500 Stage

The Hoodoo 500 is the best ultra distance race course in the USA! Even better over three days so you may enjoy the scenery in daylight hours and you and your crew get a good night’s sleep in between each day!

Easy Logistics: Only one support crew needed; and participants may share crew (with some limitations of course).

The route is a perfect loop, starting and finishing at the race headquarters, the Best Western Abbey Inn in beautiful St. George, Utah.

Our headquarters is a nice, clean, roomy, modern and very reasonably priced hotel. The check in, meeting, start and finish lines, and awards banquet are all in one central location.

St. George is about ninety minutes from Las Vegas and only a five to six hour drive from most of southern California. You can fly directly to St. George or take an inexpensive shuttle from Las Vegas.  Rental vehicles are readily available in either location.

The Route: Not a single inch of the route is repeated. The scenery is amazing. Other than the very short stretches of road getting in and out of St. George and Cedar City, traffic on most of the route is virtually non-existent. There are only a handful of traffic lights and stop signs, and zero urban blight.

Road conditions are stellar! Utah takes wonderful care of their roads and highways. Generally speaking, the pavement is smooth, without potholes or expansion gaps or long stretches of rough road where cracks have been filled in but remain bumpy and uneven. The roads are virtually litter and glass free!

The Only Ultra Distance Stage Event in the USA!

There’s nothing else like it. Period. So come have some fun and join our Hoodoo Tribe!

EARLY ENTRY –  Halloween to March 31: 
• 500-Mile Solo: $845
• 500-Mile Tandem or 2-Person Team: $1395

LATE ENTRY –  April 1 to July 15: 
• 500-Mile Solo: $920
• 500-Mile Tandem or 2-Person Team: $1470

Additional Important Registration Information:

• We do our best to make it as easy as possible. Entry fees are non-refundable; but you may defer a portion of your entry to the following year or transfer to another racer or team, if you let us know 90 days before the race. That said, sometimes life gets in the way at the last minute, so your best bet is to purchase for a nominal fee during registration the event cancellation insurance. More information about the cancellation insurance and cancellation policy here.

• Registration closes July 15th.

• Team entrants: The person filling out the entry form must provide detailed and accurate information for both team members. Each team must choose a team name to be used during the event. Please use good taste when choosing the name. The Event Directors have discretion to veto team names. Solo riders will be identified by their last name.

• Flexibility regarding team roster:  Each team or tandem must enter with two riders. If a team member gets hurt or cannot start, substitutions are allowed to the team roster until 5pm Thursday before the start.

Included with your Hoodoo 500 Stage entry:

Generally speaking,  the route follows a course starting in St. George, and traveling through Hurricane, Colorado City, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Carmel Junction, Bryce, Tropic, Escalante, Boulder, Torrey, Panguitch, Parowan, Cedar City and back to St. George. It’s a loop course on wonderful, well-maintained, quiet roads with little traffic and breath-taking scenery. Click here to see some photographs of the route.

RideWithGPS.com route maps and elevation profiles are available online as follows:

Day One – Friday: St. George to Escalante (approximately 196 miles).  Please note: RWGPS is showing a dirt section beginning at mile 65.5 which was paved several years ago. We promise you, there are no dirt roads on our amazing route!
Day Two – Saturday: Escalante to Panguitch (approximately 172 miles)
Day Three – Sunday: Panguitch to St. George (approximately 152 miles)

Click here for time station to time station RWGPS maps for crew.

The sole purpose of Rules is to strive for safety (although road cycling is inherently dangerous), ensure competitive fairness and to comply with various permit requirements.

We trust that every racer and every crew member understands that the consequences for breaking or even bending a rule is less a measure of time (even if you get a penalty) than a measure of personal integrity. So if it were possible to have just ONE rule, it would be this: Don’t be a jerk. That actually covers quite a lot.

Everything in the Rules seemed important enough to put in writing. For anything else that comes up, we (Race Directors) will attempt to do what is right and what is fair, and not be jerks about it. We have final say over Rules, their interpretation and enforcement; and we may at any time alter the Rules or invent new ones. If a racer or crew plans to do something not explicitly covered by the Rules, they are encouraged to inquire in advance.

Click here to READ THE RULES. We’ll know if you don’t.