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Pink rock cliffs at Palisade Head dropping into clear blue Lake Superior, with the shoreline receding into the distance
Cody Otto / Unsplash

Superior Fall Trail Race aid stations and cutoffs

Three point-to-point races on the Superior Hiking Trail above Lake Superior, all finishing at Caribou Highlands Lodge in Lutsen.

2027 dates not announced yet, usually in September North Shore, Minnesota

The Superior Fall Trail Race is three races on one weekend: the Superior 100, the Superior 50 and the Moose Mountain Marathon. All three run northeast on the Superior Hiking Trail, along the ridges above Lake Superior, and finish at Caribou Highlands Lodge on Lutsen Mountain. The 100 was first run in 1991, and the organizer counts it among the ten oldest 100 mile trail races in the country.

The 2027 races are tentatively set for Friday, September 10 (100 mile) and Saturday, September 11 (50 mile and marathon), while the organizer works through its permits. Everything else here, from the aid stations to the fees, is from 2026, the latest the organizer has published.

The participant guides say that for most of the course you won't have a cell signal. Download the map of the aid stations before you head north. GPS still shows where you are with no service, whether you're racing or driving between aid stations.

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

Superior 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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Superior courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
100 Mile101 mi (163 km)17,350 ft (5,288 m)Fri, Sep 11, 8:00 AM38 h
50 Mile51.3 mi (83 km)7,950 ft (2,423 m)Sat, Sep 12, 5:15 AM16 h 45 min
Moose Mountain Marathon26.2 mi (42 km)4,050 ft (1,234 m)Sat, Sep 12, 8:00 AM14 h

Start times are the 2026 edition's.

Superior 100 Mile

Gooseberry Falls to Lutsen on the Superior Hiking Trail, with 17,350 feet of climbing and a 38 hour limit.

Distance
101 mi (163 km)
Climbing
17,350 ft (5,288 m)
Start
Fri, Sep 11, 8:00 AM
Time limit
38 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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The 100 starts at the Gooseberry Falls visitor center at 8:00 AM Friday and runs the Superior Hiking Trail north to Lutsen. In 2026 it was 101 miles, 1.9 shorter than from 2022 to 2025, mostly because the rebuilt High Falls bridge over the Baptism River put the course and the Tettegouche aid station back on their old line. The 100 mile guide's quick stats still give the old 102.9. The first leg kept its 2025 detour to give the rebuilt west side of the Split Rock River Loop time to settle: park trails and a snowmobile trail to the Superior Hiking Trail, then down to the Split Rock wayside and into the back of the aid station at mile 8.5.

Finland sits about half a mile off the main trail, so you run out to it and back the same way. You have to run all the way to the aid station even if your crew is waiting before it. The longest gaps are Split Rock to Beaver Bay (10.3 miles) and Crosby-Manitou to Sugarloaf (9.6). The guide says most runners pick up their lights at Silver Bay, mile 23, and that only faster runners reach County Road 6 without them.

aid stations

miWhereCutoff
0Gooseberry Falls State Park (100 mi start) Crew
8.5Split Rock Fri 11:00 AM
18.8Beaver Bay Crew, Drop bagFri 2:20 PM
23Silver Bay Crew, Drop bagFri 4:00 PM
32.4Tettegouche Drop bagFri 7:40 PM
41County Road 6 Crew, Drop bag, PacersFri 10:40 PM
49Finland (50 mi start) Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 2:10 AM
56.7Sonju Lake Road Drop bag
60.9Crosby-Manitou Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 9:10 AM
70.5Sugarloaf Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 12:10 PM
76Cramer Road (marathon start) Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 1:45 PM
83Temperance Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 4:00 PM
88.3Sawbill Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 5:40 PM
93.9Oberg Crew, Drop bag, PacersSat 7:10 PM
101Caribou Highlands Lodge (finish) CrewSat 10:00 PM
A river spilling over red rock ledges between forested banks in Tettegouche State Park
Cody Otto / Unsplash

Superior 50 Mile

Finland to Lutsen on the northern half of the 100 course, starting before dawn.

Distance
51.3 mi (83 km)
Climbing
7,950 ft (2,423 m)
Start
Sat, Sep 12, 5:15 AM
Time limit
16 h 45 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 50 starts at the Finland Rec Center at 5:15 AM Saturday. The first 1.9 miles are on forest roads to spread the field out before it joins the 100 course, so your first stretch to Sonju Lake Road is 7 miles instead of the 100's 7.7. You'll need a headlamp for the first hour, and you can't leave Oberg after 5:00 PM without lights.

You'll share the trail with 100 milers who've been out since Friday morning. Their bibs are red and yours are blue. The finish cutoff is 10:00 PM, 16 hours 45 minutes after the start.

aid stations

miWhereCutoff
0Finland (50 mi start) Crew
7Sonju Lake Road Drop bag
11.2Crosby-Manitou Crew, Drop bagSat 9:10 AM
20.8Sugarloaf Crew, Drop bagSat 12:10 PM
26.3Cramer Road (marathon start) Crew, Drop bagSat 1:45 PM
33.3Temperance Drop bagSat 4:00 PM
38.6Sawbill Crew, Drop bagSat 5:40 PM
44.2Oberg Crew, Drop bagSat 7:10 PM
51.3Caribou Highlands Lodge (finish) CrewSat 10:00 PM
Orange and yellow maples in peak fall color in the hills above Lutsen
Paul Esch-Laurent / Unsplash

Superior Moose Mountain Marathon

The last stretch of the 100 course, from Cramer Road to Caribou Highlands.

Distance
26.2 mi (42 km)
Climbing
4,050 ft (1,234 m)
Start
Sat, Sep 12, 8:00 AM
Time limit
14 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 marathon starts on Cramer Road near Schroeder at 8:00 AM Saturday. The opening 0.4 miles are on the road to spread runners out, which makes the first stretch to Temperance 7.9 miles. The start has no drinking water or cell signal, and you wait outside.

It has three aid stations, Temperance, Sawbill and Oberg, and 4,050 feet of climbing. Shortly after crossing the Poplar River the course leaves the Superior Hiking Trail and follows flagging to the finish behind Caribou Highlands Lodge. The limit is 14 hours.

aid stations

miWhereCutoff
0Cramer Road (marathon start) Crew
7.9Temperance Drop bagSat 4:00 PM
13.2Sawbill Crew, Drop bagSat 5:40 PM
18.8Oberg Crew, Drop bagSat 7:10 PM
26.2Caribou Highlands Lodge (finish) CrewSat 10:00 PM

The lottery

Entry has been by lottery since 2016, after the last open registration filled in hours. There's one lottery for each distance. You enter on UltraSignup during a 15 day window in January, and it costs nothing to apply: your card is only charged if you're drawn. The 2027 window is tentatively set to open on January 1, 2027.

The 100 asks for a finished trail race of 50 miles or more and the 50 one of 50K or more, with results you can link to. A finish in any past Superior 50K, Superior 50, Superior 100 or Moose Mountain Marathon also counts. The marathon has no qualifier. You can only enter one distance. Entries can't be refunded or transferred, and there's no waiting list. The organizer says most new applicants get in on their first, second or third try.

Getting to the North Shore

Split Rock Lighthouse rising among green trees
Dexter Jacobs / Unsplash

The 100 mile start at Gooseberry Falls State Park is about 3¼ hours north of Minneapolis, and the finish at Caribou Highlands about 4 hours. Minneapolis-St. Paul is the closest major airport. Duluth's is much smaller but only about an hour from the start.

The organizer asks runners to leave their cars at the finish and take the free shuttle bus to their start: 6:00 AM Friday for the 100, 4:00 AM Saturday for the 50 and 7:00 AM Saturday for the marathon. There's no shuttle back to Gooseberry after the race, and you can't leave a car at Gooseberry Falls State Park. Caribou Highlands is the host hotel.

Crewing and pacing

Crews, pacers and spectators have to print the organizer's crew and spectator guide and carry it, and a crew that breaks its rules can get its runner disqualified. Crews can't go to Split Rock, Tettegouche or Sonju Lake Road. Temperance is for 100 mile crews only. At Crosby-Manitou you park on Cramer Road and walk about half a mile in, and the trailhead lots at Sawbill and Oberg are off limits to race traffic.

Only the 100 allows pacers, from County Road 6 at mile 41, one at a time and up to two from Oberg to the finish. Runners 65 and older may have one from the start. Pacers can't carry your gear. Drop bags go in at check-in the evening before your race and aren't accepted on race morning.

Weather and what to carry

Trees in yellow fall leaf and dark spruce along the cliffs of Tettegouche State Park, with Lake Superior and a rocky headland beyond
conner bowe / Unsplash

The race guides give an average high of 65°F and low of 47°F for early September, but warn that you can get highs in the mid 80s or lows in the mid 30s, and that rain isn't unusual. The aid stations are open-sided tents. There's no shelter for runners and no heat, apart from a campfire at a few of the later ones, so carry a rain jacket or poncho.

Superior is cupless: bring your own cup for water and soda. The aid stations have no gels or sports drink, so carry your own or pack them in your drop bags. Bees, ground hornets and wasps are active from late August, and with some stretches 10 miles between aid, the organizer asks anyone allergic to carry their medication.

Superior 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.

  • Gooseberry Falls State Park (100 mi start)

    47.14074, -91.46972

  • Split Rock

    47.18804, -91.40294

  • Beaver Bay

    47.26619, -91.30918

  • Silver Bay

    47.29160, -91.29762

  • Tettegouche

    47.34838, -91.21644

  • County Road 6

    47.41159, -91.15442

  • Finland (50 mi start)

    47.42814, -91.22891

  • Sonju Lake Road

    47.47572, -91.14328

  • Crosby-Manitou

    47.47858, -91.11263

  • Sugarloaf

    47.49803, -90.99775

  • Cramer Road (marathon start)

    47.54020, -90.97804

  • Temperance

    47.56431, -90.88411

  • Sawbill

    47.59874, -90.86177

  • Oberg

    47.62753, -90.78340

  • Caribou Highlands Lodge (finish)

    47.65911, -90.71308

Superior FAQ

When is the Superior 100 in 2027?

The tentative dates are Friday, September 10, 2027 for the 100 mile and Saturday, September 11 for the 50 mile and the Moose Mountain Marathon. The organizer was still working on its permits when this page was checked. The 2026 races ran September 11 and 12.

Is the Superior 100 a Western States qualifier?

Yes. Western States lists Superior Fall's 100 mile, with a 38 hour limit, as a qualifier for both its 2027 lottery (the 2026 race) and its 2028 lottery (the 2027 race).

How hard is it to get into Superior?

Entry is by lottery, and the 100 and 50 have qualifying standards. In 2026 the limits were 295 for the 100, 235 for the 50 and 445 for the marathon. The organizer says most new applicants get in within three tries, and that first-timers make up more than half of each year's field.

How long is the Superior 100?

The 2026 course was 101 miles from Gooseberry Falls to Caribou Highlands, with 17,350 feet of climbing. From 2022 to 2025 it was 102.9 miles, because the High Falls bridge over the Baptism River was out and the course went the long way around. The 100 mile guide's quick stats still give that figure. The course record is Neal Collick's 18:56:02 from 2018.

Can you have a pacer at the Superior 100?

Yes, from County Road 6 at mile 41, one at a time, and up to two for the last section from Oberg. Runners 65 and older can have a pacer from the start. The 50 mile and the marathon don't allow pacers.

Is there cell service on the Superior course?

Mostly not. The guides say coverage is intermittent and best on high points. There is service at the 100 and 50 mile starts and good coverage at the finish, but none at the marathon start. Download the map of the aid stations before you go.

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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.