Running trails in Arvada, CO
Arvada has 17 trails in the directory — 5 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, 6 with a stated distance, 4 shaded, and 5 open 24 hours. 14 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 4,385 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.
Majestic View Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 874 reviews
Scenic park with a mountain view featuring a nature center, playground, fields & tennis courts.
Lake Arbor Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 851 reviews
Venue featuring a kids' playground, open fields & multiple trails, including a loop around the lake.
Clear Creek Valley Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 670 reviews
Grassy spot featuring a creek, a pond, a playground for toddlers, a playground for older children and ziplines.
Jack B Tomlinson Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 436 reviews
Park featuring a playground and a lake, plus walking paths, ponds for fishing.
Majestic View Nature Center
4.8 ★★★★★ 340 reviews
Kid-friendly park with a nature center featuring exhibits for kids, plus trails with wildlife.
Van Bibber Open Space
4.7 ★★★★★ 338 reviews
Serene urban park offering concrete & soft-surface trails & an observation deck for bird-watching.
Griffith Station Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 224 reviews
Fun-filled park for children of all ages, with play areas, slides, swings and baseball, horseshoe and basketball pitches.
Ralston Valley Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 166 reviews
Park featuring a creek, hiking trails and a playground with a slide set.
Wood Run Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 106 reviews
Casual area with ballfields, swings and slides amid trees and hills.
Ralston Creek Trail
4.5 ★★★★★ 103 reviews
Nature preserve with trails for walking and biking.
Van Bibber Creek Trail
4.6 ★★★★★ 81 reviews
Park featuring a creek as well as multiple trails, some paved.
Ralston Cove Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 80 reviews
Clean and quiet creek-filled park with walking paths, a playground and picnic tables.
Quaker Acres Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 61 reviews
Kid-friendly area featuring swings and slides amid open space.
Ralston Creek Trail Ward Road, Arvada, CO
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Arvada
- Match the surface to your legs. Arvada gives you a choice: 5 paved, 3 mixed, and 1 natural surface. 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 Arvada is Lake Arbor Park at 50 mi. 6 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 5 trails in Arvada are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 14 of the 17 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. 11 have trailhead parking, 7 have restrooms, and 6 have a water fountain in Arvada. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 4 shaded, 8 that runners describe as quiet, 5 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 Arvada trails by type
- Paved trails
- Mixed trails
- Natural surface trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- Shaded trails
- Lit for early & night runs
- Flat & fast
- Hilly trails
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near Arvada
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.