Flagship ranking · updated October 30, 2026

Best Trail Races & Ultras in the US

Trail races aren't scored on the road formula. They get their own curve: a field of 400 counts as big, USATF certification doesn't apply and isn't held against anyone, and course character, which is scenery plus elevation gain, carries a quarter of the score, because on trail the course is most of the point. The breakdown is on every row.

What the scores can't tell you: most of the races at the top are harder to get into than to finish. Lotteries, qualifiers and waits of several years are normal at the front of American trail running. We rank the races, not your odds, so check each race's entry rules before you set your heart on one.

This list also leans away from the mountain West, because of where our listings come from. They sync from RunSignup, and trail races that register through UltraSignup, where much of American ultrarunning lives, aren't here yet. It shows: our index lists more upcoming trail races in Texas than in California or Colorado. That says where races register, not where trail running happens.

So read the top and the tail differently. Most of the races near the top were checked by hand. Further down, the list reflects where our data comes from more than the shape of the sport. If your trail race is missing, its director can add or claim the listing for free.

Composite /100 · FLD field · HST history · CRD credentials · CHR character

1 Western States 100 Olympic Valley, CA Jun 2027 71.6/100

The oldest 100-mile trail race in the world, and the sport's Boston: 100 miles from Olympic Valley to Auburn through the Sierra high country and the canyons, finishing with a lap of the Placer High track. A field capped in the hundreds and a lottery that can take years keep its size score modest. Everything else about it is the top of the sport.

2 Dipsea Race Mill Valley, CA Jun 2027 68.4/100

The oldest trail race in America, run since 1905, and still the oddest and best 7.4 miles in the sport: from Mill Valley over the shoulder of Mount Tam to Stinson Beach, stairs and all. A handicapped start lets grandmothers and Olympians race each other, and the shortcuts get passed down like family recipes. Its history score is maxed out.

3 JFK 50 Mile Boonsboro, MD Nov 2026 64.9/100

The oldest ultramarathon in the country, born from JFK's 1963 fitness challenge, and the best first ultra there is: rocky Appalachian Trail early, then 26 flat miles of C&O Canal towpath where road runners feel at home. A November date, a big field for an ultra and six decades of history make it the top-scored first-ultra pick here.

4 32nd Annual Turkey Trot 5K Fort Wayne, IN Nov 2026 60.3/100
5 Chuckanut 50K Bellingham, WA Mar 2027 59.4/100

More than thirty years of March mud outside Bellingham, and the unofficial season opener for elite North American trail running. The start list is a preview of the year. A flat first and last 10K wrap around a mountainous middle on Chuckanut Ridge. It's small and low-frills, and the people who run it like it that way.

6 Broken Arrow Skyrace Olympic Valley, CA Jun 2027 53.1/100

One of the youngest races on this list: a June skyrunning festival above Olympic Valley, European style, with snowfields, ridgelines and some of the deepest sub-ultra trail fields in North America. It's too new to score much on history, but its character score is high, and it should climb every year it keeps running.

7 Black Canyon 100K Mayer, AZ Feb 2027 52.9/100

A February desert descent that has become a hunting ground for Golden Tickets to Western States, which stacks the field deep for a race barely a decade old. Fast, runnable Sonoran singletrack with saguaros for spectators. The scores call it young and mid-sized. Its place in the sport is bigger than that.

8 Quad Rock 50 Fort Collins, CO May 2027 49.1/100

The local's pick: 11,000 feet of climbing in loops through the foothills above Fort Collins, with steep climbs and ridgelines you can actually run. About a hundred finishers in the 50-miler, no lottery, real mountains. Its score is modest, and it's the kind of race this list is here to help you find.

9 18th Annual Gobbler Gallop Trail Run/Walk 1 Mile Saginaw, MI Nov 2026 47.3/100
10 16th Annual Vista View 360 Ultramarathon & Relay Davie, FL Jan 2027 45.7/100
11 2nd Annual 5K Trail Run/Walk at Jacobsburg State Park -Benefits Wreaths Across America Nazareth, PA May 2027 43.4/100
12 4th Annual Porterville 5K/10K Trail Run Porterville, CA Apr 2027 43.3/100
13 Crystal Lake Outdoor Center 11th Annual Trail Race Hughesville, PA May 2027 36.8/100

Longest-running races

7 races we can date but haven't measured enough of to score. Oldest first. What we measure →

Also listed, not yet ranked

174 races we list but haven't measured enough of to score. By date. What we measure →

Best Trail Races & Ultras in the US

Races worth traveling for

Longest-running races

Also listed, not yet ranked