Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run

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MMT Course

For 2018 Event

Photo of Ed Cacciapaglia approaching Shawl Gap Aid Station
Ed Cacciapaglia approaching Shawl Gap Aid Station
Photo: Aaron Swartzbard

This is a detailed description of the course that we plan to use. The course will be well-marked on race weekend. The actual course may have very minor, well-marked deviations from what is below, especially around aid stations.

Start to AS #1 - From the start by the event tent, out the driveway, right on Fort Valley Road (Route 675), right on Mooreland Gap Road (Route 730), and then to the entrance of AS #1, Moorelend Gap. Total distance 4.0 miles.

AS #1 to AS #2 - Leave AS #1, Moreland Gap, for 1.0 miles on orange MT. Cross FDR 374 and continue on orange MT (this is the notorious Short Mountain) for 6.7 miles. Join FDR 374 and continue on orange dirt road for 0.4 miles to AS #2, Edinburg Gap.

AS #2 to AS #3 - Cross Rt 675 then stay to the left (do not take the ATV road) and follow orange for 8.2 miles to Woodstock Tower, AS #3.

AS #3 to AS #4 - Continue on orange MT after AS #3 for 4.2 miles. Turn right on orange at junction with blue. Continue downhill for 0.5 miles, turning left on orange blazed dirt road. Continue on road for 0.5 miles to AS #4 on right. The aid station is near, but no longer at, Powell's Fort Camp.

MMT Map
MMT Course Map
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AS #4 to AS #5 - Continue on orange blazed dirt road for 1.9 miles. Turn left on orange trail for 0.9 miles to junction with blue trail. Turn right on blue and go uphill for 0.8 miles to ridge, then downhill on blue for 3.9 miles to Rt 678. Stay on blue (it will merge with orange at a right turn near the end of this stretch)! Cross Rt. 678, turn right into the parking lot, proceed on road and cross bridge, and immediately turn left on blue-orange trail with AS #5, Elizabeth Furnace, on your right in a shelter.

AS #5 to AS #6 - Leave AS #5 on blue-orange blazed trail, parallel to Passage Creek. It is 2.6 miles, from RT 678, on blue-orange past AS #5 to Shawl Gap with orange, yellow and blue blazes at the gap. Cross the saddle and change from blue-orange to yellow and run downhill on yellow. Turn right in 0.5 miles and continue 1.9 miles on yellow to AS #6, Shawl Gap.

AS #6 to AS #7 - Turn right on Rt. 613 and run 3.1 miles to AS #7, Veach Gap Trailhead. Turn right into AS #7. Do not follow blue blazes down the road.

AS #7 to AS #8 - Leave AS #7 on blue blazes for 1.7 miles. Turn left at ridge on orange. Run 4.8 miles to junction with purple blazed trail. Turn left on purple and run 2.5 miles to AS #8, Indian Grave Trailhead.

AS #8 to AS #9 - Turn right on Rt. 717 and run 2.9 miles to Rt. 684. Bear right at junction, then 1.0 mile to AS #9, Habron Gap Trailhead.

AS #9 to AS #10 - Leave AS #9 on blue blaze for 2.1 miles. Turn left at ridge on orange.

Run 2.7 miles to start of yellow blazed Stephens Trail. Turn right on yellow for 4.7 miles to AS #10 at Camp Roosevelt.

AS #10 to AS #11 - Cross Rt 675 and run MT on orange for 3.2 miles to junction with blue Gap Creek Trail. (This section is known as the Duncan Hollow Trail to some old timers.) Leave the MT and turn right on blue, uphill 0.8 miles and then 1.5 miles downhill to AS #11, Gap Creek Trailhead.

AS #11 to AS #12 - Cross FDR 274 (Crisman Hollow Road) and continue on blue Jawbone Gap Trail for 1.2 miles to saddle at ridge. Turn left on orange MT for 4.9 miles, exiting trail onto FDR 274. Turn right on dirt road for 0.7 miles down FDR 274 (Crisman Hollow Rd). Continue straight for 1.7 miles on asphalt - cross US 211 - turn left to AS #12, the Visitor Center.

AS #12 to AS #13 - Follow white Wildflower Trail for 0.3 miles. Turn right on orange Massanutten South Trail (MS) for 3.2 miles to AS #13, Bird Knob.

AS #13 - AS #14 - Leave AS #13 on orange trail (Big Mountain Road) for 1.0 miles to intersection with purple Roaring Run trail. (The post marking the intersection has both a purple and pink blaze on it.) Proceed 1.0 mile to intersection with the pink, Brown's Run trail. (This is a new trail not yet listed on most trail maps.) Turn left and proceed 4.4 miles to AS # 14, the Picnic Area.

AS #14 to 211 East - Proceed east on orange trail for 1.9 miles to US 211 East where you can meet your crew but which is not an aid station.

211 East to AS #15 - Cross US 211 and enter dirt road, white blaze (Massanutten Connector Trail). Continue on road for 1.1 miles, turning left on white. Continue for 0.8 miles on white to three-way junction with orange MT and continue straight on orange (don't go left) for 2.1 miles to junction with Scothorn Gap Trail. Turn left on yellow Scothorn Gap Trail for 1.5 miles to Crisman Hollow Rd. Turn right on road for 1.4 miles and then turn right for 0.1 miles into AS #15. Do not continue straight up the road! AS #15 is at the same location as AS #11, but you enter from a different direction.

AS #15 to Finish- Leave aid station on blue Jawbone Gap Trail for 1.2 miles until trail ends on saddle at ridge. Continue straight on orange MT downhill for 0.4 miles. Turn right on orange for 1.2 miles to Moreland Gap Road (Rt 730). Turn right (east) on Rt. 730 and go 3.1 miles to the entrance to the Camp. (This is the entrance on the Moreland Gap Road, not the entrance to race headquarters on Route 675.) Turn left on the entrance road and go .3 mile to an intersection for the sukkahs. From here it is .4 mile to the finish. Turn right on to an old road that becomes a trail after the outdoor chapel. Follow trail to stream, cross the stream on the bridge (or not if you want to freshen up), and follow the markings to circle the field to the finish line.

Asphalt - 2.6 miles
Dirt roads - 18.4 miles
Trails - 81.3 miles

Revised - March 2012


Finishing the MMT: Jamey Groff is welcomed at the finish line.

NOTE: The Massanutten Trail is the 71 mile, orange-blazed ring whose northern point end is at Signal Knob and whose southern point is at the crossing of FDR 274 (Crisman Hollow Road) near the top of Waterfall Mountain. The old names "Massanutten Mountain East Trail" and "Massanutten Mountain West Trail" are no longer used. There is still a "Massanutten South Trail." Its northern trailhead is at Route 211. This trail is also blazed orange. The Massanutten South Trail is connected to the Massanutten Trail by the white-blazed Massanutten Connector Trail which runs from Route 211 to the bottom of Waterfall Mountain.

There are several informal names for sections of the Massanutten Trail. For example, while everyone calls it the "Short Mountain Trail," it's technically the "Massanutten Trail on Short Mountain." Other sections of the Massanutten Trail that are frequently referred to by their individual names are Kerns Mountain and Duncan Hollow.

The MMT course follows much of the Massanutten Trail, but not all of it.

None of this is critical, but be prepared for hearing different names for the same trail sections.

Abbreviations:

MT
Massanutten Trail (former MME and MMW Trails)
MS
Massanutten South Trail