Don’t Get 86’ed: Eagleton Goes Long in the Pennsylvania Wilds
- Ben Mazur
- Apr 22
- 9 min read
In the mountains of central Pennsylvania, the newest ultra on the calendar isn’t chasing spectacle. This trek embraces suffering. With the addition of an 86-mile race on the notorious Chuck Keiper Trail, the Eagleton Trail Challenge is doubling down on everything that defines The Pennsylvania Wilds: relentless rocks, wet feet, remote hollows, and the kind of rugged solitude that turns an ultra into something far more primal.
Where the Mountains Don’t Need to Be Tall to Be Brutal
When runners dream about epic mountain races, their minds often wander west.
They picture the towering San Juans of Colorado, the jagged granite walls of the Sierra, or the dramatic volcanic peaks of the Cascades. In the mythology of ultrarunning, the American West is where the “big” races live with it’s vast landscapes, high altitude, sweeping views.
But out here in Pennsylvania, the mountains don’t need altitude to humble you.
That is the soul of The PA Wilds, where “technical trail” means a full day of careful foot placement, soaked shoes, and the slow accumulation of fatigue. Here, races aren’t won by chasing pace. They survived by respecting the terrain.
The Appalachians are older than the Rockies, worn down by time but no less savage. Their brutality isn’t found in dramatic skyline views... it's hidden in the ground beneath your feet. Endless ridges armored in sandstone. Steep hollows slick with moss. Creek crossings stacked one after another. Rocks that never stop.
Pennsylvania’s mountains don’t overwhelm with grandeur.
They grind you down with attrition.
That is the soul of The PA Wilds, where “technical trail” means a full day of careful foot placement, soaked shoes, and the slow accumulation of fatigue. Here, races aren’t won by chasing pace. They survived by respecting the terrain.
And in 2026, the Eagleton Trail Challenge is leaning into that identity harder than ever.
Race director Blake Cohen is adding a new 86-mile distance… one that ventures deep into the Chuck Keiper Trail, one of the wildest and roughest footpaths in the state.
It isn’t being billed as glamorous.
It is being built to be real.
The Trail That Refused to Be Tamed
I’ve spent time on the Chuck Keiper Trail, and it leaves an impression.
The last time I was there was nearly a decade ago, trailrunning through the western section with Mary Kowalski, climbing up and down Burns Run and Yost Run to reach Yost Run Falls. That country holds some of the finest scenery Pennsylvania has to offer with rhododendron tunnels, clear mountain water, moss-covered rocks, and the kind of dense forest that swallows sound.
Yost Run Falls sits tucked into a deep fold in the mountain, surrounded by towering hardwoods and steep rocky slopes. It feels hidden. Wild. Ancient.
And unsettling in the way truly remote places often are.
The trail was barely hanging on in places, overgrown with nettles, choked by rhododendrons, fading beneath years of neglect. It felt like the mountain was taking it back. That remoteness is part of what makes the Chuck Keiper special, but it is also what nearly erased parts of it.
Because the trail lacked a dedicated maintenance club, sections of it had become nearly impassable. Downed timber, erosion, and thick regrowth had swallowed the treadway in some of the most remote miles.
Over the last few years, volunteers from the Keystone Trail Association and the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps have worked to reclaim it by cutting hundreds of fallen trees, reopening overgrown sections, and restoring the trail to something passable again.
That work did more than save the trail. The result is the Eagleton 86.
And true to the spirit of Eagleton, it is not built for spectacle. It is built for those who crave real trail.
A Race Built for Real Trail Runners
The Eagleton Trail Challenge began with a simple mission: bring forgotten trails back to life.
The trail system was first envisioned in the early 2010’s when Cohen’s friend Mike Haffley proposed using the old Eagleton Mine Camp trails as the basis for a race. Haffley had helped build parts of the original network in partnership with the forest service and local mountain bikers. Before his attention, the trails had fallen into neglect. Much of the 21-mile base loop was disappearing into overgrowth.
Building the race became a form of restoration.
“Eagleton is for runners who like real trail running. It’s remote Pennsylvania singletrack. It’s rocky. It’s roots. It’s steep little climbs that never really stop.”
The race was born from an idea in 2014, when Haffley, Cohen and their team began rebuilding old trails atop the escarpment of the Allegheny Plateau in Sproul State Forest to the west of Lock Haven. What started as a 21-mile loop of underused forest trail grew into a rugged race that now includes a 10K, 25K, 47K, and, starting in 2026, an 86-mile ultra and a true backcountry ultra that reaches into some of the most remote terrain in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
From the beginning, Eagleton was never meant to be flashy. The original vision for Eagleton, Cohen explained, was never to create a punishing race simply for the sake of difficulty. It started with a desire to revive forgotten trails.
“Eagleton is for runners who like real trail running,” Cohen said. “It’s remote Pennsylvania singletrack. It’s rocky. It’s roots. It’s steep little climbs that never really stop.”
That blunt honesty might be the clearest description of Eagleton’s identity.
As they developed the early 25K and 50K routes, they also reclaimed old trail corridors dating back to the mid-1800s—historic logging roads, mining grades, and railroad beds that once served the Eagleton coal fields.
The land itself carries the marks of that industrial past.
The Eagleton Mine Camp Trail sits on the site of the former village of Eagleton, a mining settlement built around 1845 by the Eagleton Coal and Iron Company. Remnants of the old operations still shape the terrain: abandoned rail grades, old coal chutes, strange depressions in the woods where industry once carved into the mountainside. The forest has reclaimed nearly all of it, but not entirely.
That blend of rugged natural beauty and industrial ghostland gives Eagleton its distinct atmosphere.
“You’re up on this forested plateau in the Alleghenies,” Cohen said. “Deep woods. Steep ridges. Little drainages everywhere. Then you start noticing the old mining footprint. It feels like the woods swallowed an old industrial site and kept going.”
That sense of remoteness and quiet history already defines the shorter Eagleton distances, but the new 86-mile course expands that experience dramatically by sending runners deep into the Chuck Keiper Trail. And it also guaranteed that “bigger” would mean harder.
“There aren’t many races in central Pennsylvania in that upper range between 100K and 100 miles,” Cohen said. “We wanted something bigger, but not a full hundred. Chuck Keiper was the obvious answer.”
Obvious, perhaps, but not easy.
Into the Raw Heart of The PA Wilds
The Chuck Keiper Trail is notorious for its rhythm. Or rather, its lack of rhythm.
During a spring course preview, even veteran runners were struck by how raw it felt. Cohen recently showcased sections of the course with visiting runners from Canada and found even seasoned trail runners with a dozen Eastern States 100, Black Forest and Worlds End finishers to their running CV were taken aback by its rawness.
The trail follows a brutal sawtooth pattern—dropping steeply off the plateau into stream valleys, then climbing sharply back to the ridge, over and over again. There are no long runnable stretches to settle into. No easy miles to recover.
And the water never lets up. Creek crossings come repeatedly, many of them knee-deep in early May. Your feet get wet early and stay wet.
The footing is loose, technical, and often tilted sideways on narrow sidehill tread. Even experienced runners find themselves slowed by the sheer awkwardness of the terrain.
During a spring course preview, even veteran runners were struck by how raw it felt. Cohen recently showcased sections of the course with visiting runners from Canada and found even seasoned trail runners with a dozen Eastern States 100, Black Forest and Worlds End finishers to their running CV were taken aback by its rawness.
“The section between aid stations six and seven is gnarly and raw,” Cohen said. “The trail is barely used in terms of footing and packed down tread. There are loose sidehill sections and swift stream crossings.”
And much of that will come in the dark.
That is what makes the Eagleton 86 more than just another ultra distance. It is not simply about mileage… it is about immersion.
The course threads through protected wild areas, waterfalls, bogs, and long lonely stretches where the outside world disappears completely. By the late miles, runners are left with little but the beam of a headlamp and the sound of moving water.
The race will carry runners through two Wild Areas, two Natural Areas, waterfalls, splash dams, boggy plateau terrain, and miles of remote forest where the only sounds are water and wind. It is more than a physical test; it is a mental one.
“By the time you’re out around mile 60, the remoteness and the repetition of that terrain start to add up,” Cohen said. “It gets quiet. You’re tired. You’re alone more than you’re used to.”
That solitude is where the race reveals itself. That is where the Eagleton 86 separates itself. Solitude is part of the appeal.
The Kind of Hard That Means Something
There are races that feel difficult because they are designed to impress. Then there are races that feel difficult because the land itself demands it.
Eagleton belongs to the latter.
The challenge here isn’t a single massive climb or an intimidating elevation profile. On paper, the numbers can seem manageable. But paper doesn’t show the loose rocks, the slick creek beds, the endless scrambling climbs, or the fatigue that comes from never being able to fully relax.
That patience, that steady forward movement through discomfort, is what makes the toughest Pennsylvania ultras so uniquely honest.
This is the kind of race that punishes impatience. It rewards runners who understand that toughness is not speed, it is steadiness.
“The runner who thrives here is the person who can stay patient when the trail forces them to slow down,” Cohen said.
That patience, that steady forward movement through discomfort, is what makes the toughest Pennsylvania ultras so uniquely honest.
There is no glamour in wet feet and cautious footing.
No fanfare in grinding out miles through remote woods.
Just the quiet satisfaction of handling a hard day well.
Why Eagleton Matters
In a sport increasingly filled with spectacle, Eagleton feels refreshingly grounded. This is not a race built for crowds or spectacle. Eagleton caps participation at 150 runners specifically to preserve that feeling of wildness. The event remains small, volunteer-driven, and deeply personal.
And because the race is organized through the Eastern States Trail-Endurance Alliance, entry fees help support the stewardship work that keeps these wild trails open and our communities strong.
That means the race is more than an event. It is a way of investing in the places that make the experience possible.
That matters.
Because the Chuck Keiper Trail is not a manicured venue. It is not polished. It is not curated for comfort.
It is wild.
And races like Eagleton are one of the few ways many runners will ever experience that kind of rugged Pennsylvania backcountry.
A New Classic in the Wilds
The Eagleton 86 will not attract runners looking for a fast course. For runners looking for polished race experiences and manicured trails, Eagleton may feel brutally raw.
It will not attract runners looking for butterily singletrack, panoramic summit selfies, or easy miles.
It will attract runners looking for something deeper.
Something rugged.
Something honest.
Eagleton's challenge lies not in one giant climb or one iconic summit, but in the cumulative toll of the terrain. Wet feet. Constant footing adjustments. Repeated creek crossings. Steep little climbs that never stop. It is the sort of course where patience matters more than speed.
It will attract runners who understand that some of the hardest races in America are not found on the tallest mountains, but in the quiet old ridges of the Appalachians—where the rocks are sharp, the forests are deep, and the trail gives nothing for free.
“The big thing is showing up with the right expectations,” Cohen said. “This isn’t a smooth, groomed trail. It’s a rocky, rooty backcountry footpath, and in May there’s a good chance you’ll have wet feet for the entire race.”
That may be the most honest pre-race advice imaginable.
Eagleton's challenge lies not in one giant climb or one iconic summit, but in the cumulative toll of the terrain. Wet feet. Constant footing adjustments. Repeated creek crossings. Steep little climbs that never stop. It is the sort of course where patience matters more than speed.
And that is exactly why the right runners will love it. That kind of runner understands something fundamental about Pennsylvania trails: toughness here is rarely glamorous.
“The runner who thrives here is the person who can stay patient when the trail forces you to slow down,” Cohen said. “Someone who can keep eating, keep moving, and stay switched on when it’s dark and they’re tired.”
That is what the Eagleton 86 promises.
Not spectacle.
Not hype.
Just a long, incredible day in one of the wildest corners of Pennsylvania.
And for the runners who show up ready for that, it may become one of the most meaningful miles they ever run. The rugged, wet, relentless beauty of Pennsylvania backcountry, the Eagleton 86 may become one of the most compelling new races in the East.
Because in The PA Wilds, the mountain doesn’t need to tower above you to test you. So don't expect the mountain to make it easy.
It only needs to refuse to let you settle in.
SIGN UP NOW: Eagleton Trail Challenge on Ultrasignup.
Comments