The course itself is filled with natural beauty, as runners will make their way largely along dirt roads and trails inside the Gallatin National Forest just outside West Yellowstone, a small town here in eastern Montana that’s home to a little over 1,200 year-round residents, whose population swells in the summer with visitors to the park.
The half marathon follows an out-and-back course that starts and finishes on Old Airport Road, along the western edge of town, and takes runners first into town, along Iris Street, Yellowstone Avenue and Electric Street, and features a stretch past the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, a wildlife sanctuary for wolves and bears that have been removed from Yellowstone.
After that, runners head out into the Gallatin Forest, which spans some 3.1 million acres and is home to rugged mountains and forests, including the tallest peak in Montana.
The biggest hills of the race occur around the midpoint, as runners are making their way along Corrette Ridge Road. Runners will climb a little over 300 feet between mile 5 and mile 7, and then give nearly all of that climb back between miles 7 and 9, as they’re running alongside the South Fork of the Madison River.
Runners will finish the race back in West Yellowstone, on Old Airport Road where they started.
