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Running trails in Foster City, CA
Foster City has 12 trails in the directory — 1 boardwalk and 1 open 24 hours. 6 of them post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 4,173 Google reviews. Filter by surface, loop, distance, shade or lighting to get to the run you're actually planning — no made-up difficulty score, just the facts you'd check before driving out.
Leo J. Ryan Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,370 reviews
Lakeside park featuring a boardwalk, boat launch & grassy areas, plus tennis & basketball courts.
Catamaran Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 520 reviews
Public park with facilities for soccer, basketball, tennis, and volleyball, plus a playground.
Sea Cloud Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 435 reviews
Ball fields & batting cages fill this 23-acre site, which also features a bike path & playground.
Bridgeview Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 330 reviews
Informal park with picnic tables and public restrooms on a trail overlooking the bay and San Mateo Bridge.
Port Royal Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 217 reviews
Public park offering soccer fields, a kids' play area, picnic tables, basketball courts & restrooms.
Baywinds Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 156 reviews
Dog-friendly, kite-flying spot featuring a beach, walking trails, windsailing, golf and sunrise views.
Bay Trail / Foster City
4.8 ★★★★★ 80 reviews
Windy hiking trails with distant views of SF + a playground and beach for kids.
Foster City Levee
5 ★★★★★ 4 reviews
Bay Trail
5 ★★★★★ 4 reviews
Seal Slough Trail
3.5 ★★★★☆ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Foster City
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is boardwalk (1 of 12). Asphalt and concrete are fast, predictable and runnable year-round but the least forgiving; crushed limestone and dirt take the sting out of high mileage; boardwalk is flat and scenic but slick in the wet. If your shins or knees are complaining, the fix that actually works is varying the surface you run on rather than chasing one "best" one. More boardwalk trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? A loop finishes back at the car with no backtracking; on an out-and-back you simply turn round at half your distance.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Foster City is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 6 of the 12 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 1 is lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 6 have trailhead parking, 7 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Foster City. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 that runners describe as quiet, 5 dog-friendly, and 1 smooth and wide enough for a stroller or a wheelchair. Busy or quiet isn't a good-or-bad thing here: a busy path is the safer choice for a solo run at dawn, a quiet one is better for intervals.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Foster City trails by type
Running trails near Foster City
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.