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Running trails in Los Banos, CA
Los Banos has 7 trails in the directory — 1 boardwalk and 2 shaded. 3 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 910 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.
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge - Main Unit
4.5 ★★★★★ 525 reviews
Extensive protected wetlands & grasslands with a wealth of native plant and animal species.
Persimmon Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 137 reviews
Park with a playground, picnic tables and a baseball diamond, plus plenty of open space.
Oliveira Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 129 reviews
Relaxed, clean park offering a basketball court and a playground, plus picnic tables and restrooms.
Los Banos Wildlife Area
4.4 ★★★★☆ 116 reviews
Birding, fishing & hunting are popular at this expansive wetland area & migratory bird habitat.
Los Banos Wildlife Area Birding Trail
5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
Wetland Nature Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Los Banos
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is boardwalk (1 of 7). 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. Plenty of trails sit inside parks that gate at dusk and don't unlock until well after sunrise, so a trail that's perfect at lunchtime can be locked at 6am. 3 of the 7 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 3 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Los Banos. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 shaded, 1 that runners describe as quiet, and 2 dog-friendly. 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 Los Banos trails by type
Running trails near Los Banos
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.