Don't Fence Me In Trail Run
Courses
U.S. Track and Field Rules Apply
Unfortunately, courses will not accommodate baby joggers and strollers. Dogs allowed only in the 5K Dog Walk.
5K Course
This 2.6 mile course gains 430 feet in elevation and consists of 30% pavement and 70% trails. The 5K Walk, Run and Dog Walk follow this course.
The 5k starts at the intersection of Warren and Miller streets, a short walk from the Lewis & Clark Public Library, past the S.S. Helena Memorial and under Cruse Avenue. The course begins by running south up Warren Street to Pine Street, and turns left on Pine and right on Davis. It picks up the Davis Gulch (wood chip) trail and makes the left turn onto the Eagle Scout Trail. After descending the Pay Dirt Trail to the Beattie Street trail head and through the hiker's entrance, it takes a left and swings around to the top of Chaucer Street. After 2 blocks on Chaucer, it takes a left onto State Street, a left at Warren Street, a right at Pine Street, then onto trail to Dale Harris Park. Cross Cruse Ave. to finish line.
- Estimated average time to complete the 5K Walk - 50 min.
- Estimated average time to complete the 5K Run - 25 min.
12K Course
With 1400 feet in elevation gain, this 7.2 mile course is not for the faint of heart. With less than 1 mile of pavement, this challenging course provides runners with a round trip tour of some of the greatest running trails in Helena's south hills. The 12K Walk and Run follow this course.
The 12k starts at the intersection of Warren and Miller Streets, a short walk from the Lewis & Clark Library past the S.S. Helena Memorial and under Cruse Ave. The course begins by running south up Warren to Pine Street, turns left on Pine and right on Davis. It picks up the Davis Gulch (wood chip) trail and makes the left turn onto the Eagle Scout Trail. After negotiating the switchbacks, the course continues east to make a right turn on the Archery Range trail. Past the Archery Range, it swings uphill and over a small ridge, then down some switchbacks to Davis Gulch. After a sharp right turn onto the Davis Gulch Road, a trail appears down the embankment to the left (aid station will here). The trail skirts the outside of the fence enclosing the old shooting range and begins a climb up some gentle switchbacks to Rodney Meadow. From the meadow, the course takes the second trail on the right and stays right at a "Y" for a short climb up to the ridge. The trail drops downhill for a ways and swings farther south to make a sharp right turn down a steeper pitch to the Waterline Trail. It follows the Waterline for a ways to the second right turn. This newly constructed trail takes the course thru some long switchbacks to the top of the ridge and then drops down toward Davis Gulch to pick up the Rodney Ridge trail and its series of switchbacks first down and then sharply uphill.
This climb tops out just in time to get a great panoramic view of Helena and then descends to the Rodney Ridge trail head. After passing thru the gate, the course keeps left onto Sparta Street. Just before the intersection with Clancy Street, the course veers left onto the city maintenance road. It then climbs up and over a small ridge on a trail that descends toward Dale Harris Park. After crossing Cruse, the route goes along Park Ave. to the finish near the Lewis & Clark Public Library.
- Estimated average time to complete the 12K Walk - 2.5 hours. The awards ceremony begins at noon. If attending the ceremony is important to you, please consider doing the 5K run.
- Estimated average time to complete the 12K Run - 1.25 hours.
30K Course
The 30k starts at the intersection of Warren and Miller Streets, a short walk from the Lewis & Clark Library past the S.S. Helena Memorial and under Cruse Ave. The course begins by running south up Warren to Pine Street, turns left on Pine and right on Davis. It picks up the Davis Gulch (wood chip) trail and makes the left turn onto the Eagle Scout Trail. After negotiating the switchbacks, the course continues east to make a right turn on the Archery Range trail. Past the Archery Range, it swings uphill and over a small ridge, then down some switchbacks to Davis Gulch. After a sharp right turn onto the Davis Gulch Road, a trail appears down the embankment to the left (aid station will here). The trail skirts the outside of the fence enclosing the old shooting range and begins a climb up some gentle switchbacks to Rodney Meadow. At the meadow, the course takes the first trail on the right to head north parallel to Rodney Ridge. It takes the left fork at the intersection with the Don't Fence Me In Trail and climbs briefly over the ridge to a longer downhill and a sharp left turn onto the Waterline Trail. Following this trail south parallel to the Orofino Gulch Road, it climbs abruptly for a short distance to intersect the TR Trail. A right turn here takes the course down to the pavement on Orofino Gulch. Keeping left on the pavement, the course follows the road for nearly a mile, past the Arrastra Gulch turn on the left, until the Barking Dog Trail appears on the right. After carefully crossing the road, the course proceeds up the Barking Dog Trail to Wakina Sky Meadow and the Wakina Sky Intersection. At this intersection, the course takes a left (west) and then a quick right onto the Stairway to Heaven Trail. This trail follows a ridge line before swinging down to the right through some lazy switchbacks to the Wakina Sky Road. A right turn on the road brings the course to the Wakina Sky Trail up the gulch and back to the meadow. From the Wakina Sky intersection, the course again turns west but passes the Stairway to Heaven Trail and continues west into trees and many switchbacks down to Grizzly Gulch. At the Gulch, it makes a right turn (caution: no traffic control here) and follows the dirt road for about a quarter mile to the Mini Ridge Trail. A left turn off of the road and another left turn, about 5 yards past the fence line, takes the course onto the single track Mini Ridge Trail. This trail proceeds uphill to the Mt. Helena Ridge Trail. With a right turn onto the Ridge Trail, the course proceeds back toward Mt. Helena.
Before arriving at Mt. Helena, a right turn on the West End Trail takes the course onto the McKelvey Trail. The second left turn, after the Hanging Draw Trail, off of McKelvey is the Dump Out Trail. The course follows this trail up and around a shoulder of Mt. Helena and merges with the Prospect Shafts Trail. As the trail drops into a field just above the houses of Reeders Village, the course takes a left onto a secondary trail that goes through a break in a fence, between two houses and onto paved road in the subdivision. By keeping to the left on the first road and then veering right onto the second, the course gets back onto a trail that again passes between two houses. It descends across a paved cul de sac onto a few more yards of dirt trail and then onto pavement that goes under the Howie Street Bridge past the Stonehouse Restaurant. The course makes a right turn onto the bricks of historic Reeders Alley and crosses Park Avenue to the finish line.
- Estimated average time to complete the 30K Run - 3-4 hours. The awards ceremony begins at noon. If attending the ceremony is important to you, please consider doing the 5K run.
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