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Running trails in Mill Valley, CA
Mill Valley has 20 trails in the directory — 4 paved and 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 6 loops that return to the trailhead, 4 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 10 open 24 hours. 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 27,277 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.
Muir Woods National Monument
4.8 ★★★★★ 20,544 reviews
Scenic, forested park featuring giant redwood trees, long hiking trails, a visitor center & more.
Mount Tamalpais East Peak
4.9 ★★★★★ 1,341 reviews
Quarter-mi. trail with dramatic valley views, plus picnic tables, restrooms & drinking fountains.
Tennessee Valley Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 679 reviews
Popular beach destination with a network of easy to challenging trails, plus views from the cliffs.
Cascade Falls Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 420 reviews
Short walk through redwood trees along a creek to a cascading waterfall.
Old Mill Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 168 reviews
Pet-friendly greenspace featuring a creek, a playground and redwood trees.
Bothin Marsh Preserve
4.4 ★★★★☆ 96 reviews
Home to shorebirds, waterfowl & endangered species, this 106-acre wetland offers hiking & fishing.
Camino Alto Open Space Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 80 reviews
Wood & grassland preserve on a ridge spanning 170 acres popular for hiking, cycling & horse-riding.
Temelpa Trail
5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
Kobrin-Krouse Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Mill Valley
- Match the surface to your legs. Mill Valley gives you a choice: 4 paved, 3 mixed, and 2 natural surface. 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 paved trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 6 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 Mill Valley is Dipsea Trail Head at 7.4 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 10 trails in Mill Valley are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 13 of the 20 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. 12 have trailhead parking, 8 have restrooms, and 6 have a water fountain in Mill Valley. 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, 4 that runners describe as quiet, 7 dog-friendly, and 8 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 Mill Valley trails by type
- Paved trails
- Mixed trails
- Natural surface trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- Shaded trails
- Lit for early & night runs
- Flat & fast
- Hilly trails
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near Mill Valley
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.