Running trails in Elkton, MD
Elkton has 4 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 with a stated distance, and 1 open 24 hours. 3 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 919 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.
Meadow Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 542 reviews
Recreational park with a creek, walking trails & fields for softball & football, plus playgrounds.
Brantwood Regional Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 204 reviews
Family-oriented park featuring a playground, walking paths and disc golf.
Fair Hill State Natural Resources Management Area
4.8 ★★★★★ 145 reviews
Offering many trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding, this area also features a covered bridge.
Evans McKinney Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 28 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Elkton
- Match the surface to your legs. Elkton 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? A loop finishes back at the car with no backtracking; on an out-and-back you simply turn round at half your distance. The longest stated distance in Elkton is Fair Hill State Natural Resources Management Area at 80 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Elkton is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 3 of the 4 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 2 have trailhead parking in Elkton. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 dog-friendly. 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 Elkton trails by type
Running trails near Elkton
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.