Popular dog sled race moving locations for this week’s event

ASHTON — A historical dog sled race will move locations this year from downtown Ashton to Bear Gulch.

The American Dog Derby is happening this Friday and Saturday. It was moved out of town due to the lack of snow. Bear Gulch is located near Mesa Falls and is about 11 miles away from Ashton.

“It was a hard decision to make, but we could have canceled completely, which would have been really upsetting because just about every race in the state has been canceled except for ours,” said John Scafe, the race director for the American Dog Derby.

The town events, which include the snowshoe race, the mutt race, and the weight pull, have been canceled too.

However, there is a $10,000 race purse that is still guaranteed.

The American Dog Derby begins at 8:30 a.m., and there will be shuttles to take spectators.

“Up at Bear Gulch, it gets really crowded for parking. I do have shuttle buses coming to North Fremont High School starting at 7:30 a.m. There are three of them. It takes about 35 to 40 minutes to make a round trip. So they will be making round trips all the time,” Scafe said.

Scafe told EastIdahoNews.com that this year, mushers will be racing and honoring a man named Ray Gordon from Wyoming. He passed away last year. He had a long-standing relationship with the American Dog Derby and was a long-time lover of the sport, according to the American Dog Derby website.

“I want to have a moment of silence and any other mushers that people know of that passed away and acknowledge them at our race,” Scafe said.

Despite the location change of the American Dog Derby, it still promises to be a good time.

“Sounds like we’ve got teams from Houston, Texas, and Canada coming,” he said. “This is a unique sport. Come out and just enjoy the company of the mushers. We are proud to put it on! It’s very historical for this side of the state. Mushers are really excited to have it.”

According to its website, the race has been happening since 1917.