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Running trail guides
Short, practical, runner-to-runner. What surface to run on and why varying it beats picking a favorite, how to read a trail listing so you don't drive out to a "20-mile trail" that's really twenty short spurs, the yield rules on a busy greenway, and what to carry when there's no water fountain in the woods. Every guide links back to the trails — because the guide only gets you halfway, the trail is the decision.
Getting started
If you mostly run roads and want to get onto trails without hating your first one.
Pick a forgiving first trail, shorten your stride, scan 10 to 15 feet ahead, and power-hike the steep bits. Plus a four-week progression from flat greenway to real singletrack.
Why your trail pace is slower and why that is fine, what changes for your ankles and calves, running by effort instead of pace, and how to mix both in one week.
What a rail trail, greenway, towpath and multi-use path actually are, why old railroad beds run so flat and fast, and the crushed-limestone surface runners keep coming back to.
The sources that actually work, the five questions that narrow the search, and the documented failure mode of crowd-sourced trail apps: trails marked fine that turn out to be private or closed.
Choosing a trail
The decisions that make a run good: what is underfoot, how far, and what shape.
Pavement repeats the same impact; soft uneven ground risks a rolled ankle. Surface by surface, and why the consensus answer is to vary your surfaces rather than pick a winner.
Loops need no backtracking or shuttle, out-and-backs let you bail early, point-to-point needs two cars, and a lollipop loop is a stem plus a circuit. How to match the shape to the run.
GPS watches, mapping tools and mile markers compared, why GPS under-reads under tree cover, and the system-miles trap that makes "20 miles of trails" sound like a 20-mile run.
Safety and practical
Dark mornings, shared paths, ticks, and everything you carry.
Uphill has the right of way, bikes yield to pedestrians, everyone yields to horses, and how to say "on your left" without startling anyone. Plus the bike-conflict problem on multi-use paths.
Around 300 lumens and why a handheld light plus a headlamp restores depth perception, checking gate hours before you get locked in, and the habits that matter when you run alone.
Hydration vests that do not bounce, the always-with-you three, layers, permethrin and picaridin for ticks, staying center-of-trail for poison ivy, and a checklist by run length.
City running-trail guides
A local read on the cities with the deepest trail networks in the directory — what the surfaces look like, how many loops there are, and the trails worth starting with.
- Running trails in Houston, TX (53)
- Running trails in Pittsburgh, PA (53)
- Running trails in Dallas, TX (50)
- Running trails in St. Louis, MO (47)
- Running trails in Chicago, IL (46)
- Running trails in Kansas City, MO (46)
- Running trails in Miami, FL (45)
- Running trails in Austin, TX (44)
- Running trails in Atlanta, GA (43)
- Running trails in Los Angeles, CA (43)
- Running trails in Louisville, KY (42)
- Running trails in Philadelphia, PA (41)
Start with the directory
We list 31,905 running trails, greenways and rail-trails across 51 states and 6,039 cities, with the facts runners actually decide on — surface, loop distance, route shape, shade, lighting, hours and trailhead parking — and no invented difficulty rating.
Browse trails by surface, loops, long runs of 5+ miles, shaded, lit for night running, flat and fast, hilly, dog-friendly, every feature, the best-rated trails by state, all states, or dig into the trail stats.
Find trails near you