Running trails in Prior Lake, MN
Prior Lake has 7 trails in the directory — 2 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 with a stated distance, and 1 shaded. Every one post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 1,685 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.
Cleary Lake Regional Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 749 reviews
Sprawling recreational park with golf courses, a swimming beach, cross-country skiing & more.
Lakefront Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 629 reviews
Vibrant park offering sports fields & rinks, an amphitheater, skate park, fishing pier & playground.
Murphy-Hanrehan Singletrack Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 196 reviews
Kid-friendly park, with trails suitable for walking, horseback riding and mountain biking.
Memorial Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 67 reviews
Play area with swings, slides and sand box for kids, plus a baseball field, memorials.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Prior Lake
- Match the surface to your legs. Prior Lake gives you a choice: 2 paved and 1 natural surface. 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 Prior Lake is Murphy-Hanrehan Singletrack Trailhead at 10 mi. 2 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- 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. 7 of the 7 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. 2 have trailhead parking, 2 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Prior Lake. 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, 1 with mile markers, 2 that runners describe as quiet, and 4 dog-friendly. 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 Prior Lake trails by type
Running trails near Prior Lake
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.