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Running trails in Laguna Beach, CA
Laguna Beach has 18 trails in the directory — 3 paved and 4 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, 4 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 3 open 24 hours. 14 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 13,203 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.
Heisler Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 7,716 reviews
This beach area offers artsy park benches, sculptures, ocean views, rocky shores & tide pools.
Top of the World
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,657 reviews
Popular locale for short walks & hikes offering elevated views of surrounding ocean & mountains.
Crystal Cove State Park Tunnel
4.8 ★★★★★ 813 reviews
Hike-in beach in the Crystal Cove State Park featuring a tunnel access route.
Willow Staging Area
4.6 ★★★★★ 731 reviews
Access point for rugged hiking & mountain biking trails, with a parking lot, water & restrooms.
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 406 reviews
7,000-acre park with many trails for hiking, biking & horseback riding, plus a nature center.
El Moro Canyon Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 336 reviews
Network of trails, most graded for easy to moderate difficulty, for hiking or biking.
Top of the World Trail Head
4.8 ★★★★★ 82 reviews
Hiking area with many trails, including one paved path, offering views of canyons and ocean.
Dartmoor/Dunagan (Gate 14)
4.7 ★★★★★ 83 reviews
Park featuring a hiking trail with ocean views and hills.
Aliso Peak
4.8 ★★★★★ 81 reviews
Steep, dog-friendly hiking area with trails leading to views of the beaches.
Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 79 reviews
Park featuring hiking trails and stunning ocean views.
Seaview Park Trail and Overlook
4.8 ★★★★★ 65 reviews
Hike up a hill, offering views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island.
Laguna Ridge Trail
4.9 ★★★★★ 7 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Laguna Beach
- Match the surface to your legs. Laguna Beach gives you a choice: 4 natural surface, 3 paved, and 1 mixed. 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 natural surface trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 4 trails here are loops, so you finish back at the car with no backtracking — the easiest way to run a set distance without thinking about it. On an out-and-back you turn round at half your target distance, which makes any trail fit any run. The longest stated distance in Laguna Beach is Crystal Cove State Park Tunnel at 3 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 3 trails in Laguna Beach are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 14 of the 18 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 2 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 14 have trailhead parking, 10 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Laguna Beach. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 shaded, 3 that runners describe as quiet, 2 dog-friendly, and 11 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 Laguna Beach trails by type
Running trails near Laguna Beach
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.