Running trails in Palmer Lake, CO
Palmer Lake has 2 trails in the directory — 1 on crushed gravel or dirt and 1 open 24 hours. Every one post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 224 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.
Santa Fe Trail
4.6 ★★★★★ 150 reviews
Gravel trail for hiking and biking, plus fishing pavilions and a playground.
Limbaugh Canyon Trail Head
4.6 ★★★★★ 74 reviews
Popular hiking area with trails leading to various destinations such as beaver ponds and aspen meadows.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Palmer Lake
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is crushed gravel (1 of 2). 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 crushed gravel trails →
- 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 Palmer Lake is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 2 of the 2 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 1 has trailhead parking in Palmer Lake. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Palmer Lake trails by type
Running trails near Palmer Lake
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.