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Running trails in Ridgecrest, CA
Ridgecrest has 16 trails in the directory — 2 shaded and 1 open 24 hours. 4 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 1,334 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.
Leroy Jackson Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 510 reviews
Vast athletic park offering lighted fields for softball & soccer along with 6 tennis courts.
Freedom Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 267 reviews
Relaxed spot featuring a splash pad, fountains and lush lawns for picnics.
Upjohn Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 270 reviews
Outdoor zone for kids with swings, slides, jungle gyms and basket ball courts.
Petroglyph Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 212 reviews
A 12-acre park preserving Native American culture with carved rocks, artworks & playgrounds.
Lone Ridge Lower Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 12 reviews
El Paso Hills Brown Road Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 11 reviews
Sunland Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 9 reviews
Sky Point Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 8 reviews
Brady Trailhead
4.2 ★★★★☆ 9 reviews
College Heights Rademacher Trailheads
4.8 ★★★★★ 5 reviews
Bowman Bike Path - Downs Street
3.3 ★★★☆☆ 3 reviews
Cholla Trailhead
4 ★★★★☆ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Ridgecrest
- 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. 1 trail in Ridgecrest is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 4 of the 16 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 1 has trailhead parking, 4 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Ridgecrest. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 shaded, 1 with mile markers, 3 dog-friendly, 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 Ridgecrest trails by type
Running trails near Ridgecrest
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.