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A green meadow with scattered spruce near Silverton, below snow-streaked peaks
Michael Herren / Unsplash

Hardrock 100 course map and aid stations

One loop through the San Juan Mountains from Silverton, over Handies Peak at 14,048 feet, with 48 hours to kiss the rock.

July 9 to 11, 2027 Silverton, Colorado

Hardrock is a 100 mile loop through the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, run every July since 1992 except for four cancelled years. It starts and finishes in Silverton and passes through Telluride, Ouray and the ghost town of Sherman, on 4WD roads, trails and cross country. There's no finish line: you finish by kissing the Hardrock, a ram's head painted on a block of mining debris.

The course switches direction each year, and in 2027 it runs counterclockwise. You cross 13 major passes and spend most of the run above 11,000 feet. The organizer warns that marmots and elk carry off or trample course markers, and that phones glitch and their batteries die, so they publish a GPX file for your phone and still expect you to study the maps. Download the course in Goat Maps before you go. GPS shows where you are without a signal, and the 2026 runner's manual says Grouse Gulch, a crew stop that year, has no phone reception.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Hardrock 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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Hardrock courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
100 Mile102.5 mi (165 km)33,441 ft (10,193 m)Fri, Jul 9, 6:00 AM48 h

Hardrock 100 Mile

Counterclockwise from Silverton: Handies Peak, down to Ouray, over to Telluride and home.

Distance
102.5 mi (165 km)
Climbing
33,441 ft (10,193 m)
Start
Fri, Jul 9, 6:00 AM
Time limit
48 h

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You leave the Silverton School gym and climb straight to Dives Little Giant Pass, 13,000 feet, by mile 7. Then you go over Buffalo Boy Ridge, across the Continental Divide to Pole Creek and down Cataract Gulch to Sherman. Next is the climb from Burrows Park to the top of Handies Peak at mile 37.9. The low point is Ouray at mile 58.6, 7,678 feet, reached down the Bear Creek gorge. After that you climb to Kroger's Canteen, an aid station on Virginius Pass at 13,098 feet, then cross Oscar's Pass and the scree couloir of Grant Swamp Pass. The last big obstacle is Mineral Creek, the biggest water crossing on the course, with a fixed rope.

The longest stretch is Burrows Park to Animas Forks, 10.6 miles over Handies with 4,603 feet of climbing, and Telluride to Chapman is 9.7 miles with 4,500 feet. The organizer hadn't published a 2027 aid station chart when this page was checked, so the stops here are from the 2025 chart, the last counterclockwise year. In 2026 the race moved the Animas Forks aid station back to Grouse Gulch, and the 2027 pacer rules name Grouse Gulch as the first place a pacer can join. Check the new chart when it's out.

aid stations

miWhereCutoff
0Silverton (start and finish) Crew
9.3Cunningham Gulch Crew, Drop bagFri 10:45
15.4Maggie Gulch
20.4Pole Creek
29.8Sherman Crew, Drop bagFri 20:15
34Burrows Park
44.6Animas Forks Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 02:30
50.6Engineer
58.6Ouray Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 09:00
66.2Governor Basin Sat 12:30
69.8Kroger's Canteen
74.7Telluride Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 16:00
84.4Chapman Gulch Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 20:45
91KT PacersSun 00:45
96.6Putnam Basin
102.5Silverton (start and finish) Crew, Drop bagSun 06:00
Yellow alpine sunflowers on a slope near Handies Peak, with snow patches and red hills behind
Intricate Explorer / Unsplash

Qualifying and the lottery

You need a finish from Hardrock's list of qualifying races to enter the lottery. The application window for 2027 runs October 1 to 14, 2026, on UltraSignup, and the draw is on December 5, 2026. For 2026 the lottery picked 147 runners from about 3,000 applicants, in two pools: one for runners who have finished Hardrock and one for those who haven't. In the Never Finished pool, each year you applied and didn't start doubles your tickets.

The fee is $450 plus UltraSignup's fees, charged if you're drawn. You get half back if you withdraw before June 1, and nothing after. Every runner also owes 8 hours of service, building or maintaining trail, or helping run an ultra. For 2027 it has to be done in the 12 months to June 15, 2027, with the signed form in by June 21.

Getting to Silverton

A rocky ridge with patches of snow above a forested canyon near Silverton
Michael Herren / Unsplash

Silverton is about 48 miles north of Durango on US 550, over Coal Bank and Molas passes, and about 23 miles south of Ouray over Red Mountain Pass. The nearest airports are Durango-La Plata County and Montrose Regional, each about an hour and a half away by car.

Silverton fills up during run week. Camping Hardrock, at the Kendall Mountain Recreation Area in town, is free, with room for 180 vehicles and tents, and you have to register: sign-up for 2027 opens in May. The organizer also points to the campgrounds at South Mineral Creek and Molas Lake, and to lodging in Ouray.

Crewing and pacing

Main street in Telluride, with Trico Peak and a steep canyon wall behind
Cole Marshall / Unsplash

Crews can meet runners only at the crew access aid stations, and each runner gets a single crew pass to show there. On the 2025 counterclockwise chart those were Cunningham Gulch, Sherman, Animas Forks, Ouray, Telluride and Chapman Gulch, and the 2027 rules name Grouse Gulch as a crew stop where that chart has Animas Forks. Parking at Cunningham Gulch is very limited, one vehicle per runner. Sherman is several hours round trip from Silverton, either over Cinnamon Pass on a rough 4WD road or on pavement through Lake City. For Chapman, crews park on the east side of Ophir and hike about 2 miles, then 0.3 miles to the aid station. Nobody may stop or park along the Ophir Pass Road.

One pacer at a time may run with you from the first pacer station on, and runners over 60 can have one for the whole run. Pacers can also hike 3.25 miles in from the Ice Lakes trailhead to swap at KT, where there's no vehicle access. Muling isn't allowed: a pacer can't carry anything for you.

Weather and what to carry

A turquoise lake with a small rocky island in Ice Lake Basin, below snowy cliffs
Sheelah Brennan / Unsplash

July in Silverton averages a high of 74.7°F and a low of 38.3°F, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, and most of the course is far higher than town. The race aims for the gap between snowmelt and the summer monsoon, when mornings are calm and thunderstorms build most afternoons. Lightning has hit several runners over the years. The 48 hour limit leaves room to sit out a storm low down for a few hours and still finish.

Expect to cross snowfields and wade knee-deep icy streams, and the organizer says your feet will be wet for 90% or more of the run in a typical year. Its recommended gear includes a hard shell rain jacket, rain pants, an emergency blanket, gloves, a headlamp with a backup, and room for 80 ounces of fluid. Every runner also carries a GPS tracker the race hands out.

Hardrock 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.

  • Silverton (start and finish)

    9,308 ft (2,837 m)

    37.81140, -107.66630

  • Cunningham Gulch

    10,378 ft (3,163 m)

    37.79320, -107.57770

  • Maggie Gulch

    11,838 ft (3,608 m)

    37.81340, -107.53600

  • Pole Creek

    11,244 ft (3,427 m)

    37.80610, -107.46690

  • Sherman

    9,638 ft (2,938 m)

    37.90070, -107.43310

  • Burrows Park

    10,588 ft (3,227 m)

    37.93700, -107.46100

  • Animas Forks

    11,003 ft (3,354 m)

    37.92950, -107.56810

  • Engineer

    11,798 ft (3,596 m)

    37.98580, -107.60410

  • Ouray

    7,678 ft (2,340 m)

    38.02830, -107.67310

  • Governor Basin

    10,673 ft (3,253 m)

    37.97740, -107.75710

  • Kroger's Canteen

    13,098 ft (3,992 m)

    37.96160, -107.77170

  • Telluride

    8,748 ft (2,666 m)

    37.93530, -107.80710

  • Chapman Gulch

    10,158 ft (3,096 m)

    37.85880, -107.80980

  • KT

    10,628 ft (3,239 m)

    37.78900, -107.79720

  • Putnam Basin

    11,427 ft (3,483 m)

    37.78040, -107.73100

Hardrock FAQ

When is Hardrock 2027?

Hardrock 2027 starts at 6:00 AM on Friday, July 9, 2027, in Silverton, and runs counterclockwise. The cutoff is 48 hours, at 6:00 AM on Sunday, July 11.

How do you get into Hardrock?

Through a lottery, and you need a finish from its list of qualifying races to enter it. For 2026 it drew 147 runners from about 3,000 applicants. The lottery for 2027 is on December 5, 2026, after an application window on UltraSignup from October 1 to 14.

Is Hardrock a Western States qualifier?

Yes. Finishing Hardrock 2027 within its 48 hour limit is on the list of qualifiers for the 2028 Western States Endurance Run.

Can you have a pacer at Hardrock?

Yes, one at a time. From the first pacer station on, a pacer can join you at the crew access aid stations or swap in at the KT pacer exchange. In 2025, the last counterclockwise year, that first station was Animas Forks, at mile 44.6, and the 2027 rules name Grouse Gulch. Runners over 60 may have a pacer for the whole run.

Is there cell service on the Hardrock course?

Don't count on it. The 2026 runner's manual says Grouse Gulch, at 11,000 feet, has no phone reception, and sends crews back to Silverton, where they'll have cell service to track their runner. Download the course in Goat Maps before you go: your phone's GPS still shows where you are without a signal.

How much climbing is the Hardrock 100?

The organizer gives 33,441 feet of climbing and the same of descent, at an average elevation over 11,000 feet. The 2025 counterclockwise chart measured the loop at 102.5 miles. The high point is Handies Peak, 14,048 feet, and the low point Ouray, 7,678 feet.

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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.