Course Map

 The Iron Mountain Trail Run course is located on National Geographic map for the Mount Rogers Area (786).

16 Mile Route and first section for 30, 40, & 50 Mile Runners

       Below is the course map for the 16 mile option (and therefore, the start and end of the 50, 40, & 30 mile options).  The course is highlighted in pink.  Runners start in Damascus (bottom left) running east on the Virginia Creeper Trail (trail 4575), which parallels Hw 58.  At Straight Branch parking lot, runners turn left and follow the Beech Grove Trail (trail 4552) up to join the Iron Mountain Trail (IMT).  At the IMT, runners turn right (east), following the IMT (trail 301, along Feathercamp Ridge) towards the FS 90 Aid Station.  Runners briefly turn onto the Bushwacker Trail prior to retuning to the Iron Mountain Trail.  The 16 mile runners turn around at A (FS 90) and return to Damascus on the Iron Mountain Trail (with a brief period on the Bushwacker Trail).

        At Garmin Connect (IMTR 16) you can select to see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 16 mile course.  If you select splits (upper right) you can see data for distances between aid stations.

30 Mile Route and middle section for 40 & 50 Mile Runners

     Below is the middle section of the 30 mile option (and the 40 & 50 mile option).  30, 40,  & 50 mile runners will start as the 16 mile runners did above.  However, when the 16 mile runners turn around at A, (FS 90), the 30, 40, & 50 mile runner will continue heading east on the Iron Mountain Trail (trail 301).  At B (SR 600), the 30 mile runners will turn around, returning to Damascus on the Iron Mountain Trail (with a brief period on the Bushwacker Trail) while the 40 & 50 mile runners will continue East.

        At Garmin Connect (IMTR 30) you can select to see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 30 mile course.  If you select splits (upper right) you can see data for distances between aid stations.

        Here is John Allsteadt's Ride with GPS data on the IMTR 30 course.

40 & 50 Mile Route

     Below is the middle section for the 40 & 50 mile runners.  Runners will start as the 16 and 30 milers did.  However, where the 30 milers turn around at B (SR 600), the 40 & 50 milers will continue east on FS 84, and then Old 84 (trail 4630).  At the Hurricane Gap Aid Station, 40 mile runners will return (running west on FS 84, skipping the Barton Gap, FS 643, Rowland Creek Trail loop).  50 milers runners will continue to 84 (east), then turn left on Barton Gap trail (trail 4624), then turning left on 643.  At the Rowland Creek Aid Station, 50 milers will turn left on Rowland Creek Falls Trail (trail 164), returning to Hurricane Gap Aid Station.  There they will return to FS 84, this time heading west (the same route as the 40 milers).  The Iron Mountain Trail joins FS 84, and runners eventually turn left off of FS 84 to follow the Iron Mountain Trail west all the way back to Damascus (with a brief period on the Bushwacker Trail).

        At Garmin Connect (IMTR 40) you can select to see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 40 mile course.  If you read through the Notes section (right side) you can see data for distances between aid stations.

        At Garmin Connect (IMTR 50) you can select to see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 50 mile course.  If you select splits (upper right) you can see data for distances between aid stations.

        At Strava (IMTR 50) you can see another satellite version with other data thanks to data from Joshua (50 mile course).

Entire Course for the 40 & 50 Mile Route

     2 maps are given below.  The top one is more heavily annotated.  

     All runners start in Damascus (bottom left).  16 milers turn around at A (FS 90) and 30 milers turn around at B (SR 600- Skulls Gap Aid Station).  40 milers return to Damascus at the Hurricane Gap Aid Station  All runners return to Damascus on the Iron Mountain Trail. 

       40 mile:  At Garmin Connect you can see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 40 mile course.  If you read through the Notes section (right side) you can see data for distances between aid stations.

       50 mile: At Garmin Connect you can select to see a satellite map (as well as elevation profile) of the 50 mile course.  If you select splits (upper right) you can see data for distances between aid stations.