Angeles Crest 100

Demand

4 out of 5

How much it asks

Worth

4 out of 5

Whether the ticket is worth it

Altadena, California, United States

Angeles Crest Highway through the San Gabriels Rich Niewiroski Jr. / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5

Scorecard · is it worth it?

Worth the trip if the mountains match what you want.

The card

Angeles Crest is one of the original American 100s, and in 2026 it is not the point-to-point people recite. Highway 2 storm damage and the Eaton Fire closed the Wrightwood start. AC100's own status pages say the race starts and finishes at Loma Alta Park in Altadena, the first Altadena start in race history, out to the high country and back, threading around fire closure. Demand is 4 because 100 miles of San Gabriel trail, heat, rock, and a reroute still constitute a mountain 100. It is not 5 because the altitude is modest and because a course held together with tunnels and truck roads is a different ask than the classic Wrightwood line.

Worth is 4. We are scoring the 2026 race that exists, not the poster of the race that cannot. The San Gabriels are still a reason to fly if you live outside Southern California and you want this particular wilderness-over-Los-Angeles feeling. They are not a reason to pretend the historic point-to-point is intact. Organization confidence is high: ac100.com has been unusually explicit about closures, maps, and cutoffs. That is the opposite of hiding a bad year.

Date and fee stay on official and UltraSignup pages. If your identity is the Wrightwood start, wait for a year they can go back. If your identity is 100 miles in the San Gabriels, this is still a destination, with an asterisk written by the forest, not by us.

The 2026 line uses Loma Alta, the Gabrielino, Josephine, Red Box, a turnaround near Mt Hillyer, then Chantry, Wilson, Mueller Tunnel, Sam Merrill, Millard. That is a lot of names for a year that could not start in Wrightwood. AC100 published the change instead of pretending Highway 2 was open. We will not invent a 2026 date or a fee; ultrasignup and ac100.com have both. Heat still decides Southern California 100s even in October. Rock still decides the descents. History still matters, and history is not a substitute for the course that will actually be marked.

Who it is for

Runners who want a Southern California mountain 100 with history, heat, and a 2026 course that admits fire and highway damage.

Who should skip

Anyone who will be angry that it is not Wrightwood-to-Altadena this year. The 2026 card is the Altadena out-and-back.

Gate

Next race: Sat, Oct 3, 2026ac100.comretrieved 2026-09-03
Format: 2026 out-and-back from Loma Alta Park, Altadena, after Hwy 2 and Eaton Fire closures
Lottery: Yes
Entry: Lotteryac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Qualifier required: Yes. Run a 50+ mile race between January 1, 2025, and September 3, 2026. You don’t need the qualifier to enter the Lottery. list ↗ac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Other requirements: Complete and submit 8 hours of Trail Work by September 3, 2026.ac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Registration opens: RD unpublishedac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Registration closes: RD unpublishedac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Draw: RD unpublishedac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Results notified: RD unpublishedac100.comretrieved 2026-09-07
Last draw: Not yet sourced.
Bib economy: WSER qualifierwser.orgretrieved 2026-09-06 (repo record)
Entry fee: Unpublished

Official site ↗Didn't get in?Compare this race

Elevation

Tap or hover for miles, clock, and aidft

Dark from 18:34 to 06:48 local. No split grid; shading uses start time and clock only.

Bottom ticks are aid. Longest gap 11.2 mi.

Course line from official GPX. Dots are aid. Tap or hover for mile, elevation, and clock.

Hardest stretch

Hardest stretch: Chantry Flats to Mt Wilson, 3,270 ft in 6.1 mi.

Segment gains from the course elev profile.

From	To	Mi	Gain	Loss
Loma Alta Park start	Clear Creek	11.218 km	2,618 ft798 m	302 ft92 m
Clear Creek	Josephine Peak	4.16.6 km	1,852 ft564 m	13 ft4 m
Josephine Peak	Red Box	9.315 km	959 ft292 m	1,774 ft541 m
Red Box	Newcomb-1	8.613.8 km	905 ft276 m	1,558 ft475 m
Newcomb-1	Shortcut-1	9.515.3 km	2,015 ft614 m	1,255 ft383 m
Shortcut-1	Chilao-1	6.410.3 km	1,542 ft470 m	1,022 ft312 m
Chilao-1	Mt Hillyer	3.76 km	941 ft287 m	310 ft94 m
Mt Hillyer	Chilao-2	3.76 km	317 ft97 m	955 ft291 m
Chilao-2	Shortcut-2	6.410.3 km	981 ft299 m	1,465 ft447 m
Shortcut-2	Newcomb-2	9.515.3 km	1,225 ft373 m	1,981 ft604 m
Newcomb-2	Chantry Flats	6.310.1 km	351 ft107 m	2,302 ft702 m
Chantry Flats	Mt Wilson	6.19.8 km	3,270 ft997 m	153 ft47 m
Mt Wilson	Sam Merrill	5.79.2 km	607 ft185 m	1,162 ft354 m
Sam Merrill	Millard	6.09.7 km	0 ft0 m	2,605 ft794 m
Millard	Loma Alta Park	4.36.9 km	319 ft97 m	1,108 ft338 m

Start: 1,299 ft396 m
Finish: 1,299 ft396 m
Net: 0 ft0 m
Longest climb: 2,956 ft901 m

Start and finish are within 400 ft. Treat net as a loop.

Weekend

Official handbook facts

Start: 05:00
Course file: Open

Printable cutoff card

AC100 official full-course / 2026 GPX · retrieved 2026-09-06 (repo record)

Field

Last editions · 100M scored distance

Field evidence: who showed up, who finished, how long. DNF is that evidence, not a difficulty score. Public results, scored distance only.

2025

Starters: 204
Finishers: 103
DNF: 50%
Win: 21:23:43
Median: 31:43:03

2024