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Running trails in Stone Mountain, GA
Stone Mountain has 5 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 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 45,017 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.
Stone Mountain Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 43,054 reviews
Vast, scenic park with activities, golf, lodging & a cable car ride to a historic, carved peak.
Yellow River Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,784 reviews
566-acre park features a playground & 12-mile soft-surface trail for hiking, biking & equestrians.
Trail of the Muscogee
4.7 ★★★★★ 81 reviews
Kid- and dog-friendly hiking area featuring a 1.5-mile trail along 2 lakes.
Hidden Acres Nature Preserve
4.1 ★★★★☆ 58 reviews
Pretty park featuring boardwalks leading to gazebos, a lake, pavilions, and picnic tables for fishing, hiking, and relaxing.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Stone Mountain
- Match the surface to your legs. Stone Mountain gives you a choice: 1 paved, 1 natural surface, and 1 mixed. 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? 2 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 Stone Mountain is Yellow River Park at 12 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 Stone Mountain 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 5 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 and 3 have restrooms in Stone Mountain. 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, 4 that runners describe as quiet, 2 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 Stone Mountain trails by type
Running trails near Stone Mountain
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.