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A wildebeest and other grazers on dry grassland in the Maasai Mara, with a lone acacia and hazy hills behind
Henrik Hansen / Unsplash

Migration Gravel Race stage maps

Four days of Kenyan gravel around the Maasai Mara and up into the Loita Hills, raced in teams for the first time in 2027.

June 15 to 18, 2027 Maasai Mara and Loita, Narok, Kenya

The Migration Gravel Race is a four-stage gravel race in Kenya's Narok County, run by the Amani Project since 2021. The organizer's 2027 stage figures add up to 617 km and 6,820 m of climbing on the full Leopard course, though its home page still says about 650 km and 8,000 m. It runs on farm tracks, cattle paths and gravel roads around the edges of the Maasai Mara reserve, and climbs into the Loita Hills and Loita Forest.

2027 is the first edition raced in teams. You enter with two or three teammates, and the third of you across the line sets the team's time each day. You can still ride on your own, outside the general classification.

The 2027 routes come out after the rainy season, shortly before the race. The map shows the four Leopard stages from 2025, the latest GPX files on the race's site, with their water tables. The race is self-navigated: you follow the route on your GPS. Download the map before you fly. The organizer says there's 3G for most of the race, but its own FAQ also warns of poor coverage out in the bush.

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

MGR 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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MGR courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Stage 1: Race HQ loop129 km (80.2 mi)535 m (1,755 ft)Tue, Jun 15, 8:00 AM11 h
Stage 2: Race HQ to the Loita camp145 km (90.1 mi)1,606 m (5,269 ft)Wed, Jun 16, 8:00 AM11 h
Stage 3: Loita loop177 km (110 mi)2,405 m (7,890 ft)Thu, Jun 17, 8:00 AM11 h
Stage 4: Loita camp to Race HQ186 km (115.6 mi)1,727 m (5,666 ft)Fri, Jun 18, 8:00 AM11 h

Stage 1

MGR Stage 1: Race HQ loop

The flat, windy opener on the plains, a loop from Race HQ.

Distance
129 km (80.2 mi)
Climbing
535 m (1,755 ft)
Start
Tue, Jun 15, 8:00 AM
Time limit
11 h

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In 2025 this was a 129 km loop with only 535 m of climbing, on gravel roads, jeep track and singletrack. The first 5 or 6 km are neutral through the conservancy. The headwind nicknamed the Dutch Mountains builds through the afternoon. From 100 km there's a 5 km stretch of tarmac with traffic, and the last 2 km are harder to navigate, with rangers who may stop you for wildlife.

In 2025, Leopard riders who reached the first water table after 12:00 were sent onto the Zebra course. The organizer's 2027 figure for this stage is 134 km and 660 m.

Stage 2

MGR Stage 2: Race HQ to the Loita camp

From the plains up into the hills and forest, finishing at the wild camp.

Distance
145 km (90.1 mi)
Climbing
1,606 m (5,269 ft)
Start
Wed, Jun 16, 8:00 AM
Time limit
11 h

Take this course offline

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

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In 2025 it was 145 km with 1,606 m of climbing. The first 31 km follow Stage 1's route in reverse, with tarmac from 25 to 32 km. The roads are open to traffic and slow, so look for the footpaths alongside them. After the climb there's a technical singletrack descent at 110 km and a hard bit of navigation at 131 km. The last 3 km drop fast into a rocky river crossing 250 m before the finish, so slow down. The 2025 cutoff was 14:30 at the second water table.

For 2027 the organizer calls this the mountain stage, 144 km and 1,690 m, with the Mlima wa Shetani climb, the Lachy's Delight singletrack descent and the trails of the Savage Garden in Loita Forest. In the rain the ground turns to thick black clay.

Two elephants walking across grassland in the Maasai Mara at sunset
Ahmed Galal / Unsplash

Stage 3

MGR Stage 3: Loita loop

The day with the most climbing, through the Loita Hills and out onto the Loita plains.

Distance
177 km (110 mi)
Climbing
2,405 m (7,890 ft)
Start
Thu, Jun 17, 8:00 AM
Time limit
11 h

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 2025 version was 177 km and 2,405 m from the wild camp and back. It starts in the Loita Hills and the mist forest, then crosses the Loita plains, where you'll see wildlife. The descent at 148 km is rocky and technical, and you finish on the same fast drop into the river crossing as Stage 2. The 2025 cutoff was 14:30 at the second water table, at 109 km.

The 2027 figure is 158 km and 2,490 m.

Dirt tracks winding up a grassy hillside dotted with bushes and acacias in the Maasai Mara, with a safari vehicle on the track
Julian Rösner / Unsplash

Stage 4

MGR Stage 4: Loita camp to Race HQ

One more climb in the Loita Hills, then fast gravel back across the plains.

Distance
186 km (115.6 mi)
Climbing
1,727 m (5,666 ft)
Start
Fri, Jun 18, 8:00 AM
Time limit
11 h

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

In 2025 the last day was the longest, 186 km with 1,727 m of climbing, back to Race HQ. A big climb to start, then fast rolling gravel. Two steep river crossings late in the stage have no road across, so you'll have to get off the bike. Vehicles go around. The 2025 cutoff was 11:30 at the first water table, at 55.5 km.

The 2027 figure is 181 km and 1,980 m.

Entering as a team, or alone

Register on the race's njuko page. A team captain creates the team and the others join it by its name or an invitation code. The team counts once three riders have registered and paid, and a fourth can join before the roster deadline. Each team's four stage times are added up for the general classification. If a team of four loses a rider, the other three race on; drop below three and the team is out of GC.

If you don't have a team, you can enter as an individual. You get stage times and ride for the MGR Finisher Award, starting about 10 minutes behind the teams. There's also a rider-matching option, though it doesn't promise you a team.

Entry covers the transfer from Nairobi and back for you, your bike and your bag, plus meals, feed stations, timing and medical cover. Standard entry is €2,099, or €1,500 for East African residents. The €1,600 Backpacker entry means bringing your own tent, sleeping bag and pad. The €6,499 VIP package adds a flight to the Mara, nights at a Porini camp, massages and bike washes.

Getting to the Mara

An acacia silhouetted against a red setting sun in the Maasai Mara
Jayendra Thampan / Unsplash

Fly into Nairobi. The race transfer leaves the Holiday Inn at Two Rivers on June 14, riders at 07:30, and gets to basecamp around 13:00. If you're staying somewhere else, be at the Holiday Inn by 06:30 that morning. The hotel has a race rate of $140 for a single and $160 for a double with the code SWMGR27.

Leave your bike in its box until you reach the Mara: the race only moves bikes in their boxes, and the box waits at Race HQ until you're back. You get one duffel-sized bag, which the crew carries between camps and leaves in your tent. On June 19 the transfer leaves the Mara at 13:00 and reaches Nairobi in the evening, so book your flight home for a later day.

Wildlife and livestock

A herd of Cape buffalo on green grassland in Naboisho, Narok
Meg von Haartman / Unsplash

The race mostly skirts the Mara reserve, so the animals you'll ride past are mostly zebra, wildebeest and giraffe. The ones the organizer worries about are elephants and buffalo, which can charge if a bike surprises them. Rangers, scouts and a helicopter go ahead of the riders, and the evening briefings cover where they're likely to be. If a ranger tells you to stop, stop.

Expect cattle, sheep, goats and dogs on the tracks, which the organizer rates as the bigger worry. Slow down and give them room. You're riding through Maasai land, so ask before you photograph anyone.

Weather, food and kit

Days run from 15 to 30°C and nights in camp drop to about 8°C, so bring a sleeping bag, a pillow and a rain jacket. The water tables are basic: water, juice, crisps, fruit and a muffin. Bring your own bars. You must be able to carry 3 litres of water.

The mandatory kit includes a GPS unit that shows maps (the organizer suggests one without a touchscreen), the race tracker you rent from them, a phone with a Kenyan SIM or roaming, gloves, spares and travel insurance. The FAQ recommends a Safaricom SIM with a data bundle. A mechanic waits at the end of each stage, but out on the course you fix your own bike.

MGR 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.

  • Race HQ (2025)

    1,774 m (5,820 ft)

    -1.36577, 35.48108

  • Wild camp, Loita (2025)

    2,087 m (6,847 ft)

    -1.73505, 35.77130

  • Stage 1 water table 1

    1,950 m (6,398 ft)

    -1.19476, 35.44969

  • Stage 1 water table 2

    1,883 m (6,178 ft)

    -1.29520, 35.55580

  • Stage 2 water table 1

    1,899 m (6,230 ft)

    -1.34846, 35.74530

  • Stage 2 water table 2

    2,288 m (7,507 ft)

    -1.65677, 35.86663

  • Stage 3 water table 1

    2,123 m (6,965 ft)

    -1.79178, 35.76468

  • Stage 3 water table 2

    2,057 m (6,749 ft)

    -1.60678, 35.65297

  • Stage 4 water table 1

    2,020 m (6,627 ft)

    -1.52680, 35.59510

  • Stage 4 water table 2

    1,869 m (6,132 ft)

    -1.58527, 35.44652

MGR FAQ

When is the Migration Gravel Race 2027?

June 15 to 18, 2027, a stage a day, each starting at 08:00. The transfer from Nairobi leaves on June 14 and brings you back on June 19.

Can I ride the Migration Gravel Race without a team?

Yes. Individual riders get stage times and ride for the Finisher Award, but don't appear in the general classification, which is for teams of three or four. You'll normally start about 10 minutes after the teams.

What's the difference between the Leopard and Zebra courses?

Leopard is the full route, 617 km by the organizer's 2027 stage figures, and the one the competitive teams race. Zebra uses parts of it and is the course for the Amateur category. The organizer lists Zebra stages of 81, 111, 132 and 120 km for 2027.

Is the map the 2027 route?

No. The organizer publishes the final distances, GPX files and cutoffs after the rainy season, before race week. Until then the map shows the 2025 Leopard stages, and the 2027 camps may differ. Check the race's own files before you load your GPS.

Should I bring a gravel bike or a mountain bike?

A gravel bike. The organizer says a mountain bike is more comfortable on the rough sections, but a gravel bike is a lot faster. Run tubeless tyres of at least 40 mm and bring a spare tyre: there are no bike shops on the way, and you can't swap bikes during the race.

Is there phone signal on the course?

Mostly. The organizer says there is 3G for most of the race, and the 2025 briefing said the signal is good in most places, but expect gaps in the bush. Download the map so your GPS can find the route without it.

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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.