Dream of climbing up Mount Everest? Climb Mount Trashmore 140 times instead

Cedar Rapidians with ambitions to scale Mount Everest are invited to do the next best thing: climb Mount Trashmore.

Next year’s Mount Trashmore Challenge will have participants make their way up the mound of garbage-turned-local-attraction 140 times — the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. To get people excited about the 2020 challenge, the Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street District is hosting a mini challenge on Oct. 5, if Mount Trashmore trails are open.

The October event is free and open to the public. It will begin at 1 p.m., and participants can walk, run or bike. People who make a trip up and down Mount Trashmore can earn a T-shirt.

“We have this great asset in our neighborhood,” Main Street District Executive Director Abby Huff said. “We’re a very active district, and we wanted to let people have some fun while climbing Mount Trashmore.”

Cedar Rapids’ Mount Trashmore is the highest point in Linn County with an elevation of 948 feet. The 208-foot-tall trash mound closed for good as a landfill in 2013 and was repurposed as an overlook of the city’s downtown area.

There are three trails to choose from: Trashmore Trail is reserved for bikers, Stumptown Trail is for walkers and Overlook Trail can be used by both.

The mini challenge is to get people excited about next year’s challenge, as well as test out the Mount Trashmore Challenge app, Huff said. The app will track how many times participants climb up Mount Trashmore. There will be prizes and discounts along the way as people reach different milestones.

“We really want people to have some fun with it and challenge themselves, their friends and their coworkers,” Huff said.

Registration for next year’s challenge also opens Oct. 5. Participants can register online, and there will also be tables set up during the mini challenge.

The registration fee is $25 and will go up to $35 closer to May, which is when the 2020 challenge is expected to start.

Bad weather may cause Trashmore’s trails to close, and the forecast currently calls for showers on Saturday afternoon — but online registration for the 2020 challenge will be available rain or shine.