⏵ Course guide · Ponderosa State Park, McCall, Idaho
The Sasquatch Shuffle loops through Ponderosa State Park above Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho, built from a 6.79 mile trail loop with about 640 feet of gain each time around. I will walk you through the course and cutoffs first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan for the 50K, 30K, or 20K. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Endless Trails event page. Check the current year details before you commit.
All three distances build off the same 6.79 mile loop through Ponderosa State Park, so your longer distance is more of the same terrain rather than a different course.
Each 6.79 mile lap gains about 640 feet and mixes rolling, rocky, and flat sections with a lot of flowy singletrack, some doubletrack, and short stretches of gravel and pavement, with views out over Payette Lake. It is a genuinely varied trail day without a single defining climb.
The race runs a no-paper-products, Leave No Trace approach at its aid stations, so bring your own reusable cup or hydration system. Bibs and finisher awards are hand-made, and proceeds fund trail work at the park itself through Friends of Ponderosa.
The real pacing constraint here is not the final 6 PM finish, it is the intermediate aid station cutoffs built into the longer distances.
If you are running the 50K, you must leave the 40K aid station by 4 PM, and 30K runners must leave the 20K aid station by 2 PM. Work backward from those checkpoint times rather than only tracking your projected finish, since a slow early loop can put the intermediate cutoff at real risk even if the final 6 PM line still looks comfortable.
⏵ Free tools to plan your effort
The official page does not detail an aid station menu, so plan to carry a real share of your own nutrition between loops.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range. An early October day in McCall usually runs cooler than a midsummer Idaho race, which eases your fluid needs somewhat but does not change your carbohydrate math, so keep taking in calories on schedule even if you feel less thirsty than you would in August.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and an early October McCall 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and the kind of repeatable loop endurance this course rewards. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the durability your distance asks for, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The course is built from repeats of a 6.79 mile loop with about 640 feet of gain each time around, a mix of rolling, rocky, and flat trail with plenty of flowy singletrack and some doubletrack, gravel, and pavement. Nothing about that description suggests a brutal mountain climb, so the 50K is more a test of sustained effort and repeat-loop pacing than technical difficulty, with the fall date usually keeping temperatures cooler than a midsummer Idaho race.
Every distance shares a 6 PM overall finish. On top of that, the 50K has an intermediate cutoff requiring you to leave the 40K aid station by 4 PM, and the 30K has to leave the 20K aid station by 2 PM. Build your pacing plan around those intermediate checkpoints, not just the final 6 PM line.
The 20K is a solid non-ultra tune-up if you want to see the course before committing to a longer distance, and the 30K is a reasonable first-ultra step given the moderate per-loop elevation gain and generous cutoff windows. The event itself has a low-key, community feel, hand-made bibs and medals, Leave No Trace ethics, proceeds that fund the park's own trails, which makes it a forgiving place to try a longer distance for the first time.
Every distance is built from the same 6.79 mile loop through Ponderosa State Park, a mix of rolling, rocky, and flat sections with a lot of flowy singletrack, some doubletrack, and short stretches of gravel and pavement, with views out over Payette Lake along the way.
The race runs on a Leave No Trace, no-paper-products approach at its aid stations, so bring your own reusable cup or hydration system rather than expecting disposable cups on course.
Entry fee details aside, the race does not publish a detailed aid station menu, so plan to carry a meaningful share of your own calories between checkpoints on the loop course. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, and expect an early October McCall day to run cooler than midsummer, which changes your fluid needs more than your carbohydrate needs. Use the free ultra fueling calculator to build your own numbers.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/sasquatch-shuffle">The Sasquatch Shuffle course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/sasquatch-shuffle" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Sasquatch Shuffle course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, and entry rules 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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