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Running trails in Playa Del Rey, CA
Playa Del Rey has 3 trails in the directory — 2 open 24 hours. 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 17,523 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.
Dockweiler Beach
4.5 ★★★★★ 17,090 reviews
Bustling public beach offering a hang gliding training park, bonfires & views of departing aircraft.
Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve
4.5 ★★★★★ 401 reviews
Reserve made up of about 600 acres of wetlands & uplands, including a salt marsh.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Playa Del Rey
- Match the surface to your legs. 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.
- Loop or out-and-back? A loop finishes back at the car with no backtracking; on an out-and-back you simply turn round at half your distance.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Playa Del Rey are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 2 of the 3 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 2 have trailhead parking, 1 has restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Playa Del Rey. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 that runners describe as quiet and 1 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 Playa Del Rey trails by type
Running trails near Playa Del Rey
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.