Race Course

The Bhutan Ultra takes place on the legendary Trans Bhutan Trail.

The Trans Bhutan Trail is an ancient pilgrimage and communications route connecting Haa, in the far west of Bhutan, with Trashigang in the east. The Trail dates back at least to the 16th century and played a major role in uniting the region’s many kingdoms, repelling foreign incursions, and eventually in the birth of Bhutan as a nation in 1907. In 2018, with the vision of His Majesty, The Fifth King and supported by the Tourism Council of Bhutan, the Bhutan Canada Foundation led an initiative to restore the Trail to make it accessible once again for locals, pilgrims, and travellers.

The total length of the Trans Bhutan Trail is 403 kilometres, crossing 27 gewogs (villages) and nine Dzongkhags (districts) of Bhutan.

The Bhutan Ultra explores the eastern part of the trail, starting in Tsangkha and finishing in Trashigang. Athletes in the 200 km distance will overcome 11,000 m of positive elevation. All divided up in 6 stages. The race will start at an elevation of 2,278 m. Minimum and Maximum elevation will then vary quite a bit each day. Stage 3 will feature the highest elevation with participants reaching 3,775 m. Daily positive elevation ranges from 1,340 to 2,245 m. The 150 km is there for anyone wanting the full adventure but with the endurance elemented slightly reduced – basically shortening each daily stage by a bit to make it possible to slow down when needed. For more information on stage distances and elevation, please see below.

Start time, date and location

The very first Bhutan Ultra will be held in November 18th to 23rd, 2026. Because of acclimatization, travel dates are either Novbember 11th to 27th (long itinerary) or November 14th to 27th (short itinerary).

Athletes who know from past trips and races that they have no issue with short acclimatization times for altitudes up to 3,500 m above sea level, can sign up with the short itinerary. All other athletes need to go with the long itinerary.

The location of the start is Tsangkha in the Trongsa region.

Preliminary schedules

There will be two schedules for the Bhutan Ultra 2026. The longer schedule will allow for a total of 7 days of acclimatisation and the shorter schedule includes 4 days of acclimatisation before the race.

There will also be a program for friends and family members who want to travel with our athletes, to get to know Bhutan and see the race unfold. Program will be announced at the end of 2025 but basically, visiting friends and family members will join on any trips that are part of the acclimatisation. Then, during the race they will do daily sightseeing trips, combined with travelling to places along the trail to cheer on the athletes.

Athletes in the Bhutan Ultra can run and/or hike the trail.

The race is open for men, women and teams of 2 or more athletes. No age groups and no minors. Athletes in the team category will automatically be ranked as individuals, too.

Due to the challenging conditions caused by

• possible weather changes
• overall altitude the race is held in
• daily positive elevation and distances
• nature of mountain trails
• wildlife encounters

the Bhutan Ultra is an extremely tough event.

Situations which under normal circumstances don’t cause any problems can become hbsolutely life threatening on a remote mountain trail in Bhutan. Please keep this in mind at all times and carefully read the information that is part of the application and waiver. If you sign up please also read our FAQ section and all other pages on this website. Come back regularly to check if there are any news.