Rogue Gorge

Rogue Gorge runs along the rim of the Upper Rogue Wild and Scenic River, about 20 miles west of Crater Lake. Both ultras are point to point and, the race says, 99 percent singletrack. The 50 miler covers 50.7 miles with 4,100 feet of climbing and 6,000 feet of descent. The 50K covers 31.1 miles with 2,550 feet of climbing and 2,900 of descent. Everybody rides a shuttle bus up to the start and runs back down to Union Creek, and no crew or spectators are allowed at either start line.

The river is the reason the course looks the way it does. The eruption that formed Crater Lake 7,700 years ago buried this valley in pumice and lava, and the Rogue has cut back through it since, into chasms and lava tubes and waterfalls that the trail runs straight past.

Both Saturday races finish at the Union Creek Day Use Picnic Shelter, and a half marathon and a 12K run there on the Sunday. The 50K is the oldest distance here and has been run since 2020; the 50 miler was new in 2025. The 50K is point to point for the first time in 2026, which is worth knowing before comparing a time here with an older one. Daybreak Racing, which also puts on the Hood Hundred, Backcountry Rise and Perpetua Coast, runs it.

Both courses run downstream and net downhill on the Rogue Gorge Trail and the Upper Rogue River Trail. The 50 miler's first 30 miles are rolling primitive singletrack with continuous short climbs; the last 20 are flatter and faster on wider trail, with stretches of technical basalt lava rock. The 50K takes the lower half of the same line: rolling runnable dirt to halfway, then the lava rock. The 50 miler has six aid stations, the 50K four. Both are cupless, and the event permit does not allow pacers.

Open sign-up on UltraSignup, priced in three tiers from April 1, with no lottery and no qualifying standard. The race publishes no field cap, but the 50K does sell out: it was gone by late August for 2026, with a waitlist, while the 50 miler was still open. Elite entries are held back for professional runners who write in.