Home › California › Truckee
Running trails in Truckee, CA
Truckee has 17 trails in the directory — 4 paved and 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 boardwalk, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, 2 with a stated distance, 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 4,620 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.
Donner Memorial State Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,952 reviews
This park offers hiking, camping, fishing, boating, the Emigrant Trail Museum & a historic monument.
Truckee River Regional Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 904 reviews
Charming riverside park featuring a children's playground, hiking paths & a disc-golf course.
Riverview Sports Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 166 reviews
Green space with a unique playground, BMX track, bocce ball court & multi-use athletic fields.
Pacific Crest Trail and Donner Peak Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 156 reviews
Hike, trail, ski area, snowshoe, climbing area featuring a wide variety of terrains and panoramic scenery from the summit.
Sawtooth Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 88 reviews
Outdoor recreation spot featuring mountain biking and hiking trails, with some suitable for beginners.
Donner Summit Canyon
4.9 ★★★★★ 86 reviews
Hiking area featuring well-marked trails and scenic views, including an overlook.
Martis Creek Wildlife Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 75 reviews
Kid-friendly and dog-friendly hiking trail with a meadow, forest, and creek near Martis Dam Road.
Glacier Way Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 72 reviews
Hiking, biking, and snowshoeing trails offering scenic views of Donner Lake and mountains.
China Cove Trail
4.4 ★★★★☆ 7 reviews
Waddle Ranch-Elizabethtown Meadows Trailhead
4.4 ★★★★☆ 5 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Truckee
- Match the surface to your legs. Truckee gives you a choice: 4 paved, 2 natural surface, and 2 boardwalk. 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? 4 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 Truckee is Tompkins memorial trail cross cut trailhead at 17 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Truckee 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 17 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 9 have trailhead parking, 6 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Truckee. 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, 2 with mile markers, 2 that runners describe as quiet, and 4 dog-friendly. 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 Truckee trails by type
Running trails near Truckee
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.