The Burros
No burro? Not a problem — most first-time racers run with a rented or loaned burro. Here's how it works.
🫏 Renting a burro
We're lining up experienced stock partners to provide race-ready burros. Rentals are matched to your experience level and include a pre-race meet-and-greet so you and your burro can size each other up before the gun.
Rental partner, pricing, and reservation process coming soon.
🎓 Handler orientation
First-timers attend a short orientation set up by the rescue before the race: leading basics, what to do when your burro stops (he will), water and feed etiquette, and how to finish as a team.
Orientation time and location will be posted with the schedule.
🚛 Bringing your own
Bringing your own burro? Great — you know the drill! Barns/stalls are provided and must be utilized for your burro's stay. NO PORTABLE PENS are allowed at this location as there are 220 stalls provided. One less thing to haul to the race! There are spickets around the stalls for watering your burro too! The stalls are 10x10 and are $14/per night. Multiple burros are allowed in stalls. Stalls must be cleaned by making piles in front of stalls prior to leaving for a tractor to pick up and dispose of.
❤️ Welfare first
Every burro — owned, rented, or borrowed — will be treated with the utmost respect during the event. Water will be provided for them at every aid station. Teams can be held or pulled for the animal's sake at any point.
A partnership older than the state
Burros carried the gear, the water, and occasionally the ego of every prospector who ever swung a pick in these mountains. Pack burro racing keeps that partnership alive — same sure feet, same strong back, same opinions about your route choices. When you take the lead rope next June, you're stepping into a very old story.
First-timer questions
- How fast do burros actually go?
- Anywhere from a dead stop to faster than you. A motivated burro trots along at a solid running pace; part of the sport is negotiating whose pace wins.
- Do I need experience with animals?
- No — that's what orientation and the meet-and-greet are for. Patience matters more than experience. Burros are smart, careful, and occasionally stubborn on principle.
- Can two people share a burro?
- Team formats and divisions will be spelled out in the official rules — join the interest list and you'll hear first.