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Running trails in Bloomington, MN
Bloomington has 6 trails in the directory — 3 paved and 1 with a stated distance. 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 1,770 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.
Normandale Lake Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 643 reviews
Park offering walking, jogging & biking trails around the lake, with picnic areas & canoeing.
Richardson Nature Center
4.9 ★★★★★ 554 reviews
Scenic nature center offering trails & wide range of recreational activities, plus community events.
Minnesota Valley State Trail (Wilke Unit)
4.7 ★★★★★ 222 reviews
Nature preserve offering kid-friendly hikes, mountain biking, and river access.
Bass Ponds Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 173 reviews
Tranquil area with trails, ponds and creeks, plus bird-watching and fishing.
Minnesota River Bottoms Trails
4.6 ★★★★★ 154 reviews
Scenic riverside area for hiking and mountain biking on paved and unpaved trails.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Bloomington
- Match the surface to your legs. Bloomington gives you a choice: 3 paved 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 Bloomington is Normandale Lake Park at 2 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. Plenty of trails sit inside parks that gate at dusk and don't unlock until well after sunrise, so a trail that's perfect at lunchtime can be locked at 6am. 5 of the 6 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 5 have trailhead parking, 2 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Bloomington. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 that runners describe as quiet, 1 dog-friendly, and 3 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 Bloomington trails by type
Running trails near Bloomington
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.