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Running trails in Martinez, CA
Martinez has 15 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, and 3 shaded. 13 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 6,022 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.
Briones Regional Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,294 reviews
Pastoral, 6,255-acre park with rolling hills, wildlife viewing, campgrounds & other features.
Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 827 reviews
Marsh habitat with sports fields & courts, ponds, creeks, picnic facilities & walking trails.
Hidden Lakes Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 681 reviews
Large park offering baseball fields, soccer courts, playgrounds, hiking trails and hills.
Hidden Valley Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 657 reviews
Basketball, volleyball & baseball facilities, plus playgrounds, jogging track & concession stand.
Waterfront Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 609 reviews
Waterfront park offering a skateboard area, a playground, and facilities for baseball, softball, and bocce ball.
Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline
4.6 ★★★★★ 509 reviews
Spacious park along the water featuring nature trails & opportunities for bird & animal viewing.
Rankin Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 481 reviews
Neighborhood park featuring a pool and a playground for kids.
Mount Wanda Trailhead
4.5 ★★★★★ 271 reviews
Popular place for hikes on hills and trails offering views, shade and wildlife, plus easy access.
Holiday Highlands Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 207 reviews
Residential park featuring clean lawns and a creek that's good for kids and dogs.
Mountain View Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 188 reviews
Local park with baseball and basketball fields, a playground, and picnic tables.
Golden Hills Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 146 reviews
Neighborhood park with tennis courts, a playground, and a basketball court, plus picnic tables.
Fernandez Ranch
4.7 ★★★★★ 86 reviews
Stunning valley views, shaded hiking trails and a variety of wildlife, including cows and horses.
Nejedly Staging Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 57 reviews
Scenic park offering trails for hiking and running plus picnic tables and parking.
Sky Ranch | John Muir Land Trust
4.8 ★★★★★ 4 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Martinez
- Match the surface to your legs. Martinez gives you a choice: 2 natural surface, 1 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? 2 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.
- 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. 13 of the 15 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 11 have trailhead parking, 11 have restrooms, and 4 have a water fountain in Martinez. 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, 14 dog-friendly, and 6 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 Martinez trails by type
Running trails near Martinez
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.