Horseshoe Lake Half Marathon
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Horseshoe Lake Half Marathon
The Horseshoe Lake Half Marathon is a trail half marathon held in the Santa Cruz Mountains at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve near La Honda on March 22, 2026. The distance is 13.0M and the route combines single-track and fireroad through covered woods and open hillsides with views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.
The course follows the Bay Area Ridge Trail northwest to Rapley Ranch Road for an out-and-back section, then descends off the ridge before returning and finishing with a clockwise loop around a section called Cathedral Hill and a final lap along the south side of Horseshoe/Alpine Lake. The route is marked; GPX and KML files and a turn-by-turn description are provided for download and may be installed on a watch or an app such as maps.me or RunGo for navigation.
Facilities and support include a bathroom in the main parking lot (different from the start lot), additional restrooms passed at about mile 2.2 and mile 10.0, a water fountain by Alpine Lake Nature Center near mile 2 and mile 10, and an aid station with water and edibles at Rapley Ranch Road (mile 6). Awards are given to first through third male and female finishers; a bottle of wine is awarded for a new course record.
All entry fees (excluding the Ultrasignup fee) are donated to The Hatuey Project and the race director matches those donations, doubling the contribution. The listed entry fee on Ultrasignup is $40 with an optional additional contribution to benefit the project. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
