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⏵ Course guide · Montana ultra

Copper Kings 100 Course Guide

The Copper Kings 100 is a big, remote mountain 100 miler out of Butte, Montana, a loop off the Belmont Mine that spends about 63 of its miles up on the Continental Divide Trail in the Deerlodge high country. It has a reputation for being harder than the profile looks, with the climbing stacked up in the middle, long gaps between aid, and a full night out under cold wind. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for the vert, the remoteness, and the night. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Copper Kings 100 quick facts

Date
Friday to Saturday, June 26 to 27, 2026
Location
Belmont Mine, Butte, MT (Deerlodge National Forest / Continental Divide Trail)
Distances
100-mile loop (about 63 miles on the Continental Divide Trail)
Elevation gain
About 14,000 ft of gain and the same loss · start 5,650 ft · high point 8,400 ft
Start
4:00 AM Friday at the Belmont Mine
Cutoff
40 hours overall (final cutoff 8:00 PM Saturday)
Qualifier
Not listed on the official Western States qualifying-races list; confirm any qualifier status with the race

These facts come from the official race site and UltraSignup. Vert figures and aid stations shift year to year, so check the current date, cutoffs, course, and aid plan in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change.

The course: where Copper Kings is won and lost

Copper Kings is a 100-mile loop that starts and finishes at the Belmont Mine just outside Butte, climbing up onto the Continental Divide Trail for roughly 63 of its miles through the Deerlodge National Forest. You get a bit of pavement and dirt road near town, ATV track and gravel, and long stretches of rocky single-track up high near 8,400 feet. The climbing is not spread out evenly. It bunches up in the middle, which is exactly why the course plays harder than the headline number suggests.

The climbs: concentrated, not spread out

The thing to understand about Copper Kings is that the vert is stacked, not smeared across the loop. Most of the roughly 14,000 feet of gain lands between the early and late aid stations, so there are long pulls where you are climbing for a while, then climbing again. That is the part that surprises people. A smooth-looking profile that actually delivers its work in big concentrated chunks, on tired legs, deep into the day.

Hike the steep pitches efficiently and keep your effort even, especially early when you feel fresh and the high country looks inviting. If you push the first big climbs because they feel easy, you will pay for it in the back half when the gain keeps coming and the sun and the miles have already taken a bite. Patience up high is the whole game here.

The remote middle: carry your own race

The middle of the loop is where Copper Kings gets genuinely remote. There is a long stretch out there with just one aid station across many miles, so for a big chunk of the day you are on your own with whatever you are carrying. This is not a course where you can run light and count on the next aid being close. Fill up, carry enough food and fluid to cross the gap, and check your map and your plan so a long unsupported section does not catch you empty.

Up high on the Continental Divide Trail the footing is rocky and the country is open and exposed. Big views, big sky, and not much shelter. Quick feet and attention matter as much as fitness, and the remoteness means small problems (a hot spot, an empty bottle, a low patch you ignored) get bigger before you reach help. Manage them early.

The night: cold, windy, and where the race tightens

You start at 4:00 AM in the dark, and most runners will be back out in the dark again on the second night before they finish. Late June up at 8,000-plus feet is hot and exposed in the afternoon and then cold and windy once the sun drops, so the same course that cooked you midday can have you shivering after dark. Carry layers, a good headlamp with backup, and gloves, and put a warm layer in a drop bag for the high overnight miles.

The night is also where the climbing and the lows hit at the same time. Tired legs, a cold wind, rocky descents you cannot see well, and the urge to just stop and sit. The runners who do well here keep eating, keep moving, and treat the dark hours as something to manage steadily rather than fight. Get through the night patient and you usually come back to life when it warms up.

Crew, drop bags, and pacers

Sort your support out ahead of time, because on a remote loop like this your drop bags and crew points are your lifeline. Stage the things that win late races: dry socks, a warm layer and gloves for the overnight high country, your headlamp and spare batteries, and the foods you can actually stomach 20-plus hours in. Pack each drop bag for the conditions at that point on the loop, not for how you feel at the start line.

Lean on a pacer if the race allows one for the late miles. A good pacer keeps you eating, keeps you honest on effort, and keeps your head out of the hole on the second night. Confirm the current crew, drop bag, and pacer rules with the race, then rehearse the handoffs with your people so race day is smooth instead of chaotic.

Pacing strategy for a vert-heavy, remote 100

With about 14,000 feet of gain stacked into the middle of the loop, a full night out, and long remote gaps, Copper Kings is about managing effort over a very long time, not chasing a pace chart. Run the climbs by feel and keep something for the back half.

Pace the climbs by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace means nothing on the long Continental Divide Trail climbs. What matters is grade-adjusted effort, so hold a steady output you can keep up the grade and hike the steep pitches without feeling bad about it. The classic mistake here is running the early high-country climbs too hard because they feel easy, then unraveling when the concentrated vert keeps coming late. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real fitness into honest climbing and descending targets, and you will not torch the first half of a 40 hour day.

Build a vert-aware finish prediction for 40 hours

Do not guess your Copper Kings finish off a road time or even a flatter 100. The roughly 14,000 feet of concentrated climbing, the rocky footing, and the night all add real time. A vert-aware finish prediction that accounts for this course’s climbing gives you a realistic window across the whole loop and lets you work back into the 40 hour cutoff with margin, so you actually know how much buffer you have at each aid station overnight instead of guessing in the dark.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

  • Grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest targets for the long Continental Divide climbs and the rocky descents.
  • Race-time calculator for a vert-aware finish prediction on this course’s climbing, so you can plan against the 40 hour cutoff.
  • Race-equivalent calculator to turn a recent race result into a Copper Kings goal you can actually hold for 100 miles.

Fueling strategy for the duration and the gaps

Most runners are out on the Copper Kings 100 for most of a day and a full night, with hot afternoons, cold nights, and long remote stretches between aid. That makes carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid just as important as fitness, and carrying enough non-negotiable.

Carbs: steady, trained, and never skipped at night

For an effort this long, aim for around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the higher end if your gut is trained for it. The midday heat kills your appetite and the small hours of the night do too, so keep your intake steady and easy to get down instead of gambling on big catch-up doses. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on long back-to-back training days so the numbers feel normal late and tired, not like an experiment. Undereating overnight is one of the most common reasons people fall apart on a course like this.

Sodium and fluid: plan for the heat and the remote gap

In the hot afternoon, 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 on this course, carry enough fluid and calories to get all the way across the long remote stretch with only one aid station in the middle, instead of rationing to the next stop and showing up empty in the high country. Weigh yourself before and after a long hot run to find your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number rather than a generic one.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and the Copper Kings heat, night, and remote gaps 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 Copper Kings course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the concentrated climbing and the night, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Copper Kings 100 FAQ

How hard is the Copper Kings 100?

It is a real mountain 100, and the people who run it tend to say it is harder than the numbers make it look. You cover 100 miles with somewhere around 14,000 feet of climbing on a loop out of the Belmont Mine in Butte, with about 63 miles on the Continental Divide Trail, a high point near 8,400 feet, and long remote stretches between aid. The climbing is not spread out evenly, it stacks up in the middle of the course, so it hits harder than a smooth profile would suggest. Add a full night out there, a 40 hour cutoff, hot afternoons, and cold windy high country after dark, and you have a genuinely tough day and night. It is not a fast first 100, but it is a doable one if you respect the climbs and the remoteness.

How much climbing is in the Copper Kings 100?

The official course lists roughly 14,000 feet of vertical gain and the same in loss across the 100-mile loop, starting around 5,650 feet and topping out near 8,400 feet at the high point. Sources put the total a little differently year to year (you will see numbers from about 13,960 up toward 14,400), and runners with GPS watches have logged even more once you count all the little rollers, so treat the figure as a range and plan for the high side. What matters more than the headline number is that the gain is concentrated, not evenly spread, with most of the work bunched between the early and late aid stations. Train the long sustained climbs and the rocky descents, because both show up in volume.

How should I fuel for the Copper Kings 100?

Plan for a very long effort, most of a day and a full night, with long gaps between aid where you are on your own. For an effort this long, most runners do well on roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning to the high end only if your gut is trained for it, plus sodium that climbs with the midday heat (often the high end of 300 to 700 mg per liter of fluid). The big thing here is the remote sections: there is a long stretch in the middle of the course with just one aid station across many miles, so carry enough calories and fluid to get all the way across it instead of rationing to the next stop. Keep eating into the night even when your appetite is gone, because that is when undereating catches up with you. Run your own numbers for your weight, goal time, and the forecast with the free ultra fueling calculator.

What are the cutoff times for the Copper Kings 100?

The race has a 40 hour overall limit, with a 4:00 AM Friday start and a final cutoff at 8:00 PM Saturday. Forty hours sounds generous, and it gives most prepared runners room, but the remoteness and the concentrated climbing eat into your buffer faster than you expect, especially overnight. Build your plan backward from the finish with margin in it, and confirm any intermediate or aid-station cutoffs in the current race-day details before you start, because those can change year to year.

What is the terrain and weather like at Copper Kings?

The loop mixes a bit of everything: some pavement and dirt road near town, ATV and two-track, gravel, and long miles of rocky single-track on the Continental Divide Trail up in the Deerlodge high country. Rocks are a constant, so durable feet and careful descending matter as much as fitness. Weather in late June at this elevation swings hard in a single day. Hot, exposed afternoons, then cold wind and a real chill once the sun drops and you are up high in the dark, so you need to carry layers and plan for both ends of the range. The high country is beautiful and genuinely remote, which is the appeal and also the challenge.

Is the Copper Kings 100 a good first 100 miler?

It can be, if you go in prepared and patient. It is one of only a couple of 100 milers in Montana, the field is still relatively small and friendly, and the 40 hour cutoff gives a committed first-timer room to finish. But do not mistake a generous clock for an easy course. The concentrated climbing, the rocky footing, the long remote gap between aid, and a full night out in cold high country all ask for specific prep: long back-to-back climbing days, practice descending on rough trail, a fueling plan you have rehearsed for many hours, and real night-running and gear practice. Train those, sort out your crew and drop bags, and it is a strong, scenic place to run your first 100.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, aid stations, and elevation figures 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.