2020 Circumburke Challenge Will be Cancelled

Sep 15, 2020

The Kingdom Trail Association has chosen not to produce the Annual Circumburke Trail Challenge for the second year in a row. While disheartened by the decision, especially during this challenging time, KTA believes that it is necessary to avoid the potential adverse impact the event could have due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the request for an Act 250 jurisdictional opinion currently pending with reference to the Kingdom Trail network. Further regulatory uncertainty exists due to the status of various Act 250 bills being considered by the Vermont Legislature.

The Circumburke Trail Challenge is a 27-mile backcountry course for trail runners and mountain bikers to test their limits. Traditionally Circumburke has been a one-day event that circumnavigates Burke Mt. on a route through state land connecting Kingdom Trails, the Victory Hill sector, and Burke Mt. singletrack in a wild corner of Vermont’s NEK. Participants have embraced the intense physical and mental challenge that the course offers. Previous challenges have brought over 600 racers as well as their families and friends to the area.

This year, with careful consideration for safety, the event had been restructured in partnership with VT State Parks and Recreation to offer multiple date choices, capping registration numbers each day to protect the local community by avoiding a large group gathering, and allow for social distancing on course.

Conceived in 2010, the event has been produced in partnership between Victory Hill and Kingdom Trails to help provide economic support to the region during the Fall tourist shoulder season. With the cancellation of so many recent events and the resulting economic impact facing the area, KTA had been hopeful that Circumburke would provide a timely boost to morale and local businesses.

In 2020, the event was planned to be produced solely by KTA, the Circumburke Challenge has historically served as a fundraising event for the Kingdom Trail Association with a portion of the proceeds designated for access to Vermont state land and dedicated to maintaining and building trails to provide recreation and education opportunities, fostering the health of the local community, surrounding environment, and regional economy.

A part of the route of the Circumburke Challenge passes through a section of the Victory Hill Sector trails, an integral part of the course that is currently closed to bikes due to an ongoing Act 250 Jurisdictional Opinion proceeding. The final decision to cancel the event was made in consideration of the potential for further Act 250 complications for Victory Hill, as well as the potential impact on KTA’s own pending Act 250 Jurisdictional Opinion.

KTA wishes to thank all Circumburkers and our communities for understanding the decision to cancel the 2020 Circumburke Trail Challenge. Those who have registered for the 2020 event will receive a full refund. KTA looks forward to hosting the Circumburke in the future to celebrate epic single track and trail users and to help provide an economic boost during a slower time of year for the economy of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

If you would like more information on the Circumburke Trail Challenge, please email info@kingdomtrail.org