Running trails in Laurel, MD
Laurel has 13 trails in the directory — 5 paved, 6 loops that return to the trailhead, 6 with a stated distance, 1 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 12 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 1,676 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.
Granville Gude Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 703 reviews
Familiar park for families featuring a lakeside playground and stage, plus picnic tables and benches.
Fairland Regional Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 321 reviews
Recreational area with athletic fields, trails, and an Olympic-size pool, plus tennis and pickleball courts.
High Ridge Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 242 reviews
Park with basketball and tennis courts, along with a playground, trails and BBQs.
Riverfront Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 112 reviews
River park, with a playground and a paved walking path.
Supplee Lane Recreation Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 94 reviews
Recreation areas on 6,000 acres featuring hiking, horseback riding, picnicking, and 16 miles of shoreline fishing.
Roland B. Sweitzer Community Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 80 reviews
Grassy area featuring a playground and a pond, plus picnic tables.
Pheasant Run Community Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 36 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Laurel
- Match the surface to your legs. Laurel gives you a choice: 5 paved and 3 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? 6 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 Laurel is Cash Lake Trail at 20 mi. 5 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Laurel are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 12 of the 13 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 2 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 10 have trailhead parking, 7 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Laurel. 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, 2 that runners describe as quiet, 7 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 Laurel trails by type
Running trails near Laurel
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.