Summit Line

⏵ Course guide · Texas ultra

Hells Hills Trail Race Course Guide

The Hells Hills Trail Race is a Tejas Trails spring ultra on the rolling single-track of Rocky Hill Ranch near Bastrop, and it earns the name. There is no giant climb here, just a relentless string of short, steep hills that you loop back through over and over until your legs get the joke. I will walk you through the course and the loop format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the constant rollers and the central Texas heat. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Hells Hills quick facts

Date
Early April (a Saturday). 2026 ran Sat, Apr 4
Location
Rocky Hill Ranch, Smithville, TX (near Bastrop), central Texas
Distances
50M (3 loops), 50K (2 loops), 25K (1 loop), plus 10K, ruck options, and a youth 1-mile
Loop length
50M: 3 × about 16.67 mi · 50K: 2 × about 15.5 mi · 25K: about 15.5 mi
Elevation gain
No single huge climb. Constant short steep punchy hills (the namesake), so the vert adds up loop over loop
Start
50M 6:30 AM · 50K 7:00 AM · 25K 7:30 AM · 10K 8:00 AM
Cutoff
Final lap cutoff 4:30 PM (must be on your last loop), course closed 9:30 PM
Qualifier
No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier status listed by the race

These facts come from the official Tejas Trails race page and the RunSignup listing. Check the current date, start times, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where Hells Hills is won and lost

Everything runs as loops out of Rocky Hill Ranch. The 50 mile is three laps of about 16.67 miles, the 50K is two laps of about 15.5, and the 25K is a single lap. It is well-built single-track with bridges, a few stream crossings, pine, and April wildflowers, and the footing is good. The catch is the hills: short, steep, and constant.

The hills: small, mean, and they never stop

Do not let the lack of a big climb fool you. This is a deceptively tough course, and the reason is the namesake hills: short, punchy, steep little climbs that come at you again and again with barely a flat stretch between them. None of them is long enough to scare you on its own. Put a few hundred of them back to back across a couple of loops and they absolutely add up, and the runners who power-hike the steep pitches and keep the effort even are the ones still moving well late.

The trap is the first loop. It feels great, the hills feel easy, and it is dangerously tempting to run every one of them hard. Run the climbs by feel, hike the steepest kickers without ego, and save your legs for the loops where those same hills are not so cute anymore.

The loop format is your friend if you use it

Looping back through the start/finish (the Saloon) every lap is a real gift. You can stage one drop bag in one place and hit it every loop, see your crew on a predictable schedule, and mentally chop the race into 15-ish-mile bites instead of staring down one giant distance. Use it. Plan what you swap and eat at the Saloon each lap so you are in and out, not standing around letting the day slip away.

It also makes the math honest. Every time you come through, you know exactly how that loop took and exactly where you stand against the clock, which beats guessing on a point-to-point course where the next checkpoint is a mystery.

Heat, humidity, and the runnable footing

The trail itself is friendly: good single-track, not a technical rock garden, and very runnable. That cuts both ways, because runnable terrain tempts you to push when the smart play on a hot day is to bank effort. Aid is well stocked with supplies roughly every 2.8 to 4.5 miles, so you are never far from a refill, but you still have to get yourself between stations in the heat.

Early April in central Texas is a coin flip. You might get a cool, perfect morning, or you might get warm and sticky by midday, sometimes both in one race. Plan for heat and humidity even if the forecast looks mild, because the back loops are when the temperature climbs and the constant little hills start to feel a lot bigger.

Pacing strategy for a constantly rolling, runnable course

Hells Hills is runnable enough that you can chase a real time here, but the constant rollers and the heat mean it is still about managing effort across loops, not hammering one pace. Negative-split it by loop and you will pass a lot of people.

Pace by effort on the hills, not by your flat splits

On a course this rolling, your flat-ground pace is a poor guide. Hold a steady effort, hike the steep kickers, and run the smooth bits, instead of trying to lock one number across terrain that never stops changing. The classic Hells Hills mistake is running every little hill in the first loop because they feel trivial, then fading hard once the heat and the accumulated climbing catch up. A grade-adjusted pace turns your real fitness into an honest effort target so the early hills do not quietly cook you.

Build a finish prediction, then back into the loop cutoffs

Do not guess your Hells Hills finish off a flat road time. The constant short climbs and the heat add up to more than the terrain looks like it should. A finish prediction that accounts for the rolling profile gives you a realistic window, and because the course is looped you can divide it into a target time per loop and check yourself against the 4:30 PM final-lap cutoff every time you come through the Saloon. Know your per-loop budget before you start and you will never be surprised by the clock.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for the heat and the distance

Depending on your distance you could be out there anywhere from a few hours for the 25K to most of the day for the 50 mile, often in warm, humid air. That makes carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid every bit as important as your fitness.

Carbs: steady, trained, and easy on a warm gut

Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the top end if your gut is trained for it. Heat and humidity blunt your appetite and slow your stomach, so keep intake steady and easy to swallow rather than gambling on big late doses once you already feel rough. The looped course actually helps here: use each pass through the Saloon to top off real calories on a schedule. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on warm long runs so 80-plus grams an hour feels routine, not like a gamble.

Sodium and fluid: plan for a sweaty central Texas day

In warm, humid conditions, lean toward the high end on sodium, often somewhere around 500 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid, and more if you are a heavy or salty sweater. Aid sits roughly every 2.8 to 4.5 miles, which is close, but you still have to carry enough to drink to thirst between stations rather than rationing and arriving empty. Weigh yourself before and after a hot long run to learn your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number instead of 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 Hells Hills heat 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 Hells Hills course profile, and your projected per-loop splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the constant rollers, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Hells Hills Trail Race FAQ

How hard is the Hells Hills Trail Race?

Tejas Trails calls it a deceptively tough course, and that is the honest read. There is no monster climb here, but you are on a roller coaster of short, steep, punchy hills almost the whole way, and that constant up-and-down chews up your legs in a way a single long grade never would. The 50M is three loops of about 16.67 miles, the 50K is two loops of about 15.5, and the central Texas heat and humidity can show up early in April. It is very runnable and a great place to chase a time, but the hills and the heat punish anyone who goes out too hot.

How much climbing is in Hells Hills?

The race does not publish one big elevation-gain number, and that fits the course. Instead of a few long climbs you get a steady stream of short, steep hills (the ones the race is named for) that you repeat every loop. None of them is long, but they stack up, so by your last loop your legs have done a lot more vertical than the lack of a signature climb suggests. Treat it as a rolling, deceptively hilly course rather than a flat one, and confirm the current course profile in the race materials.

What is the loop format at Hells Hills?

It is a looped course out of Rocky Hill Ranch. The 50 mile is three loops of roughly 16.67 miles, the 50K is two loops of about 15.5 miles, and the 25K is a single loop. Looping back through the start/finish (the Saloon) every lap is a real advantage: you can stage a drop bag in one spot, see crew on a schedule, and break the race into bites instead of one long haul. It also makes the cutoff math simple, since you know exactly where you stand at the end of each loop.

What are the cutoff times for Hells Hills?

The course closes at 9:30 PM, and there is a final-lap cutoff at 4:30 PM, meaning you have to be out on your last loop by then. Because it is a looped course, the smart move is to know your required pace per loop and check yourself against the clock every time you come through the start/finish. Start times are staggered by distance (50M at 6:30 AM, 50K at 7:00, 25K at 7:30), so confirm the exact cutoffs and your start in the current race-day details before you toe the line.

What is the terrain and weather like at Hells Hills?

The course is well-built single-track at Rocky Hill Ranch with bridges, a few stream crossings, pine sections, and hill-country wildflowers in April, all strung together by those short steep hills. The footing is generally good and very runnable, not a technical rock garden. Weather is the wildcard: early April in central Texas can be cool and pleasant or warm and humid, sometimes both in the same day, so plan for heat even if the forecast looks mild. Aid is well stocked, with supplies roughly every 2.8 to 4.5 miles.

Is Hells Hills a good first 50K or 50 mile?

Yes, it is one of the friendlier places to step up to your first ultra. The looped format, the good footing, the close aid spacing (every 2.8 to 4.5 miles), and an easy-to-reach venue all take pressure off, and the generous course-closed time gives most prepared runners room to finish. Just respect the deceptive part: train the rolling hills so the repeated short climbs do not wreck you, rehearse fueling and hydration for warm weather, and pace the first loop like it is the easy one, because it is.

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