Summit Line

⏵ Course guide · Santa Ana Mountains

Old Goat 100 / 50 Mile Course Guide

The Old Goat Trail Runs are a 50 Mile, 50K, and 30K ultramarathon out of Blue Jay Campground in the Cleveland National Forest, deep in the Santa Ana Mountains above Lake Elsinore. The 50 packs roughly 13,423 feet of climbing into a nasty figure-eight, and people call it one of the toughest 50 milers in the country. I will walk you through how the course climbs, where it gets won or lost, and how to pace and fuel it so you are not guessing on race day.

Searching for an Old Goat 100? There is no official 100 mile Old Goat. The spring event tops out at 50 miles. The same trails host a separate fall 100 miler (Chimera 100). See the FAQ below.

⏵ Quick facts

Old Goat Trail Runs at a glance

Race
Old Goat Trail Runs
Date
Late March / early April 2027 (confirm on the official site)
Location
Blue Jay Campground, Trabuco district, Cleveland National Forest, Santa Ana Mountains, CA
Nearest town
Lake Elsinore, CA (near San Juan Capistrano)
Distances
50 Mile · 50K · 30K
Climbing (50 Mile)
About 13,423 ft of vertical gain (modified figure-eight)
Terrain
95% unpaved trail: single track, fire road, exposed ridgelines
Cutoffs
Generous time limits, no pacers allowed (confirm on the official site)
Status
Bucket-list-hard 50 miler; small field (around 150). Not a Western States qualifier at the 50-mile distance.

The numbers the race puts out (the 50 Mile vertical gain, the Trabuco location, the aid stations) I am stating as facts. The next edition date and the exact cutoff times can change from year to year, so always confirm those on the official Old Goat Races site before you register or book travel.

The course: where the Old Goat is won and lost

The 50 Mile is a modified figure-eight that starts and finishes at Blue Jay Campground in the Trabuco district of the Cleveland National Forest. Because it doubles back through the same canyons, you climb and drop the same big walls more than once. And the course saves its hardest climbing for when your legs are already deep in the red.

A figure-eight that never lets up

There are no real flat miles here. The route runs canyon single track and rough fire road, dropping into the drainages and grinding back up to open ridgelines, with roughly 13,423 feet of vertical gain on the 50 Mile. Average that out and it is around 270 feet of climbing for every single mile, and it does not come in a few clean bumps. It is a steady saw-tooth that just keeps going and wears down even strong climbers.

The aid stations split the course into honest chunks. Three of them are stocked and your crew can reach you (Hot Springs Canyon, Blue Jay Campground, and the Candy Store), while remote ones like Chiquito Falls and Cocktail Rock are barely stocked with no crew access. Pack your bottles and food to get you between the stocked stops, not just to the next sign.

Exposure and heat, not altitude, are the enemy

The Santa Anas only top out a few thousand feet up, so this is not an altitude race and you will not be gasping for air. What gets you instead is the exposure. Long stretches of fire road and ridgeline sit out in full sun, and even in late March the Southern California spring can spike warm. The people who blow up out here usually did not lack fitness, they just underestimated the heat on the open climbs.

Because it is a figure-eight, the second pass through the big climbs is where the race is decided. Run too hard on the early loops and you will come apart on those repeat climbs in the heat of the day. The course pays you back for being patient on the first half and for having a gut that has practiced eating and drinking while you climb.

Solo the whole way: no pacers

The Old Goat does not allow pacers, so the late climbs and any low-light sections are all on you. That changes the mental side of things. You cannot lean on a fresh set of legs to drag you up the final climbs, so your pacing discipline and your fueling plan are what carry you. The stocked aid stations become your lifeline, so get your nutrition, your bottle swaps, and a quick mental reset dialed in there.

Pacing strategy for a climbing-heavy 50

With about 13,423 feet of gain and a figure-eight that repeats its hardest climbs, you pace the Old Goat by effort and grade, not by some flat-ground goal pace. The clock that matters is your time to the second pass through the big climbs. That is where the runners who went out too hot come undone.

Hike the steeps on purpose, from the gun

On a course this steep, the fast people are the ones who power-hike the steep climbs well and run the parts that are actually runnable, not the ones trying to run everything early. Pick a climbing effort you can hold for ten-plus hours and protect it on the first loop. The vertical is what limits you, so think in vertical feet per hour and a heart-rate ceiling on the climbs, not minutes per mile.

Grade-adjusted pace is the honest way to compare your effort across terrain this different. Use the grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your steep-climb pace into an equivalent flat effort, and then you can actually tell when you are overreaching versus just moving slow because the grade is brutal.

Predict a realistic finish for THIS vert

Do not set your goal time off a flat 50 mile PR. With 13,423 feet of climbing, finish times out here run way slower than a runnable 50, and a vert-blind goal is exactly how people go out too fast. Plug the distance and the climbing into the vert-aware race-time calculator to get a finish prediction that actually respects the course, then build your aid-station splits backward from there.

And if all you have is a road or flat-trail time, the race-equivalent calculator turns a result you already know into a realistic Old Goat target before you even look at the climbing. A good sanity check on your goal.

⏵ Free tools for this course

Fueling strategy for the heat and the climbs

The open ridgelines and the warm Southern California spring turn the Old Goat into a sweat-loss race, and with no pacers your fueling is on you from the gun. Get your sodium and fluid right and the climbs just feel like climbs. Get them wrong and you cramp out on the second pass.

Salt and fluid for an exposed, warm day

Plan for heat even if the forecast looks mild, because the open fire roads give you nowhere to hide from the sun. Lean toward the upper end of the sodium range, roughly 500 to 700 milligrams of sodium per liter of fluid, and practice drinking around 0.5 to 0.8 liters per hour in the heat in training so it is second nature on race day. If you sweat heavy and salty, go even higher. The stocked aid stations are where you reset, so top off your bottles, get some real calories in, and cool down before the next open climb.

Use the ultra fueling calculator to take your body weight, your goal finish time on this vert, and the forecast and turn all of it into a real carb, sodium, and fluid plan per hour. Then go practice that exact plan on your long climbing runs.

Carbs your gut has actually rehearsed

Go with a carb rate you have actually trained, not a number off a chart. For a long day out there that often means 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, built from a glucose-plus-fructose blend so your gut can handle the higher volume. The classic mistake on a climbing course is letting your fueling slip while you grind uphill, and then bonking on the descent. Set a timer, eat on the climbs, and treat every stocked aid station as a chance to bank the calories you will need on the next climb.

⏵ Train for the Old Goat with Summit Line

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this exact course, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a vert-aware pacing and fueling plan for the Old Goat, and tracks how your gut and your climbing legs come around as race day gets closer, so you have rehearsed the figure-eight instead of guessing at it.

Get started free →Explore the demo

Old Goat FAQ

Is there an Old Goat 100 miler?

Not officially. The Old Goat Trail Runs are a 50 Mile, 50K, and 30K event in the Santa Ana Mountains. A lot of people search "Old Goat 100" and I get why, the same race director and the same Cleveland National Forest trails host a separate 100 miler in the fall called Chimera 100. So if you want 100 miles on this terrain, that is the race you want. But the spring Old Goat tops out at 50 miles, and the 50 is the one everybody is really chasing.

How hard is the Old Goat 50 Mile?

People call it one of the toughest 50 milers in the country, and the numbers back that up. It is not the technical stuff that gets you, there is no real scrambling here. It is the climbing, plain and simple. A modified figure-eight with roughly 13,423 feet of vertical gain, most of it on open fire road and ridgeline that bakes in the spring sun. There are no flat miles to hide in and no pacers allowed, and the worst climbs come late, when your legs are already cooked. Show up treating it like a mountain race, not a fast 50, and you will be in a much better spot.

How much climbing does the Old Goat have?

A lot. The 50 Mile carries about 13,423 feet of vertical gain, which is the number the race itself puts out, and it is the whole reason this thing has a reputation. That works out to around 270 feet of climbing per mile averaged across the course, and since it is a figure-eight you climb and drop the same canyons more than once. The 50K and 30K are shorter but you are on the same steep Santa Ana terrain, so they are climbing-heavy for their distance too. For the exact per-distance numbers, check the official site.

What is the terrain and elevation like at the Old Goat?

The course is about 95% unpaved trail in the Trabuco district of the Cleveland National Forest, a mix of single track and rough fire road through the canyons and along the ridgelines. The high country only tops out a few thousand feet up, nowhere near true alpine altitude, so oxygen is not what gets you. The heat and the never-ending climbing are. Long stretches sit out in the open, so managing the sun matters way more than fancy footwork.

How should I fuel for the Old Goat?

Fuel it like a hot, long day in the mountains. Those open Santa Ana ridgelines can heat up fast even in March, so plan on losing a lot of sweat. Lean toward the high end of the sodium range (roughly 500 to 700 mg per liter of fluid) and practice drinking 0.5 to 0.8 liters per hour in the heat before race day. For carbs, go with a rate your gut has actually done in training, which is often 60 to 90 grams per hour depending on how long you will be out there. Plug your weight and finish time into the fueling calculator linked in this guide and let it do the math for you.

What are the cutoffs and can I have a pacer?

The cutoffs are pretty generous for how hard the race is, but pacers are not allowed, so you take on the climbs and the dark sections by yourself. Your crew can meet you at the stocked aid stations (Hot Springs Canyon, Blue Jay Campground, and the Candy Store), and the remote stations are barely stocked with no crew access. Check the current cutoff times and crew rules on the official race site before race week, because they can change from one year to the next.

Show up to Blue Jay ready to climb

Summit Line builds your Old Goat plan around the real course and the actual aid stations, projects your splits on the vert, and tracks how your fueling and your climbing hold up across the whole training block. You get pacing off your own runs, an AI race brief, and a fueling plan you have actually rehearsed.

Get started free →Explore the demo

This guide is independent and is not affiliated with the Old Goat Trail Runs. The course details like the distances, the 50 Mile vertical gain, the location, and the aid stations come from the race organizer and public ultra databases, while the next edition date and the exact cutoffs can change. Always confirm the official date, course, cutoffs, and rules on the race website before you register or travel.