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⏵ Course guide · Texas ultra

Franklin Mountains Trail Run Course Guide

The Franklin Mountains Trail Run is the closest thing Texas has to a Western mountain skyrace. It climbs straight off the El Paso desert floor to the top of North Franklin Peak on rocky, technical, exposed trail, and the 55K stacks up around 8,000 feet of climbing in a state most people think of as flat. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the vert and the rough footing. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Franklin Mountains Trail Run quick facts

Date
Saturday, January 24, 2026 (ultras race Saturday)
Location
Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit, El Paso, West Texas
Distances
55K · 30K · 12-Hour · King/Queen of the Mountain · Half · 10K · 5K
Elevation gain
55K: roughly 8,000 ft of total gain, summiting North Franklin Peak (7,192 ft)
55K start
7:00 AM (30K at 7:30 AM, 12-Hour at 7:00 AM)
Cutoff
55K: 16 hr (course closes 11:00 PM) · 30K: 6.5 hr · 12-Hour: 7 AM to 7 PM
Qualifier
No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier status listed by the race

These facts come from the official Human Potential Running Series race page, the RunSignup registration, and finisher reports. Check the current date, distances, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where the Franklins are won and lost

The 55K is built around one truth: you start on the desert floor and you have to get to the highest point in the Franklin Mountains, North Franklin Peak at 7,192 feet, and then bring yourself back. You circumnavigate the mountain and tag the summit, so it is not a clean up-and-down. It is rolling, rocky, and technical for most of the day, with roughly 8,000 feet of total gain. This is a course where pacing and footing decide your day far more than your flat speed.

The North Franklin Peak climb: the heart of the race

Everything orbits the big push up to North Franklin Peak. It is around a 3,000-foot climb to just over 7,000 feet, and it is steep, rocky, and slow. This is the spot where the race gets decided, and the move is to hike it efficiently and keep your effort honest. If you grind the steep pitches with a steady power-hike and refuse to redline, you crest the top with legs to spare. Burn matches here because you feel strong early and the rest of the loop will collect the debt with interest.

The summit itself is exposed and often windy and cold up high, even when the desert below is warming up. Get what you need at the top, take a breath, and get moving again. Standing around losing heat on the peak is a quiet way to wreck a good day.

Rocky, technical footing the whole way

People who have run all over the country come off this course calling it one of the most technical ultras they have done, and that is the part to take seriously. The Franklins are loose rock, scree, washed-out tread, steep switchbacks, and a handful of spots where you actually scramble or pick a line. There is real exposure too, enough that if heights rattle you, a few sections will get your attention.

What this means in practice: your pace will be slower than the distance suggests, and your ankles and your attention both get a workout. Train on the gnarliest, rockiest trail you can find before this race. Smooth fitness on buffed trail does not transfer cleanly to ground this rough.

The descents: slow, rocky, and hard on the quads

The way down off the high ground is not free speed here. The descents are technical and the footing is difficult, so you cannot just let gravity do the work the way you might on a smoother course. Picking clean lines on loose rock while your legs are already tired is a skill, and it is one of the bigger separators on this course. The closing miles back toward the finish are no gimme either, so save something for the end.

Train downhill on real, chunky terrain so your quads and your foot speed are ready for long, rough descending late in the day. If you only ever practice climbing, the descents on the Franklins will humble you and cost you more time than the ups.

Aid spacing and the desert in between

The 55K runs on a handful of aid stations around the loop, but the spacing is uneven and the gaps can be long. Finishers describe stretches where the only support is a water stop, including a long run in the middle-to-back third of the course where you are largely self-supported. So carry. Get across those gaps on what you are wearing, do not ration down to empty hoping the next table is close.

The race has historically offered drop bags at certain aid stations and allowed a pacer late in the race on the longer distance, but the exact aid locations, drop-bag spots, and pacer and crew rules can change year to year. Pull the current aid map and rules from the race and build your carry plan around the real gaps, not a guess.

Pacing strategy for a vertical, technical mountain ultra

With around 8,000 feet of gain, a big summit climb, and rough footing everywhere, the Franklin Mountains 55K is about managing effort and protecting your legs, not chasing a pace chart. Run the climbs by feel, descend with control, and let the long cutoff work for you.

Pace the climbs by grade, not by the watch

Your flat-ground pace is meaningless on the North Franklin climb and the rolling rock around the mountain. What matters is grade-adjusted effort: hold an output you can actually sustain up the grade and power-hike the steep, loose pitches without feeling like you are giving anything away. The classic blowup here is running the early climbing too hard because the legs feel fresh, then falling apart on the technical descents. Use a grade-adjusted pace to convert your real fitness into honest climbing and descending targets so you do not torch the first half.

Build a vert-aware finish prediction

Do not guess your Franklin Mountains finish off a road time or even a smooth trail time. The 8,000 feet of climbing, the technical footing, and the slow descents all add real time, and the spread between runners is wide on ground this rough. A vert-aware finish prediction that accounts for this course profile gives you a realistic window and lets you work back into the cutoffs, so you know how much buffer you actually have at each checkpoint instead of hoping.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

  • Grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest targets for the North Franklin climb and the technical way back down.
  • Race-time calculator for a vert-aware finish prediction on this course’s climbing, so you can plan against the 16-hour cutoff.
  • Race-equivalent calculator to turn a recent race result into a Franklin Mountains goal you can actually hold on rough ground.

Fueling strategy for a long, cold, self-supported day

Most runners are out on the Franklin Mountains 55K for a long time, often eight to thirteen hours or more given the terrain, with cold mornings, dry desert air, and long gaps between full aid. That makes carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid as important as your fitness.

Carbs: steady, trained, and easy to get down

For a long mountain day like this, aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the top end if your gut is trained for it. The cold, the altitude, and the constant technical focus can all blunt your appetite, so keep your intake steady and simple instead of gambling on big catch-up doses late. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on long, rough training runs so 80-plus grams an hour feels routine, not like an experiment you are running on race morning.

Sodium and fluid: it is dry, and the gaps are long

The desert air is dry even when it is cold, so you can lose more fluid and salt than you expect without feeling soaked. Plan your sodium for your own sweat (commonly somewhere in the 300 to 700 milligrams per liter range, higher if you are a salty sweater) and carry enough fluid to bridge the long stretches where the only support is a water stop. Weigh yourself before and after a long training run to find your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number instead of 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 long Franklin Mountains day 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 Franklin Mountains course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the climbing and the technical descents, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Franklin Mountains Trail Run FAQ

How hard is the Franklin Mountains Trail Run?

It is hard, and it is genuinely a mountain race, not a Texas flat-and-fast finisher. The 55K climbs from the desert floor to North Franklin Peak at 7,192 feet and racks up somewhere around 8,000 feet of total gain over the day on rocky, technical, exposed singletrack. Finishers routinely call it one of the most technical ultras they have run, with loose footing, scree, steep switchbacks, and a few spots where you scramble. The generous 16-hour cutoff on the 55K tells you everything: this is a course that rewards patience, good footing, and smart fueling far more than raw speed.

How much climbing is in the Franklin Mountains 55K?

The 55K carries roughly 8,000 feet of total elevation gain (about 2,400 meters), which is huge for a Texas trail race. The centerpiece is the climb from the desert floor up to North Franklin Peak, the highest point in the Franklins at 7,192 feet, which is about a 3,000-foot push on its own. You also circumnavigate the mountain, so it is not just up and back: there is plenty of rolling, rocky climbing on either side of the summit. Confirm the current figures with the race, since the exact course and gain can shift year to year.

What are the cutoff times for the Franklin Mountains Trail Run?

The 55K gives you a 16-hour limit, with the course closing around 11:00 PM after a 7:00 AM start. The 30K has a 6.5-hour cutoff off its 7:30 AM start, and the 12-Hour timed event runs 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The 55K cutoff is roomy on purpose because the terrain is slow, so do not let the big number fool you into starting too hard. Check the current race-day details for any intermittent cutoffs at aid stations before you toe the line.

What is the terrain and weather like at the Franklin Mountains Trail Run?

The footing is rugged desert mountain trail: rocky, loose, technical singletrack with scree, washed-out sections, steep switchbacks, and exposed ridgelines. Quick feet and good downhill skills matter as much as fitness here. Late January in El Paso is cold and dry in the morning, often in the 20s or low 30s Fahrenheit at the start, warming into the low 50s or 60s by afternoon, usually sunny and frequently windy up high. Plan for a big temperature swing and dress so you can shed layers as the desert heats up.

How many aid stations are on the Franklin Mountains 55K, and can I have a crew or pacer?

The 55K runs on a handful of aid stations spread across the loop, and the spacing is not even, so plan to carry. Finisher reports describe long gaps with only a water stop between full aid, including one stretch in the mid-to-back third of the course where you are mostly on your own for a while. Carry enough fluid and calories to bridge those gaps rather than rationing to the next table. The race has historically allowed drop bags at certain aid stations and a pacer for the longer distance late in the race, so check the current rules and aid map for exact locations and where crew access is allowed.

Is the Franklin Mountains Trail Run a good first ultra?

I would not pick the 55K as a first ultra unless you have real trail legs and you like technical ground, because the rock, the vert, and the exposure make it a big ask for a debut. If you want to race this event as a newer trail runner, the 30K is a much friendlier introduction to the mountain and the climbing. For the 55K, come in with time on technical singletrack, real climbing and descending in your legs, and a fueling and hydration plan you have rehearsed. Train the course honestly and the long cutoff gives a prepared runner room to finish.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, distances, 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.