The Highlands Trail Festival course and metrics are not easy and each of the distances some of the toughest on the East Coast if not Country. The Highlands are loaded with rock gardens, boulders, and root networks. You’ll run points with sheer drops and exposure. It could be said that they are not beginner courses. But, I’ve seen total beginners prove as likely to finish if they put in the time and commit to finishing even when it gets really ugly, as much as experienced runners. The tradeoff is the opportunity to run a beautiful course with awesome elevation, vistas, and the gratification of having every finish be earned.
The course starts and finishes at the Jungle Habitat, a former Warner-Bros.-owned animal theme park in operation between 1972 and 1976. Ruins remain, including massive parking lots adjacent to magnificent trail networks which will be used as the staging area and central aid station. Entrants will open with a clockwise 18 mile lollipop circuit on the burly and beautiful Stonetown Circular circuit forming the shoulders, neck and head of the Wanaki. You’ll cross several peaks and with views of the Wanaque Reservoir before arriving back to the Jungle Habitat. From there you’ll head south for an out-back configuration in Southern Norvin Green with a host of other high points in the Wyanokie Mountain Range. The turn-around point will depend on the event / distance.
