The high country
Run on the passes that built the sport
Leadville sits between two ranges laced with a century of mining roads, and the highest through-roads in North America climb out of town in every direction. A candidate course threads them pass to pass.
The passes
The climbs that decide it
All but Cottonwood are gravel or dirt, at or above treeline. Cottonwood has been paved since 2019 and gives the week its fast crossing of the Divide. These are the timed segments and the reason to come.
| Pass | Elevation | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Mosquito Pass | 13,185 ft | Highest through-road in North America; loose rock above treeline, no guardrails. The queen stage. |
| Cottonwood Pass | 12,126 ft | Long and high over the Continental Divide toward the Gunnison side. |
| Independence Pass | 12,095 ft | The paved high road toward Aspen; a sweeping timed descent option. |
| Hagerman Pass | 11,925 ft | Old railroad grade west of Turquoise Lake; steady dirt under the Mount Massive skyline. |
| Weston Pass | 11,921 ft | Gravel road south toward Fairplay; a classic high-country grinder. |
A candidate week
The shape of it
Illustrative only. The real route is designed with the land managers and the safety plan, in the playbook.
Prologue
A short, fast opener on the mining roads and Turquoise Lake corridor around town to seed the general classification.
Queen stage · Mosquito
Up the old wagon road to 13,185 feet and back. Where the overall is won and lost.
Divide day · Cottonwood
A long day over the Continental Divide. The endurance test that spreads the field.
Rail-grade day · Hagerman
Steady climbing on the railroad grade under the Sawatch skyline. A rhythm stage.
Ranch day
Seldom-ridden terrain on the private ranch — hill climbs, meadows and singletrack no other event can access.
Finish · Leadville
Back into the highest city in North America for the overall.
Why the terrain wins
Three million acres, five passes, one town
A great gravel course needs dirt with character, climbs that make a story, and scenery worth the suffering. Leadville has all three in a concentration that's hard to match: mining roads across three million acres of public land, five passes above 11,900 feet within reach of one town, and a private ranch that opens ground no other permit-holder can touch.
The altitude is the honest difficulty. Racing starts at 10,152 feet and climbs from there, which is what makes finishing mean something.
Planning for fire
Wildfire, smoke and closures
In 2026 the Willow Fire burned about 7,200 acres west of Leadville, south of Turquoise Lake toward Mount Massive. It started on June 28 and was human-caused. It forced the 2026 Leadville Trail 100 MTB to drop Hagerman Pass Road, Sugarloaf Mountain and Powerline and reroute along the north side of Turquoise Lake. A Forest Service closure order for the lands south of the lake ran through September 30, 2026.
PendingOur Hagerman Pass stage and the ranch day (the ranch on Sugarloaf Mountain) sit in or next to that area, and the prologue and the final stage use roads that were closed during the fire. Post-fire closures, burn-area hazards and flood risk for 2027 are unknown, and we won't know them until much closer to the race.
What we plan to do
- ProposedFollow land-manager closures. No stage runs on a road or parcel under a closure order. Decisions by the Forest Service, Lake County and the landowner come first.
- ProposedA pre-planned alternate for every stage. Each stage page names a candidate bad-weather or closure alternate on real roads, so a change on race week uses a route planned in advance. See the stages.
- ProposedA smoke and air-quality go/no-go. Each morning the race would check official air-quality readings for the stage area and decide whether it starts as planned, moves to its alternate, shortens or is cancelled. The threshold would be set with the medical plan.
- ProposedRules for shortening a stage. A stage can be shortened to its alternate, cut at a checkpoint or cancelled. The rules cover how results are counted and the policies cover what that means for your entry.
Sources: VeloNews on the 2026 LT100 MTB reroute, Vail Daily on the Willow Fire, Forest Service closure order, Lake County fire page. Grand Tour Gravel is independent and not affiliated with Life Time or the Leadville Race Series.
Route files
ProposedThe whole candidate route is available as a GPX file and a KML file, and each stage page has its own GPX. They show a candidate line, not for race-day navigation: the course will change with permits, closures and the safety plan.
Proposed The first edition would run five of the seven candidate stages, holding Hagerman and the ranch day for year two. How we'll run it.