Running trails in Mt Dora, FL
Mt Dora has 12 trails in the directory — 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 boardwalk, 2 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 1 open 24 hours. 9 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 5,948 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.
Gilbert Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,092 reviews
Lakefront park housing a playground, picnic pavilions & BBQs, plus a shelter area, benches & trails.
Lake Apopka North Shore
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,038 reviews
Sprawling nature preserve along Lake Apopka featuring hiking, biking & horseback riding trails.
Trimble Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 968 reviews
Lakeside park with picnic & camping areas, plus a playground, trails & docks in scenic surrounds.
Mount Dora Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 616 reviews
Mountain-biking park featuring jumps, obstacles and a skills area.
Palm Island Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 476 reviews
Dog-friendly 8-acre nature preserve with picnic shelters & trails, plus a boardwalk & fishing pier.
Grantham Pointe (Light House)
4.8 ★★★★★ 474 reviews
Beautiful park at the edge of a lake with paths and benches plus a playground.
Mt Dora Dog Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 124 reviews
Public park offering separate areas for large, medium, and small dogs, plus water and toys.
Lake Jem Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 97 reviews
Shaded park featuring play equipment, a basketball court and a boat ramp.
Wolf Branch Waterfall
4.2 ★★★★☆ 6 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Mt Dora
- Match the surface to your legs. Mt Dora gives you a choice: 4 boardwalk and 2 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 boardwalk 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. The longest stated distance in Mt Dora is Mount Dora Trail at 85 mi. 2 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Mt Dora is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 9 of the 12 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. 5 have trailhead parking, 4 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Mt Dora. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 shaded, 2 that runners describe as quiet, 5 dog-friendly, and 1 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 Mt Dora trails by type
Running trails near Mt Dora
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.