Running trails in Longwood, FL
Longwood has 10 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 6 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 6 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 3,797 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.
Reiter Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,282 reviews
Park featuring a playground, water slides, picnic tables.
Spring Hammock Preserve
4.6 ★★★★★ 924 reviews
This wildlife preserve has hiking trails & two parks with sports fields, a playground & a boardwalk.
Big Tree Park - Cross Seminole Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 808 reviews
Trailhead for Cross Seminole Trail featuring a boardwalk to an ancient cypress & older tree ruins.
Seminole Wekiva Trail - Jones Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 255 reviews
Paved biking and hiking trail with a tool station and a water fountain.
Soldiers Creek Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 240 reviews
Sports complex featuring 6 softball fields and a short trail for hiking and mountain biking.
Wekiva River Buffer Conservation Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 119 reviews
Wetlands preserve boasting birds & other wildlife, plus hiking, biking & fishing.
Sabal Point Sanctuary
4.4 ★★★★☆ 120 reviews
Shaded, 1.5-mi. hiking trail with benches, ponds, and wildlife sightings.
Florida Trail Big Tree Park Trailhead
5 ★★★★★ 9 reviews
Seminole Wekiva Trail Underpass
5 ★★★★★ 5 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Longwood
- Match the surface to your legs. Longwood gives you a choice: 2 mixed, 1 paved, 1 natural surface, and 1 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 mixed 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. 2 trails in Longwood are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 6 of the 10 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 5 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Longwood. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 6 shaded, 4 that runners describe as quiet, 2 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 Longwood trails by type
Running trails near Longwood
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.