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A river running through a rock-walled canyon in spruce forest near Grande Cache
david hebert / Unsplash

Canadian Death Race course map and checkpoints

Five legs over Flood, Grande and Hamell mountains from Grande Cache, with a boat across the Smoky River near the end. Run it solo, as a relay, or take on the shorter Near Death race.

July 31 to August 1, 2027 Grande Cache, Alberta

The Canadian Death Race has started and finished in Grande Cache, on a plateau at the northern edge of Alberta's Rockies, since 2000. The full course climbs three mountains in five legs and crosses the Smoky River at Hell's Gate, where the Sulphur River joins it. You get across in a boat, and only if you still carry your Death Race coin.

For 2027 the organizer is changing the courses: the full race becomes a 120k and the Near Death Marathon becomes a 50k. Neither route is out yet, so the map shows the 2026 courses with their checkpoints and cutoffs.

The organizer warns there are a lot of trails out there, and that if you don't see a flag for a while you should go back to the last junction. Most runners do the last leg in the dark, and the marshals sweep a leg one to two hours behind the last starter. Download the map before you go: your phone's GPS shows where you are on the line without a signal.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with Canadian Death Race. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Death Race course map

Every course's aid stations on the Goat Maps topo map. Each course has a map of its own further down.

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Death Race courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
118K (2026 course)118 km (73.3 mi)4,770 m (15,650 ft)Sat, Jul 31, 8:00 AM24 h
Near Death Marathon (2026 course)41.3 km (25.7 mi)1,775 m (5,823 ft)Sat, Jul 31, 8:00 AM9 h 30 min

Death Race 118K (2026 course)

Five legs and three summits from Central Park and back, solo or as a relay.

Distance
118 km (73.3 mi)
Climbing
4,770 m (15,650 ft)
Start
Sat, Jul 31, 8:00 AM
Time limit
24 h

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Leg 1 (14 km) is fairly straightforward: a little pavement, then quad trail and gravel past Grande Cache Lake and Peavine Lake, and a mud bog by the rail yard before TA200. Leg 2 (29.4 km) climbs Flood Mountain, loops its summit and crosses to Grande Mountain on the roughest trail of the race. The power line straight down Grande Mountain into town is the most dangerous stretch of the course. Leg 3 (21.5 km) drops on the Old Mine Road to the Smoky River valley floor, the lowest point, with a knee-deep wade.

Leg 4 (35.2 km), the Hamell Assault, is the one the organizer calls make or break: two long climbs up Mount Hamell, a short run out along the Spine past CP416, where in 2026 you picked up your coin, and a descent over boulders and ruts. Leg 5 (18.5 km) is brushy singletrack to the river, the boat at CP513 (the last one goes at 6:30 AM), then a long climb out of the valley to the finish.

Each TA's time is the cutoff to start the next leg. The organizer's aid page lists food and water at every TA and at CP219, CP316, CP423 and CP510; in 2026 CP410's supplies moved up to CP416. The other CPs aren't on its list, though you check in at all of them. Relay teams run the same five legs and hand off at the TAs.

aid stations

kmWhereCutoff
0Central Park (start, TA300 and finish)
10.6CP109
14.2TA200 (end of Leg 1) Crew, Drop bagSat 12:00 PM
24.7CP206
25.6CP207
27.3CP206
32.3CP219
42.1CP226
43.6Central Park (start, TA300 and finish) Crew, Drop bagSat 5:30 PM
60.9CP316
64.4TA400 (end of Leg 3) Crew, Drop bagSat 7:45 PM
69.2CP406
74.6CP416
75.7CP416
86.1CP423/CP426 Drop bag
90.3CP423/CP426
99.6TA500 (end of Leg 4) Crew, Drop bagSun 4:45 AM
106.6CP510
106.9CP513 (the boat) Sun 6:30 AM
117.5CP521
118Central Park (start, TA300 and finish) CrewSun 8:00 AM
A turquoise river braiding across gravel bars below a rocky cliff near Grande Cache
david hebert / Unsplash

Death Race Near Death Marathon (2026 course)

Legs 1 and 2 without the Flood summit loop, back to Central Park.

Distance
41.3 km (25.7 mi)
Climbing
1,775 m (5,823 ft)
Start
Sat, Jul 31, 8:00 AM
Time limit
9 h 30 min

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next aid station without a signal.

Open in web map

The Near Death Marathon runs Leg 1 and Leg 2 of the full course but skips the Flood Mountain summit loop, so you still climb Flood and cross to Grande Mountain, then come down the power line into town. You have 9.5 hours.

In 2026 the course was 41.3 km with 1,775 m of climbing. For 2027 it becomes the Near Death 50k, which closes at 8 PM Saturday; its route hasn't been published.

Houses on a street in Grande Cache, with forested ridges and bare mountains behind
david hebert / Unsplash

Entering the 2027 race

Entry is on Race Roster. When this page was checked the full course cost CA$350 until November 30, then CA$360 to July 16 and CA$380 from July 17 to 26. The Near Death 50k was CA$300 and the relay CA$280 for the same period.

The race takes up to 1,000 racers, with at most 200 in the Near Death race and relay teams filling the rest. Runners under 18 need a waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

The 2027 edition, the 27th, is July 31 and August 1. The 8 AM start, the Sunday 8 AM close and the Saturday 8 PM close for the 50k are published; the new routes and their cutoffs aren't yet.

Getting to Grande Cache

Houses on a street in Grande Cache, with forested ridges and bare mountains behind
david hebert / Unsplash

Grande Cache is on Highway 40, 142 km north of Hinton and 184 km south of Grande Prairie. From Edmonton it's about five hours by car, west on Highway 16 and north at Hinton. From Calgary the organizer suggests the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Jasper, about seven hours. The nearest airport is Grande Prairie, two hours away.

Check-in is Friday afternoon at the recreation centre, and there's no check-in on Saturday morning. The race starts and finishes in Central Park, just west of it.

Hotels fill up fast for race weekend, and the municipal campground fills from May. Tent City, at the baseball field, is $50 for the weekend for a tent or an RV, with showers at the recreation centre.

Crewing and the relay

Crews and relay teammates can meet runners only at the TAs, never at a CP. Solo runners can leave a drop bag at each TA and at CP423, handed in at Friday check-in. You'll need the race parking pass to drive into a TA, and you can't park on the highway.

TA200, at the end of Leg 1, gets jammed. In 2026 its access road was closed to spectators, parking was for support crews only, and a shuttle ran from in front of Holy Cross Catholic Church, just west of the start, for the first four hours.

Relay runners should be at their TA 30 minutes before their teammate is due. The race doesn't give updates on where runners are, and you get no time credit if your runner arrives before you. Crews and spectators bring their own food, since the aid station food is for racers and volunteers.

Weather and kit

A river running through a rock-walled canyon in spruce forest near Grande Cache
david hebert / Unsplash

July in Grande Cache averages highs around 20 °C and lows around 7 °C, and it's the wettest month of the year. The organizer warns of heat in the day and cold at night, and says Hamell hides bad weather almost every year.

The recommended kit is a headlamp after 6 PM, water, a wind and rain jacket, a warm hat, a sun hat and sunglasses, clear glasses for Leg 5's dense forest, a whistle and a space blanket. The CPs have no cups, so carry a bottle or a cup. Bear spray or a bear banger is your call, if you know how to use it: someone reports a bear or a cougar on the course every year.

The organizer's crew list includes a warm jacket, since it's cold at night even in August, and bug repellent ("trust us, you want this").

Death Race aid stations and GPS coordinates

For crews and spectators: each place on the map in decimal degrees, latitude first. Paste them into any map app or add them as waypoints in Goat Maps.

  • Central Park (start, TA300 and finish)

    1,237 m (4,058 ft)

    53.88584, -119.12991

  • CP109

    1,127 m (3,698 ft)

    53.90376, -119.06081

  • TA200 (end of Leg 1)

    1,142 m (3,747 ft)

    53.91828, -119.01649

  • CP206

    1,659 m (5,443 ft)

    53.96267, -119.04980

  • CP207

    1,817 m (5,961 ft)

    53.96446, -119.03924

  • CP219

    1,707 m (5,600 ft)

    53.93469, -119.09140

  • CP226

    1,265 m (4,150 ft)

    53.89133, -119.11611

  • CP316

    942 m (3,091 ft)

    54.00223, -119.11743

  • TA400 (end of Leg 3)

    936 m (3,071 ft)

    53.97855, -119.14658

  • CP406

    1,553 m (5,095 ft)

    53.98500, -119.17487

  • CP416

    2,116 m (6,942 ft)

    53.97233, -119.20647

  • CP423/CP426

    1,519 m (4,984 ft)

    53.94939, -119.25336

  • TA500 (end of Leg 4)

    968 m (3,176 ft)

    53.90420, -119.16864

  • CP510

    1,018 m (3,340 ft)

    53.85237, -119.18521

  • CP513 (the boat)

    979 m (3,212 ft)

    53.85084, -119.18280

  • CP521

    1,245 m (4,085 ft)

    53.88615, -119.12275

Death Race FAQ

When is the Canadian Death Race 2027?

Saturday, July 31 to Sunday, August 1, 2027. The race starts at 8 AM Saturday from Central Park in Grande Cache, and the full course closes at 8 AM Sunday.

What changes for 2027?

The organizer says the full course becomes a 120k and the Near Death Marathon becomes a 50k. The new routes aren't published yet, so the map on this page is the 2026 course.

Is the Canadian Death Race a Western States qualifier?

Yes. Western States lists the 2027 race as a qualifier for its 2028 lottery, for finishing the 118 km in under 24 hours. Check the new distance against the list once it's final.

Can you have a pacer at the Canadian Death Race?

No. Registered runners can run together on their own leg, but a relay runner who has finished a leg can't go back out to pace a teammate. Outside the TAs, only other racers and race medics may help you.

How does the river crossing work?

On Leg 5 a boat ferries runners across the Smoky River at CP513. You hand your Death Race coin to the grim reaper to board, and without it your race ends there. The last boat leaves at 6:30 AM Sunday.

How long do you get?

24 hours for the full course, solo or relay, and 9.5 hours for the 2026 Near Death Marathon. Each leg has its own start cutoff, and the organizer says a solo runner who can't finish in under 13 hours will be running in the dark.

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Updated . An unofficial guide, from the organizer's published information. Coordinates from the organizer's course and OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos from Unsplash. Organize a race? We help with course files.