3 events in Red Lodge, Montana

Welcome to the first Red Lodge mountain bike race in ten years! Rough Cut Trailfest, based out of Red Lodge Mountain and venturing onto surrounding trails in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, will host three distances, include camping, family activities along with Red Lodge Mountains activities open to the public including disc golf, hiking and scenic lift rides.

Course Descriptions

25 Mile - Begins and ends at Red Lodge Mountain. Start with a single track loop at RLM, then make your way through a single track descent through Custer-Gallatin National Forest on singletrack, doubletrack, and a brief paved section. You'll know how Rough Cut became the name. Red Lodge is known for keeping singletrack exactly what it is and our trails are hand built. This is not a beginner friendly ride, intermediate skills are necessary. Limited to 50 riders.

50 Mile - two loops of the 25 mile Rough & Gritty Fun! Limited to 45 riders.

4 ish Mile - a little more intermediate friendly, but still not a beginner loop. It's 4-ish because Beartooth Trails and the locals will continue to build throughout the summer and we will ride what we add on!

This is a fundraiser for two grassroots nonprofits, Red Lodge Bike Center and Beartooth Trails. Without these two organizations, we wouldn't have a local bike center or much for trails to ride. These are volunteer-board led organizations with MANY local volunteers getting greasy, dirty and giving time to keep the bike scene alive. We're stoked our partners at Red Lodge Mountain and Red Lodge Events have teamed up with us to bring back a mountain bike race to Red Lodge. Our race operates under a permit from the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

Route Links

*Notes about the course files

• The Trailforks file is the most accurate, but 50 milers will need to restart the course after Lap 1.

• The first four miles of the course (and miles 25-29 for 50mi riders) are on newer singletrack at Red Lodge Mountain. Some of the trails aren't yet on Trailforks and are very close to Red Lodge Mountain service roads, and some have seen re-routes from the trails currently mapped on Trailforks. Despite very accurate GPX files, your head unit may still chirp at you telling you to make a u-turn, reroute, etc... ignore this and follow course markings. Things will be very well marked here.

Trailforks 25 Mile Loop GPX

Ride With GPS 50 Mile GPX

Ride with GPS 25 Mile GPX

Race Registration & Check In

Online registration will close August 14, then in person until full Friday at 8 pm, limited to 95 racers.

Check in: Friday August 15, 6 - 8 pm at Red Lodge Mountain

Mandatory Pre-Race Meeting: 7:30 pm, Friday, August 15 at Red Lodge Mountain

Race Day, Saturday August 16: 7 am 50 mile start; 8 am 25 mile start; 10 am 4ISH mile start

Saturday, August 16, Ritual Mountain Bike Film Tour presented by Beartooth Trails at Roman Theater. After riding Saturday, join Beartooth Trails downtown for a film and beverage!

This off-road marathon will be held at Red Lodge Mountain Resort. In its sixth year running, the Nitty Gritty is starting to earn quite the reputation. And that is, one nitty, gritty marathon with LOTS of climbing all on dirt roads and single track trails.

With a late August date, your summer of running and racing will be what prepares you for this “battle royal” event. Form a six, three or two runner relay team to tackle the marathon, or if you have the grit, try the solo hot lap, half, or full marathon!

The Nitty Gritty embodies our motto the most out of any race: low key, high elevation. While the terrain is challenging, everything else is lowkey and there is distance for all abilities. Dogs are welcome to run with you on or off leash, the beer and snacks might be the biggest draw….second only to the awesome people! Small but mighty, this race is for those who love trail running and everything that comes with it! Bring your bear spray, camp chair, and good attitude.

So lay the peer pressure on your friends, because its time to get down to The Nitty Gritty!

Race Start Times: (Please arrive 45 minutes before your start time for registration and a pre-race meeting)

Teams: 9:00am

Solo Full: 7:30am

Solo Half: 11:00am

Hot Lap: 1pm

The main roads may be efficient but the back roads sure are beautiful. Take in the views of the Beartooth's as you cruise on rolling rural roads. This fall Half and 10k is a great way to wrap up your summer running season. We know it's cross country season so this race on is on Sunday so you can watch your kids run on Saturday and then show them what you've got on Sunday!

This is a race for everyone. Walkers welcome in the 10k. Sorry no dogs at this race as we go by lots of livestock and livestock guardian dogs. Both courses are on gravel with a few paved sections and minimal elevation gain....well there are 1 or 2 big hills, but after that, smooth sailing!

Strollers are welcome, but require some serious grit. There is a short steep hill on the 10k course in the first mile and a longer, less steep hill in the first mile of the half. Both races finish with a steep of trail downhill -strollers have 100% gone down this, but do so at their own risk. We do mark a turn on the 10k course that will bring you back to the start so you can do a 10k, finish at your car and drive to the proper finish for post-race fun! Please let us know if we can better accomodate you as a stroller pusher!

We cannot accomodate strollers and/or car seats on the shuttles.