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Running trails in New Bedford, MA
New Bedford has 8 trails in the directory — 2 open 24 hours. 5 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 3,191 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.
Buttonwood Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,357 reviews
Public space with picnic tables and a playground, plus tennis and basketball courts, and an on-site zoo.
Fort Taber Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 929 reviews
Waterfront 47-acre park featuring a 19th-century fort, museum, playground & expansive green space.
Clasky Common Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 488 reviews
Relaxed park with a playground, sprinklers and a basketball court.
Acushnet Cedar Swamp State Reservation
4.5 ★★★★★ 62 reviews
National natural landmark featuring a large swamp with an oak-chestnut forest & diverse wildlife.
Daniel Ricketson Nature Trail
4 ★★★★☆ 10 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in New Bedford
- Match the surface to your legs. 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.
- 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. 2 trails in New Bedford are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 5 of the 8 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. 3 have trailhead parking in New Bedford. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 that runners describe as quiet, 1 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 New Bedford trails by type
Running trails near New Bedford
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.