Shawnee Hills Trail Races — 2026 — Course Map, Elevation Profile & Aid Stations

Course map, elevation profile & surface

Distance

32.5mi

Elev gain

4,147ft

Elev loss

4,134ft

High point

719ft

Low point

377ft

Surface

76% trail

Drawing the course…

The course file didn’t load.Usually a hiccup. The stats above are still right.

Race-day light

In the dark

Sunrise

6:18am

Sunset

7:40pm

Headlamp from

Not needed

For a 6:55 finish (an estimate) · starting 7:00 AM Aug 22. Dark means the sun below civil twilight.

Climbs

2 climbs · 466 ft totalbiggest first

Pick a climb to find it on the profile and the map.

Elevation gain, measured two ways

Source	Gain	vs lidar
Course file (GPX)	4,147ft	+46%
USGS lidar, 1 m	2,842ft	reference

They differ because a GPS file picks up noise on every wiggle and often takes its heights from a coarse terrain model, while lidar maps the ground itself to about a metre. We sampled this route every 98 ft against USGS 3DEP and counted each rise of 10 ft or more, on Oct 23, 2026. The planner still uses the course file.

Aid stations as published on the course file

Aid station	Mile	km
A Jackson Falls AS (NO CREW ACCESS)	11.9	19.2
A Cedar Road AS	16.7	26.9
A Trigg Tower AS	25.5	41.0
A Cinder Path AS	29.5	47.5
Camp O Start/Finish	32.5	52.3

Badge colours match the markers on the map above — always confirm locations and cutoffs with the race organizer.

Race director? Check this course and correct anything that’s off, and it carries a ✓ verified by the race badge everywhere it appears, including the free map embed for your own site. Claim your course.

Nobody from Shawnee Hills Trail Races — 2026 has checked this course yet — it’s built from what the race published. Ask them to:Email your race director

Ran this course and something’s off — an aid station moved, a reroute, a wrong number? Report it and we’ll chase it down; fixes land for every runner (and count toward the race’s verified badge).

Conditions typical race-day weather for Aug 22 at the start

Typical high

85°F

Typical low

68°F

Chance of rain

21%

2025 high

82°F

Typical = the median of 2016–2025 for Aug 22 ±3 days at the start line; a wet day has 1 mm of rain or more. Historical weather from Open-Meteo.

Race almanac 1 year of this race

Past editions

On race day it reached 85°F at the start, with a low of 67°.

Year	Start °F	Rain	Wind	Heat index
2026 Aug 22	85°/67°	0.02in	9mph	91°

Next race day Sat, Aug 21, 2027 · 7:00 AM start

First lightsunrise 6:17 am

5:49am

Last lightsunset 7:42 pm

8:09pm

Moonwaning gibbous, up from 9:28 pm

79% lit

First and last light are civil twilight, the sun 6° below the horizon. The moon is lit as at midnight after the start; headlamp hours count a typical finish from the start while the sun is below civil twilight. Worked out for the start line.

race-day weather from the Open-Meteo historical archive (ERA5) at the start line.

Reviews what runners who have been there say

No reviews yet — be the first to run it and tell other runners what to expect.

About this course

Shawnee Hills Trail Races — 2026 covers 32.5 mi (52.4 km) with 4,147 ft of elevation gain through Illinois, United States. That is about 127 ft per mile of climbing, and 4,134 ft of descent. The course tops out at 719 ft and bottoms out at 377 ft. The surface is 76% trail, 11% gravel and 4% paved. There are 4 aid stations on course; the longest stretch between aid is 11.9 mi. The profile has 2 sustained climbs; the biggest is the climb to Cedar Road AS, +253 ft over 1.5 mi at 3.2% on average (steepest stretch 13%). Race day is August 22, 2026, starting at 7:00 AM; the sun rises at 6:18 AM and sets at 7:40 PM. Typical race-day weather at the start: a high of 85°F and a low of 68°F, with a 21% chance of a wet day. The interactive map above shows the full route with its elevation profile and aid stations, built from the course's GPS file.

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