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⏵ Course guide · Washington ultra

Backcountry Rise 50K Course Guide

The Backcountry Rise 50K is Daybreak Racing’s big day in the Mt. Margaret Backcountry near Mount St. Helens, one remote clockwise loop with around 7,600 feet of climbing on narrow backcountry singletrack, run right through the old blast zone. It is rugged, exposed, and thin on aid, and the race makes you qualify to enter it. I’ll walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the vert, the exposure, and the cutoffs. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Backcountry Rise 50K quick facts

Date
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Location
Mt. St. Helens Science & Learning Center, Toutle, WA (Mt. Margaret Backcountry)
Distances
50K (about 30.9 mi), 20 Miler, and Half Marathon
Elevation gain
50K: about 7,600 ft gain (and 7,600 ft loss)
50K start
7:00 AM (20 Miler 8:00 AM, Half 9:00 AM)
Cutoff
50K: 6:00 PM overall, with intermediate cutoffs (mile 5 by 8:45 AM, South Coldwater by 4:45 PM)
Entry requirement
50K needs a prior trail ultra finish or the Backcountry Rise 20 Miler (road races do not qualify)
Qualifier
No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier status listed by the race

These facts come from the official race site and UltraSignup. Check the current date, cutoffs, aid stations, and entry requirement in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where Backcountry Rise is won and lost

The 50K is one big clockwise loop, about 30.9 miles and 7,600 feet of climbing on roughly 98 percent backcountry singletrack. It starts and finishes at the Science & Learning Center and runs out through the Mt. Margaret Backcountry inside the Mount St. Helens blast zone, past backcountry lakes and along exposed ridgelines. There is no single defining climb here. The whole loop is the climb.

A loop that keeps stacking vert

The thing to understand about Backcountry Rise is that the 7,600 feet does not arrive in one big push you can brace for. It comes in waves across the whole loop, climb after climb along the Mt. Margaret ridges, with descents in between that give your lungs a break but pound your quads. So the race is won by managing effort over the entire day, not by surviving one named monster climb.

Hike the steep pitches with purpose and keep your climbing effort honest and even. The classic blowup here is treating the early miles like they are flat just because you feel fresh, then running out of legs with a long way still to go and an aid station you can barely make. Patient and steady wins this loop.

Exposed ridgelines in the blast zone

Up on the Mt. Margaret ridges you are out in the open with the volcano and the recovering blast-zone landscape all around you, and it is genuinely one of the best views you will get in a 50K anywhere. But open means exposed. The sun is strong up there, there is not much shade, and the footing is narrow and rough in spots, so you have to keep paying attention even when you are tired and the scenery is pulling your eyes off the trail.

This is a remote backcountry course on lightly maintained trail, not a groomed park loop. Expect rocky, technical sections, the odd overgrown stretch, and real consequences to a careless trip 20 miles in. Quick feet and attention matter as much as fitness on the rough ridgeline.

Thin aid and long, lonely gaps

There are only three aid stations on the whole 50K loop: Coldwater Creek around mile 5, Bear Camp around mile 15, and South Coldwater around mile 27.4. That middle gap from Coldwater Creek to Bear Camp is roughly 10 miles of remote singletrack with nobody handing you anything. You have to run this race self-reliant, carrying enough fluid and calories to cover those long stretches instead of counting on a stop being just around the corner.

Plan your carries around the gaps, not the averages. Leaving an aid station a little heavy with water and food is the right call on a course this remote and exposed, especially through the hot middle of the day when the next station feels a long way off.

Pacing strategy for a high-vert, remote 50K

With about 7,600 feet of climbing spread across one rolling loop and an 11-hour cap with intermediate cutoffs, Backcountry Rise is about managing effort and time, not chasing a flat pace chart. Run the climbs by feel and keep an eye on the clock at the checkpoints.

Pace by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace is meaningless on these Mt. Margaret climbs. What matters is grade-adjusted effort, so hold a steady output you can sustain up the grade and hike the steep pitches without feeling like you are giving anything up. Because the vert keeps coming all day, the cost of running the early climbs too hard is brutal and slow. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real fitness into honest climbing and descending targets, and you will get to the late miles with something left.

Build a vert-aware finish prediction and work back into the cutoffs

Do not guess your Backcountry Rise finish off a road 50K time. The 7,600 feet of climbing, the technical footing, and the remote terrain all add real time. A vert-aware finish prediction that accounts for this course’s climbing gives you a realistic window, and then you work back into the cutoffs: when you need to clear Coldwater Creek by 8:45 AM, and South Coldwater by 4:45 PM, so you actually know your buffer at each checkpoint instead of finding out the hard way.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

  • Grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest targets for all that backcountry climbing and the descents in between.
  • Race-time calculator for a vert-aware finish prediction on this course’s 7,600 feet of gain, so you can plan against the 6:00 PM cutoff and the checkpoints.
  • Race-equivalent calculator to turn a recent race result into a Backcountry Rise goal you can actually hold.

Fueling strategy for the vert and the long gaps

Most runners are out on the Backcountry Rise 50K for somewhere around 6 to 11 hours, with only three aid stations and long exposed gaps between them. That makes carbohydrate, sodium, and what you carry just as important as fitness.

Carbs: steady, trained, and carried

For a 6 to 11 hour effort, aim for around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the higher end if your gut is trained for it. With aid this thin you have to carry most of your own calories, so figure out exactly what you are eating across that long Coldwater Creek to Bear Camp gap and have it on you. The sun and the climbing kill your appetite, so keep intake steady and easy to get down rather than gambling on big doses at the few stations. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on hot, hilly long runs so it feels normal, not like an experiment.

Sodium and fluid: plan for the heat and the carries

On the exposed ridges in late-August sun, lean toward the high end on sodium, often around 500 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid, and more if you are a heavy or salty sweater. Just as important, carry enough fluid to actually cross the long gaps between aid instead of rationing to the next stop and arriving empty on a hot ridgeline. Weigh yourself before and after a hot long run to find your real sweat rate, then size your carries and your bottles around your own number, not a generic guess.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and the Backcountry Rise heat and carries with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.

⏵ Train for it with Summit Line

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this exact Backcountry Rise course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for all that backcountry vert, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Backcountry Rise 50K FAQ

How hard is the Backcountry Rise 50K?

It is one of the harder 50Ks in the Pacific Northwest, and the race calls it an advanced course for a reason. You cover roughly 30.9 miles with about 7,600 feet of climbing on around 98 percent remote backcountry singletrack, all in one big clockwise loop through the Mt. Margaret Backcountry near Mount St. Helens. The trails are narrow, steep, and rough in places, the aid is spread thin with only three stations, and the overall cutoff is 6:00 PM off a 7:00 AM start. This is not a place to run your first ultra, and the race actually requires a prior trail ultra finish or the Backcountry Rise 20 Miler before you can enter the 50K.

How much climbing is in the Backcountry Rise 50K?

The 50K has about 7,600 feet of total elevation gain and the same in loss, per the official course description. That is a lot of vert for 31 miles, and it does not come in one tidy climb. The loop rolls and stacks up climbing across exposed Mt. Margaret ridgelines inside the old Mount St. Helens blast zone, so you are climbing and descending the whole day with the volcano and the backcountry lakes in view. The 20 Miler is closer to 4,800 feet of gain and the Half Marathon around 2,800 feet, so step down a distance if the full 50K vert is more than you are ready for.

What are the cutoff times for the Backcountry Rise 50K?

The 50K starts at 7:00 AM and has an overall finish cutoff of 6:00 PM, which gives you 11 hours for roughly 30.9 miles. There are intermediate cutoffs too, so you cannot bank all your time for the end: you need to be through the early Coldwater Creek aid (around mile 5) by 8:45 AM and through South Coldwater (around mile 27.4) by 4:45 PM. Those checkpoints are the ones to plan against. Always confirm the current cutoffs in the race-day details before you start, since they can shift year to year.

How many aid stations are on the Backcountry Rise 50K?

Just three on the 50K loop: Coldwater Creek near mile 5, Bear Camp near mile 15, and South Coldwater near mile 27.4. The gaps are long and the terrain is remote, so the stretch from Coldwater Creek to Bear Camp is about 10 miles on its own and you are on your own out there. Carry enough fluid and calories to cover those gaps comfortably instead of rationing to the next stop. Treat the 50K as a self-reliant day, because for long sections it is.

What is the terrain and weather like at Backcountry Rise?

The course is around 98 percent narrow backcountry singletrack, much of it steep, rocky, and only lightly maintained, winding across the open Mt. Margaret ridges inside the Mount St. Helens blast zone. Expect real exposure up high, big sweeping views, and footing that demands attention when your legs are tired. Late August in this part of Washington is usually dry and can run warm, with strong high-elevation sun on the exposed ridgelines and cooler air early and in any shade. Plan for sun and heat management on the ridges even if the morning starts cool.

Do I need to qualify to run the Backcountry Rise 50K?

Yes, the 50K has an entry requirement, which is unusual for a 50K and tells you how serious the course is. You need a prior trail ultramarathon finish, or a finish at the Backcountry Rise 20 Miler, before race day. The race also accepts an Ironman or another significant endurance event or a verifiable self-supported effort, but road races of any distance do not count. If you do not have a qualifier yet, the 20 Miler is the intended on-ramp, and it is a smart way to learn this backcountry before taking on the full loop.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, aid stations, and entry requirement come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.