Monroe County YMCA Illinois Ozarks 10K Bluff Trail Run

The Illinois Ozarks 10K Bluff Trail Run course is a 10K starting at the foot of the Illinois Ozark Bluffs at Borsch Park in Valmeyer, IL. The first mile is on pavement with a gradual increase in grade as you pass mine openings quarried decades ago. The ascent up the bluffs begins near Rock City, an industrial park set in the caverns where limestone was once mined. The wide Salt Lick Trail rises rapidly and then settles into a more gradual climb until you come to the plateau where you will begin your descent down Newman Trail. When you reach the bottom of the bluffs, you will follow the flat 1.3 mile Johnson Trail, passing numerous mine openings and dozens of boulders the size of semi trucks. The next leg of the run takes you up the Salt Lick Trail once again, this time from the much more steep western side, where the grade is nearly 40%. You will complete the entire Salt Lick Trail, descending at the point where you began the original climb and ending on the pavement leading back to Borsch Park. The course will have taken you from a little over 300 feet to over 850 feet above sea level.

Fun run course begins at the large pavilion in Borsch Park and continues east on Margraphics Drive then turns north on Quarry Road, continues north on Krewer Drive and loops back to Quarry Road to return to Borsch Park. Course is .56 mile with an elevation change of 50 feet.

Fun Run start time is 9:00 am, trail run begins at 9:30 am at the large pavilion in Borsch Memorial Park, Margraphics Drive, Valmeyer, IL.