Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run

Point to point along the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge: pitch-pine barrens, white conglomerate cliffs, sky lakes and long views over the Hudson Valley. Three distances and a self-reliant format — you carry your own food and follow the race's map app.

SupportUnsupported. No food, water or aid on course, and no crews, pacers, drop bags or caches. Carry your own nutrition and a water filter, and navigate by trail blazes, the blue SRT discs at junctions, and the race's map app.

Section by section

Section 1High Point, NJ → Sam's PointThe 70-mile opener: a long, remote push north along the ridge from High Point through pitch-pine barrens and rolling woods, run largely through the night. Exposed and lonely — this is the stretch the 30- and half-distances never see.

Section 2Sam's Point → Lake AwostingPast the Ice Caves and Verkeerderkill Falls, over Maratanza and out onto the white conglomerate slabs with their big sky-lake views. Where the 30-mile field starts.

Section 3Lake Awosting → Rt 44/55 (Jenny Lane)Castle Point and Battlement Terrace, then the descent toward Rainbow Falls and the Route 44/55 crossing — the first hard cutoff for the long-course runners.

Section 4Rt 44/55 → Rosendale trestleOld Ski Minne slopes, Coxing Kill and Split Rock, then through the Mohonk Preserve past Spring Farm and Bonticou, onto the Clearwater Trail and the rail trail to the finish high on the Rosendale trestle.

Know before you go

Food & water

Nothing is provided. Carry all your own nutrition, and filter or purify water from the streams and falls along the ridge — there are no caches or resupply.

Navigation

The course isn't flagged for the race. Follow trail blazes and the blue SRT discs at junctions, and load the race's map app (AllTrails, Avenza, or the NY–NJ Trail Conference app) before you lose signal on the ridge.

Weather

Mid-September on the ridge usually means daytime highs in the 70s and overnight lows in the mid-50s — cooler and windier on the exposed slabs, and a cold Friday-night start for the 70-mile.

The Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run is less a race than a ridge traverse with a clock on it. All three distances share the signature ground — quartzite conglomerate slabs, dwarf pitch pine, sky lakes and waterfalls — and all three finish on the restored railroad trestle high above Rondout Creek in Rosendale. The 70-mile adds a long, dark opening leg up from High Point, New Jersey.

Because it’s unsupported, the ridge asks more of you than most ultras: you plan your own water, carry your own food, and keep yourself on route. That’s the point.

Distance and total climb will appear here once a GPX track is added — see the course notes for how those numbers get generated from the file rather than typed by hand.

Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run

Section by section

Know before you go

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