This is a special Course Reveal episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, recorded the week before the 2026 USARA Adventure Racing National Championships in Oregon.
Race directors Jason Magness and Darren Steinbach of Bend Racing walk us through the 32-hour course they built in beautiful mountains of Oregon. Teams start high near Diamond Lake and drop fast through the North Umpqua River country, riding past a clifftop hot spring and trekking to waterfalls where the checkpoints can’t be reached without getting wet. Then the course turns uphill, into volcanic ridgelines, an old fire lookout, and a night climb of Mount Bailey, before a final paddle across Diamond Lake to the lodge.
In this conversation, we explore:
- How a missing bus turned into a long, downhill opening ride
- The North Umpqua whitewater, and the first Nationals to require packrafts for four-person teams
- A points system that turns route choice into strategy
- Garwood and Mount Bailey, where the navigation gets serious and the race slows down
- Side challenges along the way, including a Mount Bailey FKT and a rope swing over a remote mountain lake
Darren and Jason also tell dot watchers what to look for: a fast first half, a grinding mountain middle where the field tightens, and a sprint home across the lake.
Follow the race at www.usara.com/2026-national-championships.
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Want more adventure racing stories?
Check out Rootstock Racing’s takeover of The Dark Zone feed during their Endless Mountains Adventure Race. This limited series of six episodes captures the race from start to finish chronicling the experience of the racers, the grandeur of the course, and the human experience borne from an expedition-distance adventure race.
