finish - Top of Alabama
NoneSignal wrong?
 5:00pm ● ? ? ? ?
Driving your crew

Getting your people there 6 stops with directions the race published.

Chandler Springs mile 3.34

From Porter's Gap take Hwy 77 East 1.3 miles to East Cty Rd 209 and turn left. Go 1.4 miles to Skyway Drive and turn left, about half a mile, to the station. Go back out to East Cty Rd 209.

docs.google.com
Clairmont Gap mile 8.50 cutoff 10:06am

From Aid #1 turn left on East Cty Rd 209 and drive 1.9 miles to Clairmont Rd/Cty 12 (brown High Falls Trail Head sign) and turn left. Go 0.7 of a mile past Clairmont Springs Baptist Church to Gunterstown Rd, turn left, and go about 1 mile to the station.

docs.google.com
Adams Gap mile 14.87

From Aid #2 go back to Clairmont Rd/Cty 12, turn left and travel 2.6 miles to Blue Ridge Rd. Turn left, go 1.3 miles to a stop sign, turn left onto Adams Gap Rd and go 1.6 miles to a stop sign. That is the station.

docs.google.com
Silent Trail mile 25.80 cutoff 3:23pm

From Adams Gap Rd turn right onto Skyway Motorway, go about 4 miles and turn left onto FS600-3. Go about 0.5 mile to the station.

docs.google.com
Cheaha Lake mile 28.50 cutoff 4:13pm

From Aid #5 go back to Skyway Motorway, turn left and go about 3.5 miles to Cheaha Rd. Turn left, go about 1 mile and turn right at the Cheaha Lake entrance (a Cheaha State Park pass is needed here). Pass the lake; the station is the first pavilion on the right.

docs.google.com
Finish - Top of Alabama mile 31.60 cutoff 5:00pm

From Aid #6 turn left out of Cheaha Lake, go 1 mile and turn left onto Skyway Motorway. At the Cheaha State Park entrance (Ranger House on the right, a store on the left) turn left through the gate (park pass needed), pass the hotel, turn left at the first turn and continue past the towers and parking lot down to the Red Bud Pavilion.

docs.google.com
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.

Nobody has been out there with a camera or a microphone yet. A gap means nobody has found it, not that it is not out there. Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send us the link.

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.

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Leave blank if it applies to the whole race.

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Optional. Something like “Cal Street, mile 62 to 78”.

Write it the way you would say it to someone at the start line.

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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.

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Copy it as it appears, so we can find it.

The corrected value.

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

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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.

Required. A line is plenty. Where the climbs are, what the footing does, what the last twenty miles look like.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

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

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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.

The page or file on the race's own site.

Optional, and only so we can ask you a question about it.

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.

Required, because this is a conversation and we write back.

Tell us what is wrong, out of date, or missing on this page. We read every one of these and we will get back to you.

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So we know who we are writing back to.

Optional. Director, assistant, comms, whoever you are.

Leave this field blank.

Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 79 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
31% 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
Were you out there? Say which stops a text got out from
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.

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.