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An aerial view of a wooded point in autumn colors, surrounded by water, near Traverse City
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Iceman Cometh Challenge course map and race guide

Thirty miles of two-track, sand and singletrack through the Pere Marquette State Forest, from Kalkaska's airport to Timber Ridge in Traverse City.

November 7, 2026 Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan

The Iceman is a point-to-point mountain bike race held on the first Saturday of November in northern Michigan. It has run since 1990, and the organizer calls it the largest single-day point-to-point mountain bike race in the country. About 5,000 riders leave the Kalkaska Airport in waves of around 100 and race west through the Pere Marquette State Forest to Timber Ridge Resort, on the eastern edge of Traverse City. The 2026 race is on November 7. The Meijer Slush Cup, an 8 mile race out of Timber Ridge, runs the same morning.

Most of the course is two-track, with dirt roads, old railroad grades and the Vasa trail mixed in, and it changes every year. The organizer won't hand out maps before the race because, in its words, even locals with maps have gotten very lost in that forest, and the course is only marked on the Thursday before. The 2026 course isn't out yet, so the map here shows 2025's, from the organizer's own file. It's good for picking a spot to watch at Williamsburg Road and for working out where the road crossings are if you need to drop out.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with Iceman Cometh Challenge presented by Trek. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Iceman 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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Iceman courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Iceman Cometh Challenge30 mi (48 km)Sat, Nov 7, 8:45 AM
Meijer Slush Cup8 mi (13 km)Sat, Nov 7, 8:15 AM

Iceman Iceman Cometh Challenge

About 30 miles from the Kalkaska Airport to Timber Ridge, crossing one paved road.

Distance
30 mi (48 km)
Start
Sat, Nov 7, 8:45 AM

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The map shows the 2025 course. The 2026 race still runs from the airport in Kalkaska to Timber Ridge in Traverse City, but the organizer reroutes sections every year.

In 2025 the village of Kalkaska trucked in gravel to firm up the sandiest two-track just after the start. After Smith Lake Road came new singletrack at Sow's Ear, which skips a sandy valley, and later almost a mile of gravel on Brownfire road where you can pass. Next are the loamy singletracks of Dockery Hills and 1.9 miles through the Sand Lakes Quiet Area. Williamsburg Road, the only paved road on the course, comes at about mile 17, and the course closes there at 2:00 PM: anyone but the pros who gets there later is put on a bus to the finish. After it, two-track through the oak savannah takes you onto the Vasa trails, and the race ends with Woodchip Hill and one more climb before the fenced run-in to the line.

The three food stations are at Dockery Rd., on the Vasa and at Ice Station Zebra, and the organizer doesn't publish their miles. They aren't medical stations. If it rains the night before or on race morning, expect reroutes around the muddiest singletrack, and follow the signs.

The Junior Iceman starts at noon and the Pro and Cat 1 race at 2:30 PM, on the same course.

Low sun through late-autumn woods near Traverse City, with yellow leaves on the ground
AJ Garcia / Unsplash

Iceman Meijer Slush Cup

An 8 mile out and back on the Vasa from Timber Ridge, for beginners and kids.

Distance
8 mi (13 km)
Start
Sat, Nov 7, 8:15 AM

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 Slush Cup is for younger riders and adult beginners. It starts and finishes at Timber Ridge and follows the Vasa's 10 km trail out and back on forest two-track, with moderate climbs and a few fast descents. At the 4 mile mark it joins the Iceman course, but you'll be heading for the finish before the Iceman riders reach that section.

The organizer calls it about 8 miles. The 2025 file on the map measures closer to 9, and the registration page says 9. Eight waves go off three minutes apart from 8:15 AM, by age and gender.

Autumn trees around a lake at sunset in Forest Lakes, Traverse City
Elijah Cobb / Unsplash

Getting an entry

Registration for 2026 opened on March 6. The Iceman is full and its waitlist has closed, but the Junior Iceman and the Slush Cup still had places when this page was checked. Entry was $140 for riders 19 and over, $70 for the Junior Iceman (18 and under) and $90 for the Slush Cup ($50 for riders 18 and under). If you're on the waitlist, spots open as entrants transfer out. RunSignUp emails you when you're picked, and you have three days to finish registering.

Waves go by the average of your three best Iceman times in the last five years, so first-timers start in the later waves. You can ask to move back to ride with someone, but not forward, and starting ahead of your wave gets you disqualified. The afternoon Pro and Cat 1 race needs a 2026 USA Cycling Cat 1 or pro licence.

For kids, the half-mile Sno-Cone (10 and under) and the 1.5 mile Pop-Cycle, new in 2026, are free and capped at 300 riders each. The Sno-Cone was already full.

Packet pickup, the start and the shuttles

Autumn trees around a lake at sunset in Forest Lakes, Traverse City
Elijah Cobb / Unsplash

Pick up your own packet, with photo ID, at the Ice Cycle Expo at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme on Friday, November 6, from 11 AM to 7 PM. If you can't make it, packets are at the start from 7 AM on race day.

The start is at the Kalkaska Airport, 1391 Island Lake Rd NW. You can be dropped off, park there, or leave your car at Rasho Farm (999 Rasho Road, 1.7 miles from Timber Ridge) and take a bus to the start, with your bike following in a box truck. The first bus leaves Rasho Farm at 7 AM. Grand Traverse Resort guests can book the resort's buses, which leave every half hour from 6:30 to 9:30 AM and take about 30 minutes. Buses run back from Timber Ridge to the start and Rasho Farm until 6 PM.

Don't park on Hammond Road near the finish: cars there get towed, and Timber Ridge itself is permit only. Bring your own bag for the clothing trucks at the start and it'll be waiting at the finish.

November weather and what to bring

Bare trees casting long shadows on fresh snow on a hillside in Traverse City
Bob Chisholm / Unsplash

November at Traverse City's airport averages highs of 45.5°F and lows of 31.9°F, with 2.23 inches of precipitation over about 14 days and 9 inches of snow, by the 1991 to 2020 normals. The organizer plans every year for rain, hail, sleet, high winds and snow on the same day. In 2014 and 2019 the weather left three to five times the usual number of riders needing a ride to the finish.

Dress for standing in the cold at the start. There's a donation bin there for a layer you want to shed. Headphones and e-bikes aren't allowed. Carry your phone: the safety page requires it, so search and rescue can find you through the RaceJoy app, and your friends can follow you on it too. At the finish there are free hot showers in trailers outside the Celebration Zone.

Iceman 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.

  • Kalkaska Airport (Iceman start)

    44.72859, -85.21195

  • Williamsburg Road crossing (cutoff)

    44.71459, -85.40598

  • Timber Ridge Resort (finish)

    44.71447, -85.49036

Iceman FAQ

When is the Iceman Cometh Challenge 2026?

Saturday, November 7, 2026, with packet pickup and the expo on Friday the 6th. The race is held on the first Saturday of November, and the organizer has already set November 6, 2027 for the next one.

How long is the Iceman course?

About 30 miles, point to point from Kalkaska to Traverse City, mostly on dirt roads, two-track and trail. The only paved road you cross is Williamsburg Road, at about mile 17. The Slush Cup is about 8 miles.

Can you pre-ride the Iceman course?

Only the end, really. The course is marked the Thursday before and changes every year. On Friday you can park at Rasho Farm and ride the last 2 to 3 miles from the Lands End Road crossing, in the race direction only: riding the course backwards isn't allowed.

What is the Iceman cutoff time?

The course closes at Williamsburg Road at 2:00 PM. Riders who get there later, except the pros, are sent onto a bus to the finish.

How do I drop out of the Iceman?

Stop at a road crossing with course marshals and call 231-944-5437 with your name and plate number. Volunteers take riders back to Timber Ridge from there. If you leave somewhere else, the organizer can't promise to pick you up.

How do I get back to my car in Kalkaska?

Buses run from Timber Ridge back to the start and to Rasho Farm through the afternoon. The first bus to Kalkaska leaves at 11 AM, and the last buses leave at 6 PM.

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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.