Running trails in Alexandria, MN
Alexandria has 5 trails in the directory — 1 shaded and 1 open 24 hours. 4 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 1,367 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.
Noonan Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 503 reviews
Wooded area with a playhouse & playground, picnicking, flower beds & a duck pond with ice skating.
Alexandria City Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 469 reviews
A lakefront beach & fishing pier attract families to this hangout with a playground & tennis courts.
Lake Brophy County Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 329 reviews
Playground for all ages at a park with a beach and bike trails, plus sledding.
Big Ole Central Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 65 reviews
Clean park featuring walking, biking and hiking trails and clean bathrooms.
Terry Ferguson Memorial Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Alexandria
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is mixed (1 of 5). 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? 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. 1 trail in Alexandria is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 4 of the 5 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 1 has trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Alexandria. 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, 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 Alexandria trails by type
Running trails near Alexandria
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.