Headlands Hundred

50 & 100 Mile Endurance Runs

Course Comparison with Miwok 100K

by Steve Ansell

Start
Miwok famously starts on the beach. Everyone walks out and huddles on the beach before the start listening to the RD before the start.
HH will use the same Start/Finish area which will also serve as a very important Aid Station at the 50m and 75m point. You will need to make your own way across the beach after running along the road and crossing bridge (the reverse of the Pirates Cove 50K finish if you did that race).

To Rodeo Valley
Both make their way along the right side of the lagoon. There is an infamous single-track bottleneck after the beach as you head onto the Lagoon Trail. Faster 100-milers and 50-milers may want to in the front for this if you can’t stand to waste the extra 3-4 minutes. Both will take Field Rd. up towards the point, and follow it around to Conzelman Road.
HH will get off the road much sooner than Miwok did, cutting over to the Coastal Trail as soon as possible where it intersects Conzelman Road. HH will stay on the Coastal Trail for a while crossing McCullough Rd., going up over the Bunker Rd. tunnel and continuing to the SCA Trail. It will then take a left and cut over to the Rodeo Valley Trail heading back down to the first aid station at Rodeo Valley [mi 8.6].
Miwok stays on the road until Conzelman intersects with McCullough. It takes a left turn on McCullough and then another quick left onto the Coastal Trail going back in the opposite direction as HH. It follows the trail back down and right to Bunker Road and the first aid station at Bunker Rd. [mi 6.2]. It’s not clear if this is the same location as the HH Rodeo Valley AS.

Rodeo Valley To Tennessee Valley
The two races take very different routes from their first aid stations to the shared Tennessee Valley Aid Station.
Miwok heads up the Rodeo Valley Trail that HH came down, but cuts left over onto the Bobcat Trail before reaching the end. It takes Bobcat for a bit and then a small path beside the radio tower to intersect with the Miwok Trail. It follows its namesake downhill until the intersection with Old Springs Trail. A right turn and 2 miles on Old Springs brings you to the Tennessee Valley Aid Station [mi 10.9]
HH heads back towards the Rodeo Valley Trail, but then takes an immediate left towards Bobcat trail and then another left to get directly to the Miwok Trail. It is a right turn onto Miwok here. It continues on Miwok up past Wolf Ridge until the intersection with Old Springs Trail. From here you go left on Old Springs and follow the same 2 miles to reach the Tennessee Valley Aid Station [mi 11.7]

Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach
Miwok takes a fairly direct route to Muir Beach. You head out of the aid station on the paved road towards the ocean. This becomes a fire road (Tennessee Valley Trail) which you follow until it intersects with the Coastal Trail. You go right on the Coastal Trail and follow it up and over as it goes above Pirates Cove and then all the way down to the Muir Beach Aid Station [mi16.0]
HH takes a different and longer route to the beach. You head out of the Aid Station along the Miwok Trail (I think there is actually more Miwok than in Miwok) following it all the way around to the intersection with the Coyote Ridge Trail. You take a left on Coyote Ridge and follow that to the Coastal Fire Road. The Coastal Fire Road goes both left and right here. On the first trip, you will follow the left trail down to the Coastal Trail and then turn right to follow Coastal Trail above Pirates Cove. On the 2nd and 3rd trips, you will follow the short-cut to the right and then follow it to the Coastal Trail intersection turning right onto Coastal Trail after Pirates Cove. The Coastal Trail is followed down to the Muir Beach Aid Station [mi 17.1]

Muir Beach to Pan Toll
Both races take nearly the same route up to Pan Toll (though the way back is quite different). Starting out after Muir Beach you head to the Shoreline Highway (Hwy 1) and follow it left to get to the Redwood Creek Trail. You then head up the Redwood Creek Trail for a couple of miles where just past the junction with the Miwok Trail you meet the Deer Park Fire Road.
Miwok says that you continue on the Deer Park Fire Road as it merges with the Coastal Fire Road. You then climb up to the intersection with Old Mine Trail which you stay on until it meets the road at Pan Toll. The Pan Toll Aid Station [mi 21.7] is straight across the road.
HH cuts off the Deer Park Fire Road and veers right onto the Dipsea Trail. It then follows the Dipsea until to the Coastal Trail. You then turn right on Coastal and take it to the junction with Old Mine Trail. The remainder is the same path up to the Pan Toll Aid Station [mi 22.2]

Pan Toll to Bolinas Ridge
There are not too many options here and it appears that both take the same route (though there is a 0.2mi difference in the measurements). You basically take some asphalt to get to the entrance to the Coastal Trail which immediately merges to the Matt Davis Trail. You follow Matt Davis until it splits with the Coastal Trail where you follow the Coastal Trail to the right. From here you are basically on the coastal trail the rest of the way.
Miwok description mentions a short bit of running along Ridgecrest Road before getting back onto the Coastal Trail and following it to the Bolinas Ridge Aid Station [mi 28.4]
HH simply says to follow Coastal Trail, but I think that some part of the road is unavoidable. At any rate this takes you to the Bolinas Ridge Aid Station [mi 28.7] which is the turnaround point.

Heading Back
Miwok has its turnaround down at the Randall Trail Aid Station [mi 35.6] which you get to via the Bolinas Ridge Trail and then the Randall Fire Road. The route back from Bolinas Ridge is pretty much the same all the way to the Pan Toll Aid Station [mi 49.5]
HH turns around at Bolinas Ridge and follows the same route directly back to the Pan Toll Aid Station [mi 35.2]

Pan Toll to Tennessee Valley
Here’s where things get interesting.
Miwok starts back on the Old Mine Trail to the Coastal Fire Road just like on the trip out. It then continues left and on down the Deer Park Fire Road and crosses the road onto the Redwood Creek Trail. However, after half a mile you make a left turn onto the Miwok trail and climb up past the intersection with Diaz Ridge continuing to where the Miwok hits the Shoreline Highway and the Hwy 1 Aid Station [mi 54.7]. After the Aid Station you cross the road and join up with the Miwok Fire Road. You follow this to Coyote Ridge where you turn right and follow that onto the Fox Trail where you turn left. You then follow the Fox Trail all the way down to the Tennessee Valley Trail where you turn left and go up to the parking lot of the Tennessee Valley Aid Station [mi 58.4]
HH also starts back on the Old Mine Trail to the Coastal Fire Road. However, rather than taking Deer Park (or the Dipsea) it then turns right and heads down the Coastal View Trail. You follow this all the way down to the Heather Cutoff where you go left. You follow the Heather Cutoff as it winds its way back over to the Redwood Creek Trail. A right on the Redwood Creek Trail will take you back down to the road where you’ll go left on Shoreline Hwy and then right on Pacific Way to arrive at the Muir Beach Aid Station [mi 40.6]. From Muir Beach you follow the same route that you took on the way out heading up Coastal Trail to the Pirates Cove/Coastal Trail . Next is a left on the Coastal Fire Road to the Coyote Ridge Trail going left (the opposite direction Miwok comes here). Coyote Ridge takes you up to the Miwok Trail which you follow around to Tennessee Valley Aid Station [mi 46]

Tennessee Valley to Rodeo Beach
Both races take the exact same route to return to Rodeo Beach. You start back up Old Springs and then turn right onto Miwok. You then take a right at Wolf Ridge and climb up to the paved road which is considered part of the Coastal Trail. After 1/2 mile, go left onto the Coastal single track and then follow the trail, road and stairs to the finish. [Miwok mi 62.4][HH mi 50.0]