The next race on the HPRS calendar is the 2023 Sangre de Cristo Trail Festival held annually in Westcliffe, CO. Races start on Wednesday, September 20th and run through Sunday, September 24th. This race features a distance for every runner, on some of the most wild and gorgeous trails in Colorado’s southern mountains.
Distances & Schedule:
200-Mile start: Wednesday, September 20 @ 4am
150-Mile start: Friday, September 22 @4am
50-Mile start: Friday, September 22 @ 6am
100-Mile & 100k start: Saturday, September 23 @ 4am
50k start: Saturday, September 23 @ 6am
27k & 8-Mile start: Sunday, September 24 @ 9am
The race takes place almost entirely on the Sangre de Cristo mountain’s Rainbow Trail. The Rainbow trail is a point-to-point long-distance trail originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as part of Roosevelt’s “New Deal” between 1912 and 1930. The trail stretches more than 100-Miles from Salida, CO in the north, and on its southern end the trail lies above where Lieutenant Zebulon Pike Jr. and his corps encountered the worst weather conditions of their Louisiana Purchase expedition and a near mutiny from January 25-26 in 1807, near Medano Pass Road. The southern terminus of the Rainbow Trail is about 6 miles from our start/finish location. For this event, HPRS utilizes about 21 miles of the Rainbow Trail itself.
Today the Rainbow Trail is utilized by several other user groups other than our own (trail runners). The trail is for the most part a double track ATV trail, which is used primarily by hunters during this time of year. While ATVs and dirt backs can easily navigate the trail, the trail is not wide enough to support UTVs (side-by-sides). You may also see mountain bikers, hikers, equestrian riders, and from time to time we’ve seen folks with pack-llamas and pack-goats.
The Rainbow Trail itself serves as the main wilderness boundary for the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Area. For those who are unaware, it is impossible for a race such as ours to obtain a permit to recreate in a federally designated wilderness area. Yes, there are some races in the country who do (Western States and Hardrock), and they were grandfathered in at the time when those wilderness areas were officially federally designated. The fact that the course follows the literal wilderness boundary for the entire length of the course, makes this one of the wildest trail and ultra-events in the nation.
There are only three instances where participants are not on the Rainbow Trail. The main section is the United States Forest Service (USFS) road that takes you to the top of Music Pass. It is also the road that the main start/finish area is located on. Music Pass is the course high point at 11,412’. Each race starts with the Music Pass out-and-back and ends with the same. Music Pass itself is not only at the wilderness boundary, but it is also a boundary with The Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. While you can’t see Great Sand Dunes National Park from Music Pass, it is about an 8-10 mile journey (all downhill) to reach the dunes. This area, known as the Sand Creek amphitheater, provides the most stunning visual epicenter on the course.
The two other sections that are not on the Rainbow Trail are the access trails you’ll take from the Rainbow Trail to the Horn Creek and Venable aid station locations. Both short trail segments are incredibly rocky/technical and offer the most challenging footing along the entire course. Runners who access Horn Creek especially (50-Mile and longer distances) have been known to provide more wine than Napa Valley at the finish line when discussing their least favorite parts of the course.
The race is hosted on Greenhorn Ranch, which is private property taken care of by Music Meadow’s Ranch just down the road. Music Meadows ranch is a working dude ranch comprised of thousands of acres of open ranch land. While at the race you may see the free-range cattle grazing the open fields, or the many horses that are used to wrangle cattle and teach visitors the code of the west during an authentic ranch hand experience. Given the abundance of ranch land at our disposal for this event, we host a massive campout at the Start/Finish line where all runners are welcome and encouraged to join us as one community.
Taking place during the fall equinox, the aspen leaves in this area of Colorado are usually just starting to change color. For the near week we are at Music Meadow we watch the leaves slowly change from green to yellow. This time of year, it is not unlikely for the course to receive its first snow of the season. The start finish is on the western flank of the Wet Mountain Valley, across which you can see the Wet Mountains (appropriately named) themselves. From the changing leaves, and the possibility of fresh snow, to the vast views of the surrounding mountains, this is one of the most incredibly scenic trail events in our nation.
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains were formed much like the Grand Teton Range in Wyoming. Uplift plate tectonics, etc.. pushed these mountains straight up into the sky creating an incredibly dramatic, jagged ridged, monolithic spectacle. This time of year, the scenery and weather is not to be missed in the Sangre. There is no better time of year.
The towns of Westcliffe and Silvercliff serve as the seat of Custer County. With a combined population of 800 people, these two mountain towns provide the necessities for runners looking for a place to stay, food, or drink. Much of the local population are Mennonites, who still get around via horse and buggy, still living life without much of the modern necessities many of us take for granted. This charming area is a blast to the past where the west is still very much wild. Both towns are a certified dark sky communities, the first dark sky communities in Colorado and the highest in the world. There are few places in America when you can see as many celestial bodies as possible in the nighttime sky. It will truly take your breath away and question the meaning of it all.
One of our most gorgeous and wild trail and ultra-experiences. We’d love to have everyone join us as either a runner or volunteer in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Race Day Registration welcome, information on our website.