Running trails in Scarborough, ME
Scarborough has 10 trails in the directory — 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 3 loops that return to the trailhead, 4 with a stated distance, 1 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 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 1,459 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.
Scarborough Beach
4.6 ★★★★★ 607 reviews
Ocean beach with lifeguards & a snack shack. With admission fee (state park passes not valid).
Memorial Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 240 reviews
Public park with a pond, skateboarding area, 2 pickleball courts, and summer concerts.
Fuller Farm
4.7 ★★★★★ 180 reviews
Preserve featuring scenic trails, some leading to a waterfall, for hiking and sledding.
Eastern Trail Scarborough (Eastern Ave entrance)
4.7 ★★★★★ 106 reviews
Picturesque walking venue for strolling, jogging, biking, and horseback riding, featuring marshy vistas and birdwatching.
Pleasant Hill Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 95 reviews
Forest known for trails for hiking and walking plus bird-watching opportunities.
Eastern Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 76 reviews
Popular area with off-road and on-road sections for running, walking, and biking, plus birding.
Eastern Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 59 reviews
Nature preserve with marsh, woods, and benches offering opportunities to walk and bike.
Warren Woods Trail, Scarborough Land Trust
4.3 ★★★★☆ 64 reviews
Nature preserve offering easy, kid-friendly, and off-leash dog-friendly trails.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Scarborough
- Match the surface to your legs. Scarborough gives you a choice: 4 mixed and 3 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 mixed trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 3 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 Scarborough is Pleasant Hill Preserve at 40 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Scarborough are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 6 of the 10 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. 10 have trailhead parking, 2 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Scarborough. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 shaded, 4 with mile markers, 3 that runners describe as quiet, 8 dog-friendly, and 6 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 Scarborough trails by type
- Mixed trails
- Natural surface trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- Shaded trails
- Lit for early & night runs
- Flat & fast
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Trails with mile markers
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near Scarborough
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.