Cactus Rose Endurance Trail Race

Cactus Rose is the hard, old-fashioned one on the Tejas Trails calendar. It uses the same Hill Country State Natural Area trails as Bandera, but the organiser strips the race back on purpose: the aid stations carry water and ice and nothing else, runners lay out their own supplies, and the marked line takes the steeper option wherever the trail forks. The 25-mile loop reverses every lap, so the 100 mile runs it clockwise, counter-clockwise, clockwise and counter-clockwise again.

The 100 mile goes off at 4:00 p.m. on the Friday with a 44-hour limit, and the 50 mile at 8:15 a.m. on the Saturday with 27 hours 45. Both close at noon on the Sunday. Fields are small and finish rates are low: ten runners finished the 100 mile in 2025, and the men's course record has stood since 2012.

A 25-mile loop of Hill Country State Natural Area, run from the park's Group Lodge through the YaYa, Nachos, Equestrian and Boyles aid stations. Laps alternate direction: for the 100 mile, laps 1 and 3 run clockwise and laps 2 and 4 counter-clockwise. The organiser gives around 2,500 feet of elevation change, up and down, per lap, and publishes no total for either ultra distance. The ground is loose rock and sotol cactus with almost no sustained flat, and aid is deliberately minimal: water and ice, with runners putting out their own gear at the stations beforehand.

Entry is first-come sign-up on RunSignUp, with no lottery and no qualifying standard. The event is capped at 500 runners across all distances, and the organiser runs a first-in-first-out wait list once a distance fills. Entry opened on July 27, 2026 and each distance closes at its own gun: 4:00 p.m. on October 23 for the 100 mile and 8:20 a.m. on October 24 for the 50 mile. The 100 mile is $235 and the 50 mile $180, with the price rising on September 30 and again on October 15. Park access is covered by the entry fee for registered runners.