The Tevis Cup Turns 70: A Century-Mile Ride Through Our Canyons
The Tevis Cup, the original 100-mile endurance ride from near Tahoe City to Auburn, marks its 70th anniversary in 2026. Its route threads the high country and canyons we work to protect.
American River Canyon Alliance
One of the great endurance events in the American West traces a line straight through the country we care about most.
The Western States Trail Foundation reports that the Tevis Cup was founded in 1955 by Wendell Robie of Auburn, California. In 2026 the ride marks its 70th anniversary. That makes it the original endurance ride, and seven decades is a long time for any tradition to hold its ground.
The course is a 100-mile point-to-point route. It starts near Tahoe City and finishes in Auburn. Along the way it crosses the Granite Chief Wilderness and works down through the high country toward the foothills.
The numbers tell the rest of the story. The foundation reports roughly 17,000 feet of climbing and about 22,000 feet of descent across the full course. That much descent means the trail spends its final miles dropping into the canyons of the American River watershed.
We pay attention to this ride because the land it crosses is the land we work to protect. Every horse and rider that finishes has passed through terrain shaped by the same rivers and ridgelines that define our mission.
You can read the full history at the Western States Trail Foundation. Seventy years on, the Tevis Cup remains a reminder of how deeply these trails connect the Sierra crest to our own canyon country.
Cover photo: Marion-Bourgeat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.