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Running trails in Newport Beach, CA
Newport Beach has 14 trails in the directory — 2 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, 4 with a stated distance, 1 shaded, and 1 open 24 hours. 10 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 4,879 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.
Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,272 reviews
Home to many bird species, this 135-acre park offers an interpretive center & hiking/biking trails.
Castaways Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 462 reviews
Paved paths along the water here offer sweeping views of the bay & the ocean, plus parking.
Crystal Cove Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 413 reviews
Scenic backcountry area of Crystal Cove State Park offering 18 miles & 2,400 acres of trails.
Sunset Ridge Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 360 reviews
Tranquil park boasting baseball fields, a play area, grassy lawns and views of the ocean.
Buck Gully Reserve
4.5 ★★★★★ 351 reviews
Canyon nature preserve with trails for hiking & mountain-biking, plus guided interpretive walks.
Pacific Ridge Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 294 reviews
Scouting area for hikers and mountain bikers, offering various routes, including many with ocean views and shaded canyons.
Vista Point
4.8 ★★★★★ 240 reviews
Park featuring paved paths and scenic vistas along the Back Bay, plus wild birds.
John Wayne Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 239 reviews
Park and picnic spot with parking that's great for sunset gazing. Tranquil atmosphere too.
Back Bay View Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 127 reviews
Water-focused campground offering paddle boards and kayak rentals, plus walking trails.
Upper Newport Bay State Marine Conservation Area
4.8 ★★★★★ 53 reviews
Scenic park with a one-way path popular for walking, driving, biking and hiking, plus a lake view.
Bluff Top Multiuse Trail
5 ★★★★★ 4 reviews
Zone 205 Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Newport Beach
- Match the surface to your legs. Newport Beach gives you a choice: 2 paved, 2 mixed, and 1 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? 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 Newport Beach is Vista Point at 10 mi. 3 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Newport Beach is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 10 of the 14 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 11 have trailhead parking, 7 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Newport Beach. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 shaded, 6 that runners describe as quiet, 5 dog-friendly, and 4 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 Newport Beach trails by type
Running trails near Newport Beach
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.