The Stone Cairn Trail Race

We are very excited to be offering a brand new race, The Stone Cairn Trail Race. The entire course is run on the main trail of the famous Bruce Trail. Choose between 25km, 50km, and 50 miles and get ready for an adventure!

The team at Happy Trails Racing has been working with the Niagara Bruce Trail Club to bring you a truly epic adventure! $25 from every registration will go directly to the Niagara Bruce Trail Club.

Choose between 25km, 50km, and 50 miles run entirely on the world famous Bruce Trail. This section of the Bruce Trail is known for rocks, roots, and beautiful views along the Niagara Escarpment. All 3 of the events will finish in Queenston Heights Park near the Bruce Trail Southern Terminus, which is marked with a beautiful Stone Cairn (hence the name of the race!). Finish your adventure with the traditional stone cairn kiss.

The 50 mile event will have participants complete the entirety of the Niagara Bruce Trail section on a point-to-point course. Since the race course travels the entire section, finishers will also receive the Niagara section Bruce Trail End-to-End Badge. What an incredible journey! This event will start at 7:00am and will have a 15 hour cutoff. The sun will set at 8:07pm, which means that the trails will be in complete darkness by 8:30pm. There will be an early start option for runners but these participants will need to arrange their own transportation to the start line. The 50 mile race will start just outside of the Iroquoia Section/Niagara Section border of the Bruce Trail. This will not be an easy feat and participants should make themselves very familiar with following the Bruce Trail directional blazes. We recommend purchasing and downloading the Bruce Trail app as well. There will be excellent aid stations along the way to support you on this journey!

The 50 km event will also be a point-to-point course. This event will start at 9:00am and will have a very generous 11 hour cutoff, which means that experienced hikers could complete this race. This is a scenic and memorable route that will take participants by a number of historically important landmarks. Participants will start the race at Louth Conservation Area and will head South all the way to the Southern Termins. Participants will enjoy the scenery of Short Hills Provincial Park, The Rim of Africa Friendship Trail, the Welland Canal, the Woodend Conservation Area, the famous Screaming Tunnel, and Queenston Heights Park before reaching the Southern Terminus.

The 25 km event will be an out-and-back course that will have participants start and finish in Queenston Heights Park near the Southern Terminus Stone Cairn. This beautiful course will have participants turning around shortly after the famous Screaming Tunnel, which is a pretty memorable section. This event will start at 10:00am and has a very generous 9 hour cutoff making a finish attainable for runners and even slower hikers that really want to take in the scenery.

This course is rugged but very manageable. Although there will be a significant amount of cumulative elevation gain, there aren't any major climbs and most of the course is runnable.

Here are some of the incredible areas that participants will get to experience:

Mountainview Conservation Area (50 mile participants only): Mountainview Conservation Area is a passive natural area located in the Town of Lincoln. Comprised of Carolinian forest, this 25-hectare area conserves Carolinian plants, provides habitat for animals and shelters a portion of the Niagara Escarpment. Property highlights include exposed dolostone rock, many bedrock fractures and eroded talus slopes of the Escarpment.

Cave Springs Conservation Area (50 mile participants only): This property features spectacular vistas overlooking Lake Ontario and the old Lake Iroquois shore, and is an exquisite representation of the Niagara Escarpment’s talus slopes and cliffs. The escarpment rim and bedrock plain forests are dominated by Sugar Maples. The rich and unique diversity of plants and habitat on these rare escarpment features provide a linear migration corridor for animals and plants.

Ball's Falls Conservation Area (50 mile participants only): Nature lovers will love the incredibly breathtaking view of the majestic Twenty Mile Creek as it plummets over both the upper and lower falls. The falls tumble delightfully over high cliffs and can be viewed at close proximity from above or below. Since the Twenty Mile Creek is rain-fed, the character of the falls can change dramatically with the seasons, from a raging torrent in the spring to a thin veil in late summer and fall.

Louth Conservation Area (50 mile and 50km participants): Louth Conservation Area is located along Sixteen Mile Creek in Lincoln County. This 36-hectare parcel of land was purchased by NPCA in 1973, and conserves a portion of the Niagara Escarpment, providing access to the Bruce Trail. Experience the wonders of the Sixteen Mile Creek valley and historic rock formations as you wind your way through the escarpment forest and see and hear the unique forest songbirds. Stunning scenery can be seen from this trail, which features two magnificent waterfalls.

Short Hills Provincial Park (50 mile and 50km participants): The landscape in the Short Hills area is Quiet unlike anywhere else in Niagara. It has been moulded into a jumble of small but steep hills and valleys by the last ice age. With its varied topography, enchanting woods, winding lanes, and historic buildings, Short Hills is a delightful area for for hiking.

Short Hills Provincial Park, located in the centre of the Niagara region, covers are area of 660 hectares. It is the largest provincial park in Niagara Region. Visitors can enjoy the wide variety of animal and plant life in the park.

Rim of Africa Friendship Trail (50 mile and 50km participants): The Rim of Africa Friendship Trail is twinned with a section of the Rim of Africa Trail in South Africa and is a stunning section of trail that participants will get to experience.

Welland Canal (50 mile and 50km participants): The famous Welland Canal has been a significant part of the Niagara Region since construction began over 200 years ago.

Woodend Conservation Area: With sweeping vistas of Lake Ontario and the escarpment slopes, Woodend is considered to have been an observation point during the War of 1812 for both armies. Woodend’s location was at the center of the action, with the Queenston Heights battle, Beaver Dams battle, and Lundy’s Lane battle all taking place nearby.

Run the trails of Woodend as they meander through the meadow and escarpment forest and slope. The forest community is composed largely of hardwood species with scattered representatives of Carolinian species such as Black Cherry, Black Oak and Sugar Maple.

Screaming Tunnel (all participants): Have you heard of the Niagara Screaming Tunnel? There is certainly plenty of folklore around it. Read more about it here!

All of the runners will have to go through the tunnel at some point and the 25km runners will run through it, turn around, and then run through it again on their return trip to the Southern Terminus.

Queenston Heights Park (all participants): Queenston Heights Park combines leisure and history in one scenic location. Nestled high atop the Niagara Escarpment in the north end of Niagara Parks, Queenston Heights Parks offers picturesque hiking trails, picnic areas, tennis courts, two picnic pavilions and a children’s splash pad. Queenston Heights Park is also home to the Landscape of Nations Memorial and serves as the southern terminus of Canada’s oldest and longest marked footpath, the Bruce Trail. At the entrance to this historic park, see the grand carpet bedding displays that surround both the Brock and Laura Secord Monuments.

Southern Terminus (The Stone Cairn): The Southern Terminus stone cairn marks the starting point (or ending point depending on the direction you are travelling) of the Bruce Trail, which spans a total of approximately 900 km from the Southern Terminus in Niagara to the Northern Terminus in Tobermory. Celebrate the completion of your race with the traditional stone cairn kiss.

Getting to the start line:

Participants in the 50 km and 50 mile events should be aware that the races start a long way from the finish line! Participants will have the option to board a bus at Queenston Heights Park, which will take them to the start of the race.

The pre-race briefing will take place on the bus on the way to the start. If you prefer, participants in the 50km race and the 50 mile can get dropped off at the starting location of their event. We will provide detailed maps before the race.

The 25km event will start and end at Queenston Heights Park. Parking will be available very close to the Start/Finish Line.

What is included:

- Race Bib

- Bus ride from Queenston Heights Park to the start of the event (50k/50miles)

- Race Shirt

- Neck Gaiter

- Stickers

- Unique Finisher's Medal

- Great Aid Stations

- Medical Support

- An INCREDIBLE running experience!

What is NOT included:

- Parking at Queenston Heights Park. This is a metered lot and participants will need to pay at the meter for their own parking.