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Zane Grey Highline Trail Runs Course Guide

The Zane Grey is the Southwest classic, a rocky, technical 50 Mile and 50K on the Highline Trail below the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona. Endless loose rock, long gaps between aid, and big open sections with no shade from the desert sun. People call it one of the hardest 50 milers in the country, and they are not wrong. I will walk you through the course, then give you pacing and fueling that actually fits this terrain and this heat, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ Quick facts

The Zane Grey at a glance

Date: Sat, April 24, 2027 (37th Annual)
Location: Highline Trail, below the Mogollon Rim, Tonto National Forest, AZ
Start / Finish: Mountain Meadows Ranch, Christopher Creek (near Payson), AZ
Distances: 50 Mile and 50K (about 28.6 miles)
Elevation gain: 50 Mile around 7,157 ft; 50K around 4,782 ft (mostly singletrack)
Cutoffs (50 Mile, 2026): Noon at 15 mi, 1:30 PM at 27.8 mi, 5:30 PM at 38 mi
Difficulty: Often called one of the hardest 50 milers in North America (about 71% finish rate)
Qualifier: Confirm current qualifier status (Western States, UTMB, Cocodona) on the official site

Note: the 50 Mile course has historically run long, closer to 55 miles than 50, and elevation, cutoffs, and aid mileages shift year to year. A 100K has been floated in the past but it is not a confirmed current distance. Always confirm the date, exact distances, route, and cutoffs on the official Zane Grey site before you plan your race.

The course

The Zane Grey runs the Highline Trail, a route that goes back more than a century, running along the bench just below the Mogollon Rim in the Tonto National Forest. It is almost all singletrack, the 50 Mile is roughly 86 percent trail and the 50K over 90 percent, with roughly 7,157 feet of climbing on the 50 Mile and around 4,782 feet on the 50K. But the thing that defines this course is not the vert, it is the rock. The trail is technical the whole way, covered in loose stone, and it rarely lets you settle into a clean stride.

Rocky, technical singletrack the whole way

There is no easy stretch out here. The course rolls and turns over loose rock the whole way, so even the parts that look runnable on a profile cost you way more energy than the grade suggests. You have to watch your feet constantly, and one careless moment over the rock can end your race. This is a course you manage step by step. You do not get to switch off and cruise.

Because the surface is so rough, your moving pace is going to be slower than your fitness says it should be. So plan your splits around the terrain, not around flat-ground numbers, and treat trips and rolled ankles as the real threat. Strong feet and ankles and confident footwork over rock are about the most race-specific thing you can train for here.

Exposure, sun, and the heat

It is an April race and people still underestimate the heat. Long open sections of the trail are fully exposed with no shade from the Arizona sun, and by mid morning those open parts can get genuinely hot. Heat and sun, not altitude, are what is most likely to slow you down or end your day, and it builds on you over the long hours out on the rim.

There are stream crossings out there too, and they are a good way to cool off and douse yourself when the day heats up. So stay on top of your core temperature. Use the water, keep your electrolytes up, and treat the hottest hours like a discipline, backing off effort so you survive to run again once it cools.

Long gaps between aid

One of the signatures of Zane Grey is how far apart the aid stations are. You can be out on your own for miles over technical exposed trail, so self-sufficiency is not optional here. Carry enough fluid and calories to cover the longest legs comfortably, not the average leg, because running dry in the heat between two far-apart aid stations is exactly how a manageable day turns into a death march.

The 50 Mile has a handful of aid stations along the route and you can drop bags at the major checkpoints. Study the current aid map, find the longest carries, and rehearse exactly what you are holding and eating between each one, so you are never rationing out in the sun.

Cutoffs and where the race is won or lost

The recent 50 Mile edition started at 5:30 AM with a noon cutoff at 15 miles, a 1:30 PM cutoff near 27.8 miles, and a 5:30 PM cutoff at 38 miles. Those are aggressive given how slow the rock forces you to move, so you cannot casually hike the front half. You have to keep moving with margin over the rocks early, before the heat and the pounding catch up to you.

This race is won or lost on patience and managing yourself. Stay smooth and unhurried over the rock, protect your feet and quads on the rough descents, and never let the heat or a long dry carry put you in a hole. Confirm the current cutoff chart on the official site and build your plan backward from those times, with a buffer.

Pacing strategy for the Zane Grey

A rocky, exposed, technical course rewards patience and punishes ego. Pace this one by effort and terrain, not by the flat-ground numbers from your home runs, and expect the whole thing to run slower than a smooth 50 with the same vert. That is just how it goes here.

Pace by effort, not by the clock

On terrain this rough your minutes-per-mile will swing all over the place, and that is fine. Power-hike the steep rocky pitches efficiently and run the cleaner sections under control. Trying to hold a steady pace number over the Highline Trail rock is the fastest way to blow up early. See our guide on how to pace an ultramarathon by effort to anchor your day to effort instead of splits.

Use our free grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest effort targets for the steep rocky climbs, and our vert-aware race time calculator to set a realistic finish goal that accounts for both the climbing and how much the technical surface slows you down.

Power-hike the rock, protect your feet

Efficient power hiking over rough rock is a core Zane Grey skill, and on the steeper technical pitches a strong hike is usually faster and a lot cheaper than a stumbling run. Our guide on how to power hike and use trekking poles covers the technique, and poles can save your legs over the endless ups and downs, just confirm they are allowed for the current edition.

And because the surface beats up your feet and ankles all day, durability matters as much as your engine does. Our guide on strength training and injury prevention for ultra runners covers the ankle, foot, and lower-leg work that keeps you upright and moving when the rock gets loose late in the race.

Reality-check your goal for the terrain

Whether you run the 50 Mile or the 50K, the rock and the heat mean your finish time is probably going to be slower than a comparable race on smooth trail. If you are stepping up to this distance, see our guide on how to train for a 50 mile race to build the durability and long-day fitness Zane Grey asks for.

To sanity-check your goal against your real fitness, run a recent result through our race equivalent calculator for an honest projection, then pad it for the technical terrain and the sun. A goal that ignores the rock and the heat is a goal the Highline Trail will quietly take apart.

Fueling strategy for the Zane Grey

A hot, exposed, all-day effort with long dry carries makes fueling and hydration as decisive as your fitness. The sun on the open Highline Trail is the thing that wrecks most well-trained runners, so plan for it on purpose.

Carbs: ramp to the high end, on a trained gut

For an effort this long, aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and lean toward the high end once your gut can handle it. Use a glucose-plus-fructose blend so you can absorb more than a single sugar lets you, and rehearse your exact hourly carb number on long runs. Our guides on how to build an ultramarathon fueling plan and how many carbs per hour for an ultramarathon walk you through getting that number right.

The heat makes this harder, because a hot stomach takes in less. So practice fueling in real heat, and keep eating through the ugly hot hours when your appetite drops off but your engine still needs the fuel.

Sodium and fluid: built for the sun and the long carries

Out on the open Highline Trail your sweat losses can be high, so bias your sodium toward 500 to 700 mg per liter of fluid and carry enough to cover the longest gaps between aid, not the average ones. Cramping, a sloshy stomach, that wrung-out feeling late in the race, those are usually fluid and sodium problems, not fitness problems. Our guide on how much sodium per hour for ultra running helps you set your number.

Dial in a personalized plan with our free ultra fueling calculator. Enter your weight, your goal time, and the expected heat, and it gives you a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine prescription per hour built for the Zane Grey duration and conditions. Then go test it in training.

Train for the heat before race day

Because the open sections put you fully in the Arizona sun even in April, heat prep is one of the highest-payoff things you can do, especially if you train somewhere cool or you are hitting a spring race off a cold winter. See our guide on heat training and acclimatization for ultras to build a simple protocol in the weeks before the race.

Heat-adapted runners hold pace better, sweat more efficiently, and keep their stomachs working when the sun is straight overhead. Pair that with a rehearsed fluid and sodium plan and you take out the single most common reason runners fade at Zane Grey.

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Zane Grey Highline Trail Runs FAQ

How hard is the Zane Grey Highline Trail Runs?

Very hard. The Zane Grey 50 Mile gets called one of the toughest 50 milers in North America and the finish rate has sat around 71 percent over the years, so that reputation is earned. And honestly the climbing is not even the main problem. You get around 7,157 feet of gain on the 50 Mile, but the thing that wrecks people is the surface, rocky technical singletrack on the Highline Trail below the Mogollon Rim that almost never lets you settle into a rhythm. Then stack on long gaps between aid, big open sections with no shade from the Arizona sun even in April, and the fact that the course tends to run long, closer to 55 miles than 50. It punishes anyone who shows up thinking 50 miles is just 50 miles. The 50K is shorter but it runs the same brutal trail, so do not treat it like the easy option.

How much climbing is in the Zane Grey 50?

The 50 Mile carries roughly 7,157 feet of climbing with about that much descent, and the 50K carries roughly 4,782 feet of gain. But those numbers undersell it, because the gain comes in a thousand short sharp rocky pitches instead of a few long graded climbs. The Highline Trail just rolls and twists over loose rock the whole way, so even the parts that look runnable cost you more than the profile says they should. Train for relentless technical up and down, not for one or two big mountain climbs. That is the mistake people make.

How should I fuel for the Zane Grey 50?

Fuel for a long hot technical day. Most runners aim for 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and you want to lean toward the high end once your gut can take it, with sodium around 500 to 700 mg per liter of fluid, because the open Highline Trail and the Arizona sun run your sweat losses up fast. The long gaps between aid mean you are on your own for those stretches, so plan your carry around the longest legs, not the average ones. And practice your exact hourly numbers in real heat first, not in your head. Our free ultra fueling calculator builds a personalized carb, sodium, and fluid plan per hour for the expected duration and heat.

What are the Zane Grey 50 cutoffs?

The recent 50 Mile edition ran a noon cutoff at the 15 mile aid station, a 1:30 PM cutoff around 27.8 miles, and a 5:30 PM cutoff at the 38 mile aid station, off a 5:30 AM start. Those are aggressive for terrain this technical, so you cannot just casually hike the front half. You have to keep moving with margin over the rocks early. Cutoffs and aid mileages move year to year, so always pull the current cutoff chart off the official Zane Grey site and build your pacing plan backward from those times, with a buffer.

How high is the Zane Grey course, and does altitude matter?

The Highline Trail runs along the bench just below the Mogollon Rim, the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, at moderate elevation, generally several thousand feet above sea level rather than true high altitude. So this is not a thin-air race like a high alpine 100. That said, if you are coming from sea level the climbs might feel a touch harder than they do at home. The thing that actually gets people here is the open sun and heat, not the altitude. Pace the climbs by effort and stay on top of your core temperature.

When is the next Zane Grey, and what distances are offered?

The next one is the 37th Annual on Saturday, April 24, 2027, starting and finishing at Mountain Meadows Ranch in Christopher Creek near Payson, Arizona. Right now the race offers a 50 Mile and a 50K of about 28.6 miles, both on the rocky Highline Trail below the Mogollon Rim. Distances, the exact date, and the course can all change year to year, so confirm everything on the official Zane Grey race website before you sign up or book travel.

This guide is for planning and training purposes and reflects publicly available information about the Zane Grey Highline Trail Runs. Race details, including the date, distances, course, aid stations, cutoffs, and any qualifier status, can change year to year, and the course is known to run long. Always confirm the current specifics on the official Zane Grey race website before you train or travel.