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⏵ Course guide · California ultra

Coyote Two Moon Course Guide

Coyote Two Moon is a cult full-moon mountain ultra above Ojai, run on the rugged singletrack and fire road of the Topatopa Mountains in Los Padres National Forest. It is festive, a little unhinged, and genuinely hard: the 100-miler stacks something like 26,000 feet of climbing, the field starts on a staggered handicap so everyone finishes together, and most of the race happens in the dark. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the vert, the night, and the 42-hour clock. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Coyote Two Moon quick facts

Date
May 1 to 3, 2026 (full moon weekend)
Location
Ojai, CA · Topatopa Mountains, Los Padres National Forest · start/finish at Rock Tree Sky
Distances
100M · 100K (about 63.9 mi) · 55M · 55K · 30K · 10K
Elevation gain
100M: about 26,000 ft · 100K: about 16,400 ft · 55M: about 15,000 ft · 55K: about 7,700 ft
Start
Staggered handicap start by projected finish (slowest 100M off first Friday afternoon); everyone aims to finish before 10 AM Sunday
Cutoff
42 hours for the long races
Entry standard
100M needs a 100K with 10,000+ ft vert · 100K needs a trail 50K with 8,000+ ft
Qualifier
Not a Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier

These facts come from the official race site, UltraSignup, and UltraRunning. The start format is a handicap stagger, so your exact start time depends on your projected finish. Check the current dates, waves, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where Coyote Two Moon is won and lost

Everything radiates out of Rock Tree Sky down in the Ojai Valley, and the course climbs hard into the Topatopa Mountains and drops back again, over and over. The marquee high points are Topa Topa Bluffs (around 6,379 feet) and Chief Peak, with steep, rough descents in between. The 100-miler runs roughly 26,000 feet of climbing, the 100K around 16,400 over about 63.9 miles, and the longer races send you out into the evening to run through the night under the full moon.

The climbs: Topa Topa, Chief Peak, and a lot of patience

This race is a vertical race. The Topatopa range is steep and unforgiving, and the big climbs to Topa Topa Bluffs and Chief Peak are where your day gets decided. Hike the steep pitches with purpose, keep your effort honest, and treat the early climbs as something to get through cheaply, not to attack. Burn matches in the first few thousand feet because you feel strong and you will be doing math on the side of a mountain at 3 AM wondering where your legs went.

The footing up high is rugged: loose rock, exposed traverses, and trail that demands you actually pay attention. On the 100 and 100K you will hit some of these climbs more than once, in the dark and again tired, so bank good habits early. Power-hiking that feels almost too easy on the first climb is exactly the gear that gets you to the finish.

The descents: free speed if your quads survive

For every big climb there is a big drop, and the descents off the Topatopas are long and steep. They are free speed early and a quad-shredding tax late. The runners who blow up here are the ones who bombed the early downhills or never trained descending, and by the back half those same descents turn into a careful, painful shuffle with the brakes locked on.

Train controlled downhill running on real grades before race day, and on the day let the early descents be smooth and quiet rather than reckless. Saving your quads on the first descents is what lets you still run the last ones, when it actually counts and everyone around you is walking.

The night and the full moon

The full moon is the soul of this race, not a marketing line. The long distances launch in the evening and run deep into the night, sometimes two nights for the 100, so the dark is the main event, not a footnote. You climb and descend technical mountain trail by headlamp, the temperature swings, and the low points tend to land in those quiet 2-to-5 AM hours when everything feels heavier.

Have a real night plan. A bright headlamp and a backup, warm layers in your drop bags for the cold ridge tops, and a fueling habit that keeps running on autopilot when your brain checks out. Practice eating and moving in the dark on a few late long runs so race night feels familiar instead of like a new problem you are solving at altitude on no sleep.

The staggered start and the festival at the finish

Coyote Two Moon seeds you by projected finish time, so the slowest runners go first and the faster ones chase later, all aiming to land at the finish in the same window before Sunday morning. It is a different kind of race brain: you are rarely running with a clean pack at your exact pace, and the people around you may be on a different distance or a different wave entirely. Run your own effort and your own clock.

The whole thing has a wonderfully ramshackle, festive spirit that traces back to founder Chris Scott and the old Coyote crew, with volunteers in costume and a real party feel at the aid stations and the finish. It is hard as nails and not remotely serious about itself at the same time. Lean into that. The good humor is a tool, and it will carry you through some dark miles.

Pacing strategy for a big-vert mountain hundred

With roughly 26,000 feet of climbing in the 100 and a course that climbs and drops all night, Coyote Two Moon is about managing effort and time, not chasing a pace chart. Run the climbs by feel, protect your quads on the descents, and work backward from the cutoff.

Pace the climbs by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace is meaningless on the Topatopa climbs. What matters is grade-adjusted effort: hold a steady output you can sustain up the grade, and hike the steep stuff without a shred of guilt. The classic Coyote Two Moon blowup is pushing the early climbs because they feel easy when you are fresh and rested, then paying the bill on the descents and through the night. Use a grade-adjusted pace to convert your real fitness into honest climbing and descending targets so you do not cook the first quarter of the race.

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

Do not guess your Coyote Two Moon finish off a road time or a flat 100. Twenty-six thousand feet of climbing, technical footing, the night, and the staggered start all change the math. Build a vert-aware finish prediction for this course’s climbing, then work backward into the 42-hour cutoff and the intermediate checkpoints so you know the latest you can leave each aid station. On a race this long, knowing your real time budget at each stop is what keeps a slow patch from becoming a missed cutoff.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for an all-night mountain ultra

The long races at Coyote Two Moon keep you out for the better part of a day or two, through the night and into the next day’s heat. Over that long, carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid become as important as fitness, and the night is where most fueling plans quietly fall apart.

Carbs: keep the engine fed for the long haul

For an effort this long, most runners do well taking in roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning to the higher end only if your gut is trained for it. The real challenge here is not the number, it is keeping it going at 2 AM when you are tired and nothing sounds good. Build a fueling habit you can run on autopilot, mix real food at aid stations with gels and drink mix between, and never let a low patch turn into hours of not eating. On a 26,000-foot course, the bonk is slow and total, and it is almost always an eating problem first.

Sodium and fluid: ridge cold at night, valley heat by day

Plan sodium around your own sweat rate, commonly in the range of 300 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid, and more if you are a heavy or salty sweater, especially as the next day warms up in the Ojai Valley. The temperature swing is real: cold and windy on the exposed ridge tops at night, hot and dry on the lower trails by day, so your fluid needs shift through the race. Weigh yourself before and after a long training run to learn your real sweat rate, then carry enough to cover the gaps between aid rather than rationing to empty.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a long night in the Topatopas 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 Coyote Two Moon course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the big Topatopa vert, and rehearses your night fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Coyote Two Moon FAQ

How hard is Coyote Two Moon?

It is one of the harder mountain ultras in California, more for the vert and the format than for raw distance. The 100-miler stacks roughly 26,000 feet of climbing into the Topatopa Mountains above Ojai, on rugged singletrack and fire road, with a 42-hour cutoff and most of the race spent in the dark and the next day’s heat. The 100K still carries around 16,400 feet of gain over about 63.9 miles. Add a staggered handicap start and a festive, slightly unhinged atmosphere and you get a race that asks for honest climbing legs, a real night-running plan, and patience.

How much climbing is in Coyote Two Moon?

A lot, and that is the whole point. The 100-miler runs about 26,000 feet of climbing, the 100K around 16,400 feet over roughly 63.9 miles, the 55-mile about 15,000 feet, and the 55K about 7,700 feet. The big set pieces are the climbs to Topa Topa Bluffs (around 6,379 feet) and Chief Peak in the Topatopa range, with long descents in between. This is a course where your finish time is set on the climbs, not on the flats.

What is the staggered start at Coyote Two Moon?

Coyote Two Moon uses a handicap start: you are seeded by your projected finish time, so the slowest 100-mile runners head out first on Friday afternoon and the faster runners start later. The idea is that everyone funnels toward the finish at Rock Tree Sky in roughly the same window, ideally before 10 AM Sunday, so the field comes in together. It is part of what makes the race feel like a shared adventure instead of a time trial. Practically, it means your start clock and your night-running timeline depend on the wave you are seeded into, so check your assigned start when you register.

What are the cutoff times for Coyote Two Moon?

The long races run on a 42-hour cutoff, which sounds generous until you account for roughly 26,000 feet of climbing in the 100-miler and a full night (or two) on technical mountain trail. Because the start is staggered by projected finish, the practical target is to reach the finish before the Sunday-morning close rather than to bank a huge cushion early. There are intermediate checkpoints along the course, so confirm the current intermittent cutoffs in the race-day details before you start, and do not assume the back end of the clock is all yours.

When is Coyote Two Moon and where is it?

It is held on a full-moon weekend in early May (May 1 to 3 in 2026) in Ojai, California, with the start and finish at the Rock Tree Sky learning center. The course climbs into the Topatopa Mountains inside Los Padres National Forest, the rugged range that walls off the Ojai Valley. The full moon is not a gimmick: the long races head out into the evening and run through the night, so moonlight and headlamps set the tone. Confirm the exact dates and start area on the official race site before you make travel plans.

Is Coyote Two Moon a good first 100?

It can be a great, soulful first hundred for the right runner, but it is not an easy on-ramp. The climbing is relentless, the footing is rough, much of it is run at night, and you need to qualify in (the 100-mile asks for a 100K with 10,000-plus feet of vert, the 100K asks for a trail 50K with 8,000-plus feet). If you have built real vertical fitness, practiced eating and moving through the night, and rehearsed long technical descents, the festive vibe and the 42-hour clock give committed runners room to finish. If you have only run flat and fast, pick a friendlier first hundred.

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