Venue information, SCOTT Cougar Mountain 50k & 20 Mile

Quick links to: Parking | Course Info | Aid Station Info | Schedule | Safety

King County's Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a vast oasis of forest with plenty of trails of various widths and grades, making it an outstanding and well-loved destination for trail running. Series races use the Sky Country Trailhead, and there is a short walk Southeast from the parking area along a trail to reach the event registration, start, and finish area.

Enter the park along 166th Way SE, then turn right to turn into the parking area. Please park as directed by the staff. Here is a map (Google maps, opens in new window) of the entrance to the parking area. There is no parking fee.

There are two course options:

• 50k (31.1 miles), with 7600 feet of elevation gain* – This is the main event, and it counts for the SCOTT Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series Standings.
• 20 Miles (actually 19.7 miles or 31.8 km), with 4000 feet of elevation gain*

* Distances were measured using a measuring wheel, and climb was measured using a detailed contour map. The distance is most likely within 1% of actual, and the climb within 10%.

Here is a route map of the 50k, also showing the locations of the aid stations. The start is at Sky Country Trailhead. The 20 Mile uses the same route, including only the portion on Cougar Mountain and turning around at aid station 2/4.

The course starts on Cougar Mountain, where the trails are generally a bit wider and better groomed. The route tours the North and Northeast parts of the park before passing the first aid station at Clay Pit Road and continuing South to Wilderness Peak and the long descent of the Wilderness Cliffs and Squak Mountain Connector trails to the second aid station. At this point, the 20 Mile runners turn around and continue along the route at Cougar Mountain, while the 50k runners cross Renton-Issaquah Road (Highway 900) and continue on the generally smaller--and in some places brushier--trails of Squak Mountain. A clockwise path takes runners a few hundred feet shy of the summit of Squak Mountain before descending to the third aid station near the South end of the State Park. From here begins a 1600 foot climb to the West Peak, followed by a 1500 foot descent back to the road crossing point, back to Cougar Mountain and the second/fourth aid station. The final third of the course climbs Wilderness Creek Trail on the 1000 foot ascent to Long View Peak, traverses to the West end of the park and the fifth and final aid station (atop the De Leo Wall Trail), makes a swing North to the Red Town Trailhead, then returns South to climb 550 feet in the heart of the park along Quarry Trail before a flat-to-rolling final mile or so to the finish.

List of major trails followed:

1. Start in the field
2. Clay Pit Road
3. Klondike Swamp
4. Lost Beagle
5. Shangri La
6. Surprise Creek
7. No Name
8. Shangri La
9. Bear Ridge
10. W. Tibbetts Creek
11. Tibbetts Marsh
12. Anti-Aircraft Ridge
13. Cougar Pass
14. Tibbetts Marsh
15. Clay Pit Road
16. Aid Station #1
17. Mine Shaft
18. East Fork
19. Fred's Railroad
20. Shy Bear
21. Wilderness Peak
22. Wilderness Cliffs
23. Squak Mtn. Connector
24. Aid Station #2 – 50k road crossing; 20 Mile turn around and see below from Aid Station #4
25. West Access
26. East Side
27. Phil's Creek
28. Squak Mountain Road
29. Aid Station #3
30. May Valley Loop
31. Bullitt Gorge
32. West Peak
33. Chybinski Loop
34. West Access
35. 50k road crossing – Aid Station #4
36. Squak Mountain Connector
37. Wilderness Creek
38. Long View Peak
39. Deceiver
40. Shy Bear
41. Far Country
42. Indian
43. De Leo Wall
44. Aid Station #5
45. Marshall's Hill
46. Wildside
47. Red Town
48. Quarry
49. Fred's Railroad
50. By Pass
51. Old Man's
52. Finish!

There are four well-provisioned aid/refreshment stations, one of which is visited twice and is also a bag drop. This means 50k runners will have aid five times, at distances: 5.8 mi, 9.6 mi (bag drop), 15.4 mi, 21.0 mi (bag drop again), 26.4 mi.
For the 20 Mile, aid stations will be at: 5.8mi, 9.6mi, 15.1mi.

The aid station refreshments will include water, PowerBar Ironman PERFORM electrolyte drink (has some carbs, too), boiled potatoes and salt (later aid stations), M&Ms and/or Mike & Ikes, cookies and/or fig bars, PowerBar Energy Gels, pretzels or chips, Coke and/or Mountain Dew (later aid stations), bananas and/or oranges. Thanks to The Balanced Athlete for providing PowerBar products to hydrate and fuel the runners!

If you prepare a drop bag and leave it at the drop bag drop-off point near registration by 8:00 a.m., then we will transport it for you to the Renton-Issaquah Road aid station (#2 and #4 at miles 9.6 and 21.0). Drop bags will not be returned to the finish until after the last runners clear the aid station (maybe 2:30 p.m. or later), so if you expect to be an early finisher and plan to leave soon after, you may wish to consider using recyclable containers that you don't need back.

Road Crossing: The 50k course crosses the Renton-Issaquah Road (Highway 900) at aid station #2/#4. We are not able to stop traffic, so you will need to be alert and cross only when it is safe to do so. The aid station staff is there to assist you with this crossing, but you are responsible for verifying that it is safe to cross before proceeding. 20 Mile runners will turn around at this aid station, so they will not cross the road.

The trails will be open to other users during the event, including pedestrians and horseback riders (along some of the trails). Please share the trails with them as well as with other runners.

In places, the trails have sharp turns, bumps (rocks or tree roots), or tree trunks or limbs that you may need to step over or duck under. Be attentive about where you put your feet and what speed you go in such sections. None of the trails are treacherous or demand any special skills or experience to navigate them. Anyone who is fit enough to hike or run the distance should be able to get through the course fine with a bit of care.

Participants are responsible for their own safety while participating, and the organizers are neither qualified nor equipped to render medical care in the event of a serious injury. In case of an emergency, call 9-1-1. You are encouraged to bring a cell phone with you as a safety precaution, if you wish. Notify staff at the next aid station if you are in need of non-emergency assistance or wish to quit the course.

Where the trails are narrow, please let other participants pass you if they want to get by. It is a passing runner's job to tell the person in front that they wish to pass.