Home › California › South Lake Tahoe
Running trails in South Lake Tahoe, CA
South Lake Tahoe has 13 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 4 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, 1 shaded, and 6 open 24 hours. 8 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 2,694 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.
Bijou Community Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 952 reviews
Meadow park with basketball, volleyball & skateboard areas, disc golf, a dog run & railroad exhibit.
Van Sickle Bi-State Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 523 reviews
Natural area on the California-Nevada border with hiking & equestrian trails & historic buildings.
Bayview Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 248 reviews
Steep trail with Emerald Bay views & access to Granite Lake, Maggie's Peaks & Desolation Wilderness.
Rubicon Trailhead North
4.8 ★★★★★ 180 reviews
Trail featuring a lighthouse, a beach, and stunning views of the lake and its verdant emerald waters.
High Meadow Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 119 reviews
Popular park with a network of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and trail running, plus scenic views.
Washoe Meadows State Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 110 reviews
Undeveloped valley woodland & meadows offering hiking trails, wildlife viewing & river fishing.
Taylor Creek Boardwalk
4.9 ★★★★★ 96 reviews
Walkable boardwalk, mostly flat trail over a marshy area, that's popular for salmon viewing.
Martin's Peak Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 54 reviews
Hiking area with scenic views, including Lake Tahoe, and kid-friendly trails.
Chonokis Road Trail
5 ★★★★★ 3 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in South Lake Tahoe
- Match the surface to your legs. South Lake Tahoe gives you a choice: 4 natural surface, 1 paved, 1 boardwalk, 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 natural surface 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. The longest stated distance in South Lake Tahoe is Mt. Tallac Trailhead at 29 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 South Lake Tahoe are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 8 of the 13 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 6 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in South Lake Tahoe. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 shaded, 1 with mile markers, 2 that runners describe as quiet, 6 dog-friendly, and 3 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 South Lake Tahoe trails by type
- Natural surface trails
- Paved trails
- Boardwalk trails
- Mixed trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- Shaded trails
- Flat & fast
- Hilly trails
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Trails with mile markers
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near South Lake Tahoe
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.