Running trails in Elk River, MN
Elk River has 7 trails in the directory — 2 paved and 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, and 1 shaded. 6 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 728 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.
Woodland Trails Regional Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 311 reviews
Hilly area, the park features paved and unpaved trails for hiking, biking and skiing.
Hillside Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 230 reviews
Park featuring 6 miles of challenging mountain biking trails through an oak forest.
William H. Houlton Conservation Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 78 reviews
Ecological park with kid-friendly hikes, and trails through woods and along the Mississippi and Elk rivers.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Elk River
- Match the surface to your legs. Elk River gives you a choice: 2 paved, 2 natural surface, and 1 crushed gravel. 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? 4 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.
- 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. 6 of the 7 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 6 have trailhead parking and 1 has restrooms in Elk River. 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 with mile markers, 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 Elk River trails by type
Running trails near Elk River
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.