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Running trails in Highland Park, IL
Highland Park has 5 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 1 loop that returns to the trailhead, and 1 with a stated distance. 2 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 705 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.
Rosewood Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 491 reviews
Bustling beach area with sheltered swimming coves, a playground & a boardwalk promenade.
Prairie Wolf Forest Preserve
4.6 ★★★★★ 131 reviews
Nature preserve with a trail, controlled-entry pond, and fenced-in acreage for dogs.
Buckthorn Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 13 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Highland Park
- Match the surface to your legs. Highland Park gives you a choice: 1 paved, 1 crushed gravel, 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 paved trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 1 trail here is a loop, 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 Highland Park is Mooney Park at 0.3 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. Plenty of trails sit inside parks that gate at dusk and don't unlock until well after sunrise, so a trail that's perfect at lunchtime can be locked at 6am. 2 of the 5 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 2 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Highland Park. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 that runners describe as quiet, 2 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 Highland Park trails by type
Running trails near Highland Park
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.