The Wy’east Wonder 50-mile course is stunning. You will have so many views of Mt. Hood, as you make your way from the southern side of the mountain, around to the east. You’ll also be treated to vistas of eastern Oregon’s desert and the Hood River Valley orchards. The single-track is super fun and includes some relatively created trails.
NOTE: Because of the excessive amount of snow still on the Gunsight Ridge trail, we are rerouting runners this year. This will make this portion of the racer safer, but also a bit more of an adventure. Runners will stay on Bennett Pass Road from the start until they get to the first aid station at High Prairie. Racers will not use the Gunsight Ridge trail at all. The course map is updated to reflect this (click it below to see the online version). The doesn’t really change the overall distance but does reduce the elevation gain in this section by about 325′. Runners should expect to run through/over/on approximately 2.5 miles of snow, in total, on the Bennett Pass Road.
The start of the race is on a double track road. It’s a bit steep, with ~700′ of gain. You’ll start seeing the views of Mt. Hood early on as you make your way on Forest Road 3550. You’ll turn onto the Gunsight trail and run along Gunsight Ridge, heading north and east. You aren’t required to step off the trail a few feet for the iconic ‘gunsight’ view of Mt. Hood, but you’ll probably want to. You can consider this a personal aid station where you pause to eat the GU you were carrying. This section also includes the fun-to-say Gumjuwac Saddle, which is where you’ll leave the Gunsight trail to race on Forest Road 3550 to the first aid station at High Prairie.
Immediately upon leaving the High Prairie Aid Station, you’ll have a really fun downhill through the woods on a brand-new trail. After crossing road 4410, you continue on the Cooks Meadow trail until you get the to aquaduct. This old, buried pipe used to distribute water to The Dalles Watershed. You can still see where it is in places as you curve around to the Aquaduct Aid Station. The Wy’east Wolfpack will greet you when you arrive here.
Leaving the aid station, you’ll run east on another newer trail, the Super Connector. Then it is almost straight south on the Knebel Springs trail to the Bottle Prairie Aid Station.
This section is a loop on the Eightmile trail… but don’t worry, it’s only 6.4 miles. You’ll have views toward the desert and farmlands of eastern Oregon at Perry Point. The course passes near a fire lookout you may want to check out on another trip. This pretty trail returns to the Bottle Prairie Aid Station along the Eightmile Creek.
After leaving the Bottle Prairie Aid Station for the second time, you’ll run on the rest of the Knebel Springs trail. This is another fun section of the course. You’ll return to the Aquaduct Aid Station on the Super Connector.
Now you are running on the Surveryors Ridge! Get ready for many more stunning views of Mt. Hood, as you traverse this ridge through meadows and prairies. You’ll pass Shellrock Mountain and the Badlands Basin and will want to peek at the pinnacles and ridges formed out of the pyroclastic flow from a long-ago Mt. Hood eruption. You will also begin seeing the Hood River valley and all the orchards.
Continuing north on Surveyors Ridge, you’ll run almost 3 mile before reaching the intersection with Oak Ridge trail. Yeah, yeah, there are more views of the valley and the mountain. You will still be tempted to stop to take a picture. The last section on Oak Ridge trail is a sturdy downhill, where you’ll drop almost 2,000′ in a bit over 2.5 miles.
View the 50M course interactive map in Caltopo, where you can change the layers and views, zoom in and out and move around the course.
The course has 7,082′ of gain and 10,012′ of loss.
Aid stations are stocked with water, GU electrolyte drink, GU gels, potato chips, Fritos, Fig Newtons, pickles, gummy bears, bananas, and M&Ms.
Go Beyond Racing is cupless. You’ll need to bring your own cup for liquid aid at all aid stations.
| Aid Station | Segment Distance | Cumulative Distance | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Prairie | 10.7 | 10.7 | |
| Aquaduct | 9.8 | 20.5 | 12:15 p.m. for 2021 rolling start & snow reroute |
| Bottle Prairie | 4.3 | 24.8 | |
| Bottle Prairie | 6.4 | 31.2 | 2:45 p.m. for 2021 rolling start & snow reroute |
| Aquaduct | 8.9 | 40.1 | 4:45 p.m. for 2021 rolling start & snow reroute |
| Gibson Prairie | 4.7 | 44.8 | |
| Finish | 5.4 | 50.2 |
Pacers are not allowed in this race.
Small crews can access their runners at the Aquaduct aid station, and only at this aid station. Runners pass through here twice, so there are two opportunities to see and support racers. Crew can park on the right side of road 17, south of where the runners cross the road to get to the Super Duper Connector trail, or where directed by volunteers. Runners receiving aid from crew at any other location will be disqualified.
Driving directions to Aquaduct aid station
There are three cutoffs in the 50-mile race. Runners must depart the aid station by the cutoff time to be allowed to continue the race. If you miss a cutoff, you will stay with the volunteers until they close down the aid station and they will transport you to the Red Barn Park.
50-mile racers can have one drop bag for the Aquaduct aid station. You pass through this aid station twice. You will leave your drop bag at Bennett Pass Sno Park when you pick up your bib. We will transport your drop bag to the aid station. All drop bags will return to the Red Barn Park when the Aquaduct aid station closes. Don’t forget to retrieve your drop bag before heading home.
Please read our guidelines about drop bags.
Additionally, you can drop the coat that you wear on the shuttle to the race start, at the starting line. We will transport these items to Red Barn Park.
