⏵ Course guide · Southeast South Dakota
Glacier Hills Ultra runs the wooded, dirt-and-gravel loops of Newton Hills State Park near Canton, South Dakota, with a staggered 50K/30K/20K field sharing the same repeating 10K course. I will walk you through the loop itself, the climbing, and the shared 2:00 PM cutoff, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a multi-lap trail ultra. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official race site. Check the current year details before you commit. Race logistics can change year to year.
Every distance at Glacier Hills Ultra is built from the same 10K loop through Newton Hills State Park, so what you learn on lap one pays off on every lap after it.
The loop opens with about half a mile of gravel driveway through the horse campground, moves onto 3.5 miles of shared horse and people trail, then finishes with 2 miles of trail open only to foot traffic. The race calls the surface 100% dirt and gravel, with tree roots and other obstacles mixed in, so keep your eyes down through the wooded stretches.
The 50K is five loops, the 30K is three, and the 20K is two. Every lap brings you back through the shared start/finish aid station, so gear, crew, and drop bags stay within reach the whole race, a genuinely forgiving setup for anyone racing their first ultra distance on trails.
The race states roughly 1,000 ft of climbing on each 10K loop. Multiplying that out by loop count (simple math, not an official total the race publishes) puts the 50K around 5,000 ft, the 30K around 3,000 ft, and the 20K around 2,000 ft. It adds up steadily rather than hitting you with one brutal climb, but by loop four or five in the 50K you will feel every one of those repeats.
The staggered starts mean the shared 2:00 PM cutoff gives each distance a different window: 8 hours for the 50K, 7 for the 30K, 6 for the 20K. Pace against your own start time, not the clock.
With every distance repeating the same 10K loop, your opening lap is the most valuable data you will get all day. Note your split at the aid station and how the climbing feels, then plan the rest of your race around holding that effort steady rather than that exact pace, since fatigue will slow your splits even at even effort.
The dirt-and-gravel surface with roots and obstacles will slow you more than a clean trail would, especially as you tire late in the 50K. Give yourself real cushion against the cutoff in the early loops rather than assuming you will speed up once you are warmed up.
⏵ Free tools to plan your effort
With one aid station and water at mile 4 of every loop, your fueling plan gets a predictable resupply rhythm no matter which distance you run.
You will pass the start/finish aid station at the end of every lap and hit water at roughly the halfway mark of each one. Build your carried nutrition around that rhythm: enough calories and fluid to bridge each half-loop, topped off at the two points where you know support is waiting.
For a race in the 3 to 8 hour range depending on your distance and pace, aim for roughly 40 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 600 mg per liter range, adjusted upward if November race day runs warmer than expected. Test your exact numbers before race day, not on it.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your pace, and your own aid station spacing 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and the loaded climbing this loop course demands. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the durability five trips around that 10K loop ask for, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The whole event runs on a repeating 10K loop at Newton Hills State Park: about half a mile of gravel driveway through the horse campground, 3.5 miles of horse and people trail, and 2 miles of foot-traffic-only singletrack. The race describes the surface as 100% dirt and gravel, with tree roots and other obstacles to watch for, so this is technical enough that you want to run it with your eyes on the ground, not the scenery, especially on the wooded sections.
Every distance is a multiple of the same 10K loop: five loops for the 50K, three for the 30K, and two for the 20K. That repetition is actually an advantage for a first ultra, you learn the climbs, the technical spots, and your aid station rhythm on loop one and get to apply it every lap after.
The race states about 1,000 ft of climbing per 10K loop. Doing the simple math on that (not an official published total, just loop count times per-loop gain) puts the 50K around 5,000 ft, the 30K around 3,000 ft, and the 20K around 2,000 ft. Confirm the current year's official numbers before you build a detailed plan.
All three distances share a single 2:00 PM cutoff, which matters because of the staggered starts: the 50K gets 8 hours from its 6:00 AM start, the 30K gets 7 hours from 7:00 AM, and the 20K gets 6 hours from 8:00 AM. That works out to a required pace of roughly 15:30 per mile for the 50K, 14 per mile for the 30K, and just over 16 per mile for the 20K, generous windows for the terrain, but plan your loop splits against your own start time, not the clock on the wall.
The repeating 10K loop is genuinely beginner-friendly: you pass through the start/finish aid station every lap, so drop bags, crew, and pacing feedback are always close by, and there is no long, isolated stretch far from support. The technical dirt-and-gravel surface and roughly 1,000 ft of climbing per loop are real, though, so come in with some trail legs under you rather than treating it as a flat road ultra.
There is one aid station, at the shared start/finish, which you hit at the end of every loop no matter your distance. The race also places water at mile 4 of each loop, roughly the midpoint, so plan your carried fluid and calories around two resupply points per lap rather than one.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/glacier-hills-ultra">The Glacier Hills Ultra course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/glacier-hills-ultra" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Glacier Hills Ultra course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course, cutoffs, and dates 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.
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