Bighorn Trail Run (Sheridan/Dayton, WY)
Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run - 100 Mile
Dayton, WY (Tongue Canyon Road) → Dayton, WY (Scott Park)
Race guide
Updated 18 July 2026
The Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run 100 Mile is a 161 km out-and-back through the Bighorn Mountains above Dayton, Wyoming, climbing 4692 m over the full distance. Starting at Tongue Canyon Road (1250 m) and finishing at Scott Park in Dayton (1197 m), the course runs out to a high turnaround at Jaws Trailhead (2713 m, listed at 2,680 m) and retraces the same rugged terrain home — meaning every climb on the way out becomes a descent on the way back, and vice versa. This is a big-mountain hundred with a mid-June feel: high alpine meadows, deep creek drainages, and the notorious mud that comes with snowmelt season. With a hard finish cut-off of Saturday 20:00 and a string of intermediate cut-offs, it demands steady forward progress across a course that swings repeatedly between 1250 m valleys and passes above 2700 m.
The Course and Terrain
The route climbs almost immediately from the Tongue Canyon Road start to Upper Sheep Creek (13.7 km, 2225 m) and on to Dry Fork Ridge (21.7 km, 2265 m), nearly 1000 m of gain in the opening quarter. From there it undulates across high ground to Kern's Cow Camp (31.4 km, 2031 m) before a long descent to Sally's Footbridge (48.3 km, 1474 m) deep in the drainage. The middle of the race climbs hard again to Spring Marsh (64.4 km, 2172 m) and up to the turnaround at Jaws Trailhead (77.2 km, 2713 m), the roof of the course. The return reverses everything: back down to Spring Marsh (90.1 km, 2212 m), the long drop to Sally's Footbridge (106.2 km, 1469 m), then the sustained grind back up through Kern's Cow Camp (123.1 km) and Dry Fork Ridge (132.8 km, 2221 m) before the final descent past the Tongue River Trailhead (152.6 km, 1318 m) to Scott Park. Underfoot this is genuine mountain trail — alpine singletrack, meadow, forest, and the June snowmelt mud Bighorn is known for.
Where the Race Is Won and Lost
Two features define the day. The first is the long climb to Jaws: from Sally's Footbridge at 1474 m up to the 2713 m turnaround is roughly 1240 m of gain across the outbound middle of the race, done as the miles accumulate and often into the night. Reaching Jaws (cut-off Saturday 04:00) with your legs and stomach intact is the single biggest predictor of a finish. The second is the climb home. After the low point at Sally's Footbridge on the return (106.2 km, 1469 m), the course claws back nearly 750 m to Dry Fork Ridge at 132.8 km — a brutal ascent to face at 130-plus kilometres with a 15:00 Saturday cut-off waiting at the top. Runners who blow their quads on the long outbound and early-return descents pay for it here. Protect your legs on the downhills, especially the drops into Sally's Footbridge in both directions, so you still have the climbing muscles to grind back over Dry Fork and reach the final descent to Dayton.
Pacing and Fuelling to the Cut-offs
The cut-off structure sets the rhythm: Dry Fork Ridge outbound Friday 15:00, Sally's Footbridge outbound Friday 20:30, Jaws Saturday 04:00, then Sally's Footbridge back Saturday 10:00, Dry Fork Ridge back Saturday 15:00, Upper Sheep Creek 16:30, Tongue River Trailhead 18:45 and the finish at Scott Park Saturday 20:00. The tightest squeeze for most runners is the back half — from Jaws to Sally's return you have a long descent, but the climb out of Sally's to Dry Fork is where the clock bites hardest. Aid and crew points are well spaced: Tongue Canyon start, Dry Fork Ridge, Sally's Footbridge, Jaws and the finish are all crew points, with gaps of 15–17 km between the major stations. Plan to be self-sufficient for those stretches, and use the crew stops for real refuelling and dry socks after the muddy drainages. Eat steadily on the runnable high meadows where digestion is easy, hike-and-fuel the big climbs, and keep drinking on the long exposed descents — the combination of altitude near Jaws and June sun lower down makes dehydration easy to underestimate.
Altitude and Conditions to Expect
Bighorn tops out at 2713 m at Jaws and spends long stretches above 2000 m, high enough that runners coming from sea level should expect thinner air on the big climbs and a slower ceiling on effort. The valley floors around 1250–1470 m at the start, finish and Sally's Footbridge can be warm in mid-June sun, so the course swings between hot canyon bottoms and cool, exposed high country — pack layers you can shed and add through the out-and-back. The defining condition, though, is mud. Bighorn runs during snowmelt season, and the high meadows and trails around Spring Marsh and the upper drainages can turn to deep, energy-sapping mud, particularly if there has been recent weather. Add night temperatures at altitude around the Jaws turnaround and the potential for storms on the exposed ridges, and a full mountain kit — waterproof, warm layer, and confident-lugged shoes — is essential. Respect the mud and the altitude, hold something back for the climb home from Sally's, and the Bighorn 100 rewards patience with one of the most scenic hundred-milers in the American West.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
⚠ Auto-researched from public sources — aid stations and cut-offs may be incomplete. Confirm against the official roadbook before race day.
0 km · 1250 m · —
13.7 km · 2225 m · —
21.7 km · 2265 m · Fri 15:00
31.4 km · 2031 m · —
48.3 km · 1474 m · Fri 20:30
64.4 km · 2172 m · —
77.2 km · 2713 m · Sat 04:00
90.1 km · 2212 m · —
106.2 km · 1469 m · Sat 10:00
123.1 km · 2075 m · —
132.8 km · 2221 m · Sat 15:00
140.8 km · 2273 m · Sat 16:30
152.6 km · 1318 m · Sat 18:45
160.9 km · 1197 m · Sat 20:00
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Course data researched from public sources — verify against the official roadbook.