Running trails in Palm Desert, CA

How to pick a trail in Palm Desert

• Match the surface to your legs. Palm Desert gives you a choice: 3 natural surface and 1 paved. 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? 5 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 Palm Desert is Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument at 75 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
• Check the hours before a 6am run. 6 trails in Palm Desert are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 12 of the 13 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 3 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
• Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 7 have trailhead parking, 6 have restrooms, and 5 have a water fountain in Palm Desert. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
• The small things that decide it. 4 shaded, 1 with mile markers, 3 that runners describe as quiet, 9 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 Palm Desert trails by type

• Natural surface trails (3 in Palm Desert)
• Paved trails (1 in Palm Desert)
• Loop trails (5 in Palm Desert)
• Long-run trails (5+ mi) (1 in Palm Desert)
• Shaded trails (4 in Palm Desert)
• Lit for early & night runs (3 in Palm Desert)
• Flat & fast (1 in Palm Desert)
• Hilly trails (9 in Palm Desert)
• Scenic trails (9 in Palm Desert)
• Trails with restrooms (6 in Palm Desert)
• Trails with water fountains (5 in Palm Desert)
• Trailhead parking (7 in Palm Desert)
• Trails with mile markers (1 in Palm Desert)
• Quiet, uncrowded trails (3 in Palm Desert)
• Dog-friendly (9 in Palm Desert)
• Stroller & wheelchair-accessible (4 in Palm Desert)

Running trails near Palm Desert

Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.

• Running trails in Rancho Mirage, CA (6 · 5 mi)
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• Running trails in Thousand Palms, CA (2 · 10 mi)
• Running trails in Palm Springs, CA (23 · 10 mi)
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