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Running trails in Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto has 11 trails in the directory — 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 3 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, and 4 shaded. 2 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 4,249 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.
Pearson-Arastradero Preserve
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,106 reviews
Dog-friendly open space with an interpretive center, plus marked hiking, biking & equestrian trails.
Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,045 reviews
Trailhead leading to 15 miles of multi-use nature trails for hiking, running or cycling.
Palo Alto Byxbee Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 715 reviews
Birdwatching, cycling & walking are popular at this park with sculpted earth & conceptual art.
Baylands Nature Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 679 reviews
Vast marshland with 15 mi. of trails for walking, running & biking, plus bird-watching & kayaking.
Cornelis Bol Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 372 reviews
13.8-acre city park featuring multi-use trails, a playground & a native plant garden.
Arastradero Preserve Vista Point
4.7 ★★★★★ 122 reviews
Kid-friendly hiking area with a public restroom.
Timothy Hopkins Creekside Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 77 reviews
Narrow, creekside green space with a lawn, a walking/cycling path & picnic tables.
Panorama Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 61 reviews
Hiking area with kid-friendly trails and an overlook.
Chamise Trail
4.4 ★★★★☆ 11 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Palo Alto
- Match the surface to your legs. Palo Alto gives you a choice: 2 mixed and 1 crushed gravel. 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 mixed trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 3 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 Palo Alto is Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve Trail at 5 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- 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. 2 of the 11 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 6 have trailhead parking, 6 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Palo Alto. 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, 5 that runners describe as quiet, 6 dog-friendly, and 2 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 Palo Alto trails by type
Running trails near Palo Alto
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.