South Fork Alder Ass Race

Please join us for the 5th annual South Fork Alder Ass Race on Saturday, September 5, 2026! IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION:  Please do not register for this race until you have been matched with a donkey teammate!  This does not apply to Ghost Runners.  Race registration is separate from donkey rental arrangements.   A brief history of the donkeys that now run Pack Burro Races Donkeys first arrived on U.S. soil in 1784 as a royal gift from King Charles III of Spain to George Washington.  By the 1800s, they were instrumental in building the American West, especially during the Gold Rush.  When mining declined, many of these hardy animals were left behind. Burros adapted and survived in some of the most rugged terrain in the West.  Today, while wild burros face challenges similar to wild horses, many are rounded up, gentled, and trained.  Pack Burro Racing has become not only a historic sport, but also a productive outlet for rehabilitating formerly wild burros. “Burro” is the Spanis