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Running trails in Santa Clara, CA
Santa Clara has 13 trails in the directory — 4 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, 5 shaded, and 7 open 24 hours. 12 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 6,137 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.
Central Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 3,591 reviews
52-acre park with 2 playgrounds & athletic courts/fields, plus a swimming pool, picnic area & BBQs.
Ulistac Natural Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 755 reviews
Rustic riverside park boasting trails, bird-watching & a range of native plants on 40 acres.
Henry Schmidt Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 581 reviews
Municipal ball fields & tennis courts, plus a wall of fame dedicated to a locally famous coach.
San Tomas Aquino Creek Trailhead
4.4 ★★★★☆ 345 reviews
Green space featuring a hiking/biking trail along a creek, plus a playground & community garden.
Parkway Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 273 reviews
Clean park featuring a playground and shaded areas, plus a picnic area.
Lick Mill Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 251 reviews
Grassy city park featuring tennis & basketball courts, a playground, BBQ grills & paved walkways.
Homeridge Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 225 reviews
Neighborhood park providing a playground, sports courts, a grass lawn & large picnic area with BBQs.
Everett N. "Eddie" Souza Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 39 reviews
San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail
4.6 ★★★★★ 31 reviews
Guadalupe River Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 6 reviews
Calabazas Creek
3 ★★★☆☆ 3 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Santa Clara
- Match the surface to your legs. Santa Clara gives you a choice: 4 paved, 1 natural surface, and 1 mixed. 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? 2 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.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 7 trails in Santa Clara 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. 1 is lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 7 have trailhead parking, 8 have restrooms, and 5 have a water fountain in Santa Clara. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 5 shaded, 4 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 Santa Clara trails by type
Running trails near Santa Clara
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.