The HURL links up the 13 major peaks surrounding the Hyalite Creek drainage while staying on the ridge whenever possible. The route consists of 14 off-trail miles accompanied by 7.5 miles on singletrack and 2.5 miles on road. There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 13,000-14,000 ft of elevation gain on route with very little time on flat ground. Most of the terrain is Class 2/3 with Class 4 moves on loose rock sprinkled in.

Base camp is set up in Kulgera, the first and last town (and pub) in the Northern Territory. The 26.5km (16.5mi) starts on the 4WD track to the Lambert Centre just off Finke Road 126km (78mi) east of Kulgera. From here it is 13.25km (8.2mi) out to the centre and back along the same track. The run is wholly on the 4WD track which is dotted with the tracks of native wildlife (expect to see goanna, emu, desert mouse and kangaroo tracks while running). It has one left hand turn off just after 7km (4.34mi).