Running trails in Marion, IA
Marion has 9 trails in the directory — 4 paved and 2 shaded. 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 2,441 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.
Thomas Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,516 reviews
Disc golf, an ice rink, splash pad, sledding hill & other activities are the draw at this busy park.
Hanna Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 238 reviews
Park featuring baseball fields, trails, swings, grills and playground equipment.
Waldo's Rock Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 214 reviews
Park featuring a glacial boulder, plus a manmade pond and paved bike trail.
Boyson Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 177 reviews
Wooded park with a trail alongside a creek to go walking and biking.
Lininger Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 128 reviews
Clean play area featuring swings and slides for kids of all ages, as well as a large field for soccer games.
Lowe Park Irish Dr Entrance
4.8 ★★★★★ 99 reviews
Park featuring modern playground equipment, picnic areas, a baseball field, and hiking trails.
Grant Wood Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 43 reviews
Paved trail offering vistas of cornfields, for cycling, walking and running.
Indian Creek Trail
5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Marion
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is paved (4 of 9). 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? 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. 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. 6 of the 9 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking, 4 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Marion. 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, 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 Marion trails by type
Running trails near Marion
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.