KTC’s 2026 Dark Hollow Wallow

This coming Sunday, February 22, will mark the 15th running of KTC’s Dark Hollow Wallow, one of the hidden gems on the Treadin’ Trodden Trails calendar each year. Held at beautiful (but largely unknown) Big Ridge State Park 30-40 minutes north of Knoxville, Dark Hollow is a blend of comfortable, very runnable single track with a couple of major climbs that promise to take your breath away.

The race starts at 2:00 sharp (half an hour after an exciting Kids Trail Mile kicks off the day’s excitement). The course runs uphill for the first quarter mile, warming you up for the rest of the race. Roughly a mile in, you’ll cross a park road and hit a short stretch that is unavoidably muddy year in, year out, followed by narrow single track that darts sharply right and left around trees and obstacles. After a long climb/hike up the first really steep hill, you reach the first aid station, at which point the five milers and 11 milers separate.

The long race presents a deceptively flat out’n’back before beginning a climb up and over another hill to a large loop trail that includes a descent, off-camber footing, slippery frozen rocks, Frost Flowers, slick moss covered rocks, slippery roots, sharp branches from deadfall, sticker bushes and raspberry thickets, several hundred meters of bushwhacking and last but not least, a mondo hill climb, the angle so steep that when walking/crawling up, your knees brush the hill as your toes try and grip the shale that you keep pushing back down the hillside to those below you. To top that off, once you crest the hill there is a reasonably long stretch of sharp jagged rocks covered by a couple inches of leaves that want to roll your foot the opposite way you expect it to go. From there however, things improve with an easy descent to the aid station. (This last description is attributed to veteran trail runner Sheridan Ames; it’s left to you to decide if he’s exaggerating. He might not be.)

The 5 and 11 mile courses rejoin at the water stop, from which point the trail descends to the last 2½ mile stretch to the finish. This beautiful section of trail follows a meandering streambed before it ends at the edge of the lake along which you run until crossing an old coffer dam built decades ago. From there it’s up and over the final hill to the finish line in the parking lot where you started, with resounding cheers welcoming you back.

We’ll have a roaring file in a massive stone fireplace to keep you warm before and after the race and a crew of experienced and enthusiastic volunteers along the course and at the start/finish to make your day in the woods as delightful as we hope it will be. Come join the fun! And don’t wait till the last minute. Sign up right now. Here’s the link. See you on Sunday!!!