The route
JFK 50 Mile
Next edition21 November 2026
Rocky Appalachian Trail into flat C&O Canal towpath and rolling country roads, with 1,052 m of climbing over 81.9 km.
Drawn with a pen, line by line
- Distance
- 81.9 km
- Elevation gain
- 1,052 m
- Highest point
- 528 m
- Summits, passes and villages
- 26
01
The route in numbers
Indicative figures computed by Plotrek on its illustrative route, with altitudes from a terrain model. They may differ from the organiser's.
02
Reading the route
The JFK 50 Mile runs from Boonsboro to Williamsport as a single point-to-point course, crossing three distinct terrains: rocky mountain trail, flat towpath, then rolling country roads. You start at 6:30, from the Historic Boonsboro Inn.
The day's longest sustained climb comes right at the start, from Boonsboro up to the summit of Lambs Knoll, on the Appalachian Trail through South Mountain State Park. The rocky trail then drops back down through Crampton Gap before reaching Weverton, where the course leaves the Appalachian Trail.
From there, the long flat stretch of the C&O Canal Towpath begins, inside the C&O Canal National Historical Park along the Potomac River: dozens of nearly flat kilometers, past Antietam Creek around the midpoint, then a stretch by Ferry Hill.
The route leaves the towpath near Horseshoe Bend, crosses Downsville and picks up rolling country roads into the finish at Williamsport's Springfield Middle School — inside a 13-hour cutoff.
Paths and places: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Altitudes measured on the route.
03 · Your poster
The route, drawn with a pen
The relief of the course, from Boonsboro to Williamsport, takes shape as contour lines: our pen plotter draws it with a pen, line by line. Your finisher name and time go in the cartouche, in A4, A3 or A2.
Shipped from our workshop in Le Bouscat
04
Official information
- Illustrative route redrawn by Plotrek from public data: the course announced by the organiser and OpenStreetMap paths. It is not the official course of the event.
- Altitudes: terrain model AWS Terrain Tiles
- Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Figures and text: Plotrek
- Plotrek is not a partner of, or affiliated with, the race organiser.