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StumpJump 50K Course Guide

The StumpJump 50K is one of the Southeast’s signature ultras, a rocky, technical romp on the Cumberland Trail along Signal Mountain and Walden Ridge above the Tennessee River Gorge near Chattanooga. It has been around for more than two decades, and the terrain, not the distance, is what sticks with people. I’ll walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for all that rock and rolling vert. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

StumpJump 50K quick facts

Date
Early March (Saturday, March 7, 2026). Historically the first Saturday in October.
Location
Signal Mountain and Walden Ridge, Cumberland Trail, near Chattanooga, TN
Distances
50K (about 31.9 mi) and a 10 Miler
Elevation gain
50K: over 5,000 ft of climbing (some GPS files measure closer to 6,500 ft)
Start
50K: 7:30 AM ET · 10 Miler: 8:30 AM ET, at the Signal Mountain soccer fields
Cutoff
50K: 10 hr overall, with intermittent cutoffs (about 4 hr at Indian Rock House, about 7 hr at Mullens Cove)
Qualifier
No Western States, UTMB, or Hardrock qualifier status listed by the race

These facts come from the official race host and UltraSignup. The race moved from its old first-Saturday-in-October date to early March, so double-check the current date, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Logistics change year to year.

The course: where StumpJump is won and lost

StumpJump runs as a lollipop on the Cumberland Trail, about 31.9 miles with over 5,000 feet of climbing. The first and last roughly four miles are on a smoother jeep and dirt road, and everything in between is technical sandstone singletrack along the bluffs. There is no single huge climb here. The race is decided by how well you handle hours of relentless rocky, rolling trail.

The rock: this is a technical course, full stop

The thing nobody warns flatland runners about is how much of StumpJump is just rock. Packed dirt and mountain stone, sandstone slabs, roots, and the stretch people call the Rock Garden where you stop running smoothly and start picking your line. If you only train on smooth trail or roads, this course will chew up your ankles and your confidence in the first half.

Spend real time on rough, technical trail before race day. Quick feet, a relaxed upper body, and the willingness to power-hike the rockiest pitches will save you way more time than raw fitness. The runners who float over this stuff are not faster, they just practiced reading the ground.

The vert: no monster climb, just endless rolling

You will not find one big mountain to summit here. Instead the climbing is stacked into constant short ups and downs along Signal Mountain and Walden Ridge, with classic overlooks like Edwards Point and Snoopers Rock along the way. Over 5,000 feet of gain (some watches read closer to 6,500) sneaks up on you a hundred feet at a time, and that is what fries your legs late.

Pace these rollers by effort, not ego. Hike the steep little pitches without guilt, keep your output even, and do not hammer every small climb just because it is short. The constant grade change is the real test, and even effort is how you get to the road miles at the end with something left.

The road miles: where you actually make time

The first and last few miles on the jeep and dirt road are the only genuinely fast running on the course. That cuts two ways. Going out, it is tempting to bank speed on the easy early road and arrive at the technical singletrack already overcooked. Resist that. Coming home, those final road miles are your chance to finally open up and reel people in if you paced the rocky middle smart.

Plan your effort around this shape. Easy on the opening road, controlled and patient through the long technical core, then spend whatever you saved on the closing road stretch. People who flip that order spend the last four miles walking a runnable road, which is a brutal way to finish.

Pacing strategy for a rocky, rolling 50K

With over 5,000 feet of gain spread across constant rollers and a ton of technical rock, StumpJump is about managing effort and footing, not hitting a pace chart. Your flat-road splits will lie to you here. Run by feel and by grade.

Pace by grade and terrain, not by the watch

Your road pace means almost nothing on the technical Cumberland Trail middle. The rocks alone slow you down even when the grade is flat, so chasing a goal pace through the singletrack is a fast way to blow up. Hold a steady, repeatable effort, hike the rocky steep bits, and let the smooth road miles be where the clock actually moves. A grade-adjusted pace turns your real fitness into honest targets for the rollers and the road so you stop fighting the terrain.

Build a finish prediction that respects the rock

Do not guess your StumpJump time off a road 50K. The 5,000-plus feet of climbing, the technical footing, and the constant grade changes all add real time, and a typical finish here runs well over a flat 50K. A vert-aware finish prediction gives you a realistic window and lets you work backward into the intermittent cutoffs, so you know how much cushion you actually have at Indian Rock House and Mullens Cove instead of finding out the hard way.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for the duration

Most runners are out on the StumpJump 50K for somewhere around 5 to 10 hours, and the technical footing means you are working hard the whole time even when you are not moving fast. That makes carbohydrate and fluid every bit as important as fitness. There are a handful of aid stations along the loop, but you still need to cover the gaps.

Carbs: steady and trained

For a 5 to 10 hour effort, aim for around 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the higher end if your gut is trained for it. The constant rock work and the focus it takes can blunt your appetite, so keep your intake steady and easy to get down rather than gambling on big catch-up doses late. Practice your exact race-day carb rate on long technical runs so 80-plus grams an hour feels routine, not like an experiment on race morning.

Fluid and sodium: cover the gaps and the weather

The 50K passes through several aid stations along the loop (Edwards Point, Mushroom Rock, Indian Rock House, Snoopers Rock, Haley Road, and Mullens Cove), but the gaps between them can run several miles of slow technical trail, so carry enough fluid and calories to get yourself across rather than rationing to the next one. Sodium should track your sweat and the conditions: a cool March morning needs less than the old warm October date did, but you still lose salt working hard for hours. Weigh yourself before and after a long run to find your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and StumpJump’s duration 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 StumpJump course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the rock and the rolling vert, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

StumpJump 50K FAQ

How hard is the StumpJump 50K?

StumpJump is a genuinely tough Southeastern 50K, and people who write it off as a "flat" Tennessee race get humbled. You cover about 31.9 miles with more than 5,000 feet of climbing on the Cumberland Trail, and most of the middle is technical sandstone singletrack with real rock gardens, roots, and a lot of little punchy ups and downs that grind on your legs. There is no single monster climb, but the relentless rocky footing and the constant elevation change add up fast. The 10-hour cutoff is generous if you keep moving, but the terrain, not your fitness, is usually what decides your day.

How much climbing is in the StumpJump 50K?

The official course is listed at over 5,000 feet of total elevation gain across roughly 31.9 miles, and some GPS recordings come back closer to 6,500 feet depending on the watch. None of it comes in one big mountain climb. Instead it is stacked into endless rolling rock along the bluffs of Signal Mountain and Walden Ridge, with the first and last few miles on smoother jeep and dirt road. Treat it as a vert-heavy, technical course, not a fast road 50K.

What is the StumpJump 50K course like?

It runs as a lollipop on the Cumberland Trail above the Tennessee River Gorge. The first and last roughly four miles are on a jeep or dirt road, which is the runnable part, and the rest is predominantly technical singletrack made of packed dirt and mountain stone. You pass classic overlooks like Edwards Point and Snoopers Rock, and there is a notorious stretch runners call the Rock Garden where the footing is all sandstone and you just have to pick your way through. The views of the gorge are some of the best in the Southeast.

What are the cutoff times for the StumpJump 50K?

The 50K has an overall limit of 10 hours, which puts the finish around 5:30 PM off the 7:30 AM start. There are intermittent cutoffs along the way, typically around 4 hours at the Indian Rock House aid station near mile 14 and around 7 hours at Mullens Cove near mile 23, so you cannot bank all your buffer for the end. The 10 Miler has its own 4-hour cap with an early checkpoint cutoff. Always confirm the exact intermediate cutoffs in the current race-day details before you start.

What is the terrain and weather like at StumpJump?

The terrain is about 90 percent singletrack, and a lot of it is rocky, rooty, technical Cumberland Trail with sandstone slabs, short steep pitches, and exposed bluff edges over the gorge. Now that the race runs in early March, expect cool to cold mornings, possible frost or mud, and weather that can swing from crisp and clear to wet and raw. The old October date tended to be milder and drier. Either way, the rock stays slick when it is damp, so footing and layering both matter.

Is the StumpJump 50K a good first 50K?

It can be a great first 50K for a runner who respects the terrain and trains for it, and it has a long history of being people’s entry into the ultra distance. That said, it is not an easy starter course. The rocky, technical Cumberland Trail singletrack and the constant rolling vert demand specific prep: time on rough trail, practice running and hiking punchy climbs, and downhill legs that can handle hours of rock without falling apart. If you put in that work, the 10-hour cutoff gives most prepared first-timers plenty of room to finish.

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