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Snow-streaked peaks above a green valley, seen from a high, rocky slope on the Mount Massive Trail near Leadville
Brad Barmore / Unsplash

Silver Rush 50 Run course map and aid stations

An out-and-back on old mining roads east of Leadville, climbing to about 12,000 feet twice each way.

July 10, 2027 Leadville, Colorado

The Silver Rush 50 Run is part of the Leadville Race Series, run by Life Time, and a qualifier for the Leadville Trail 100 Run. It starts and finishes at the base of Dutch Henry Tubing Hill, the Cloud City Ski Hut, on Highway 24 at the south end of town below Colorado Mountain College.

The course heads into the old mining district on the east side of Leadville and comes back the same way. It's mostly dirt roads that miners and their burros first cut, past old gold and silver mines, and none of them close to traffic on race day. There's a 15 mile race on the same start and finish, and the Silver Rush 50 MTB uses the same roads on Sunday.

The race page warns that timing updates can lag because cell signal is patchy in the backcountry. Download the map before you go: your phone's GPS shows where you are with no signal. The 2026 race was called off because of the Willow Fire. With the 2027 schedule still subject to change, the map shows the aid stations and cutoffs the organizer published for 2026.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with Life Time Leadville Silver Rush 50 Run. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Silver Rush 50 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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Save it in Goat Maps for a recce or race day. GPS shows where you are even without a signal.

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Silver Rush 50 courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
50 Mile48.4 mi (78 km)7,503 ft (2,287 m)14 h
15 Mile15.7 mi (25 km)1,653 ft (504 m)

Silver Rush 50 50 Mile

Out to the Stumptown turnaround at mile 24 and back, with seven aid stations and a 14 hour limit.

Distance
48.4 mi (78 km)
Climbing
7,503 ft (2,287 m)
Time limit
14 h

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

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Going by the organizer's 2024 guide, you start with a climb of nearly 10 miles on alpine doubletrack to over 12,000 feet, with views of Mount Sherman, then drop down a fast dirt road. From mile 16 a 4 mile grind takes you back up to about 12,000 feet before you descend to the turnaround. The way back reverses it, with two-way traffic on the course, and ends with a 10 mile descent to the finish. The course runs between 9,898 and 12,024 feet and is marked with pink flags.

The longest gaps are at the ends: 7.7 miles from the start to Black Cloud, and 8.1 miles from Black Cloud to the finish on the way back. The cutoffs shown are the ones published for 2026, on gun time, starting with 1:30 PM at Stumptown. The finish closes 14 hours after you cross the start line. Drop bags, in clear plastic, go only to Stumptown.

aid stations

miWhereCutoff
0Dutch Henry Tubing Hill (start and finish) Crew
7.7Black Cloud
14.3Printer Boy Crew
18.6Venir
24Stumptown (turnaround) Crew, Drop bagSat 1:30 PM
29.4Venir Sat 3:00 PM
34.2Printer Boy CrewSat 4:30 PM
40.3Black Cloud Sat 6:00 PM
48.4Dutch Henry Tubing Hill (start and finish) CrewSat 8:00 PM
A puddled dirt road through spruce toward a bare peak in low cloud near Leadville
Andrew Sterling / Unsplash

Silver Rush 50 15 Mile

Out along the 50 course to the Black Cloud aid station and back.

Distance
15.7 mi (25 km)
Climbing
1,653 ft (504 m)

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 15 shares its start and finish with the 50 and follows its course out to Black Cloud, where it turns around, climbing from 9,895 to 10,873 feet on the way. The organizer pitches it as a good first step into ultrarunning. Its one aid station, in the 2024 guide and on the map, is at the Black Cloud turnaround. Look for blue flags. The 2026 schedule had it starting at 9:00 AM, three hours after the 50.

Red and yellow wildflowers among pale rocks near Leadville, with snow patches on the slope behind
Benjamin DeYoung / Unsplash

Registration and the Leadville 100 coins

Registration for 2027 opens January 7, 2027. Prices aren't out yet. In 2026 the 50 cost $160 and the 15 cost $70. The Silver Rush Challenge, $300 in 2026, pairs the 50 run on Saturday with the Silver Rush 50 MTB on Sunday, and finishing both within the time limits earns you a pickaxe. You have to be 16 on race day for the 50 and 14 for the 15. Deferral registration for 2027 opens November 1.

The 50 gives out at least 35 coins for entry to the Leadville Trail 100 Run, and only to finishers of the 50. The top three men and women overall each get one, and the winner of every other category gets one, rolling down if they turn it down. The rest go by lottery among official finishers: you drop the tear-off tab from your bib into the draw after the awards. You have to be there to claim a coin, be 18 by the day of the Leadville 100, and pay for that entry in the window you're given.

Getting to Leadville and parking

A brick building with a shingled bell tower in Leadville, in black and white
Ben Hesch / Unsplash

Leadville is about 100 miles from Denver and 128 from Colorado Springs. From I-70 you come in on Highway 91 over Fremont Pass or Highway 24 over Tennessee Pass. Eagle County Airport is 62 miles away.

There's no parking at the start for runners or spectators. Park at the Community Fields, the Middle School or the High School, and take the shuttle that loops from those lots to the start and finish. Pick up your packet in person with ID: the race strongly recommends Friday, 2:00 to 7:00 PM on the 2026 schedule. 50 runners can also pick up from 5:00 to 5:45 AM on race morning. There's no registration on site.

Crewing

Crews can meet you in three places: the start and finish, Printer Boy (mile 14.3 out and 34.2 back) and the Stumptown turnaround. Both aid stations are reached on public roads, and each has crew-only parking. A shuttle also runs up to Stumptown from town, and parking along County Road 38A there is limited. Crew help anywhere else gets you disqualified.

The course crosses private land, including County Road 1 near Ball Mountain, so crews should stay on the roads and out of the way of local traffic.

Weather and what to carry

Spruce trees in front of layered forested ridges and a far range in haze near Leadville
Jacob Thorson / Unsplash

July in Leadville averages a high of 71°F and a low of 39°F, with rain or snow on about 12 days of the month, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals at the Lake County Airport. You spend most of the day well above town, so carry a jacket for the top of each climb.

Aid stations have water, Neversecond gels and drink mix, Skratch Labs hydration, bars and chews, pickle juice, and food like bananas, figs, pretzels, chips and Coke. The 2024 guide allowed trekking poles.

Silver Rush 50 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.

  • Dutch Henry Tubing Hill (start and finish)

    9,944 ft (3,031 m)

    39.23917, -106.30391

  • Black Cloud

    10,879 ft (3,316 m)

    39.22468, -106.23564

  • Printer Boy

    11,020 ft (3,359 m)

    39.22677, -106.24989

  • Venir

    11,919 ft (3,633 m)

    39.23774, -106.22822

  • Stumptown (turnaround)

    11,220 ft (3,420 m)

    39.25121, -106.23324

Silver Rush 50 FAQ

When is the Silver Rush 50 in 2027?

Saturday, July 10, 2027, with registration opening January 7. The 2027 schedule is still subject to change. In 2026, before the Willow Fire called the race off, the 50 was set to start at 6:00 AM and the 15 at 9:00 AM.

Is the Silver Rush 50 a Leadville 100 qualifier?

Yes. At least 35 Leadville Trail 100 Run entry coins go to 50 mile finishers: the top three men and women, each category's winner, and the rest by lottery after the awards ceremony. You have to be there to claim one.

How much climbing is the Silver Rush 50?

The course profile gives 7,503 feet of climbing over 48.4 miles, between 9,898 and 12,024 feet. The race page rounds that to 8,000 feet over 50 miles.

What are the Silver Rush 50 cutoffs?

The ones published for 2026 are 1:30 PM at Stumptown, 3:00 PM at Venir, 4:30 PM at Printer Boy and 6:00 PM at Black Cloud, all on gun time. The finish closes at 8:00 PM, and you have 14 hours from when you cross the start line. Miss an aid station cutoff and you stop there.

Where can crews meet runners at the Silver Rush 50?

Only at the start and finish, at Printer Boy on the way out and back, and at the Stumptown turnaround. Crewing anywhere else gets the runner disqualified.

Is there cell service on the Silver Rush 50 course?

It's patchy. The race warns that text updates from timing can lag in the backcountry because of the signal. Download the course map in Goat Maps before race day: your phone's GPS works without a signal.

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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.