Running trails in St Paul, MN
St Paul has 21 trails in the directory — 7 paved, 3 loops that return to the trailhead, 3 with a stated distance, 2 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 19 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 9,391 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.
Fort Snelling State Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,722 reviews
Boasting a golf course & many trails for hiking, biking or skiing, this park also offers swimming.
Hidden Falls Regional Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,485 reviews
Charming, long-established park featuring waterfalls, trails, a boat launch & scenic picnic areas.
Lilydale Regional Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,115 reviews
Forested floodplain along the Mississippi with a small lake & walking paths, plus fishing & birding.
Crosby Farm Regional Park North Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 994 reviews
Woodlands featuring 6.7 acres of paved trails, plus picnic areas & access to fishing on the river.
Harriet Island Regional Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 790 reviews
Open space along the river with an indoor event pavilion, paddle boats, a stage & a bed-&-breakfast.
Cherokee Regional Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 482 reviews
Tree-filled park offering a playground, picnic shelters with electricity & scenic overlooks.
Swede Hollow Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 411 reviews
Wooded valley park that was once an impoverished quarter & dump but now offers a trail among trees.
Upper Landing Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 358 reviews
Public park with water views, a lawn for picnics & lounging, plus paved paths leading to a fountain.
Shadow Falls Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 300 reviews
Small nature park with a waterfall offering a serene place for hiking & picnicking.
Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary
4.1 ★★★★☆ 206 reviews
Tract of trees and wildflowers with biking and walking trails.
Maplewood Heights Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 126 reviews
Clean nature space offering a playground and a walking/biking path around a pond.
Vadnais Snail Lakes Regional Park Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 109 reviews
Public park with trails and a paved path, as well as fishing from the shore.
High Bridge Park North
4.5 ★★★★★ 105 reviews
Scenic, dog-friendly park featuring a sculpture and a chair for photos.
Battle Creek West
4.4 ★★★★☆ 79 reviews
Park with a bicycle repair station and lots of trails for hiking including one for scootering.
Pike Island
4.8 ★★★★★ 65 reviews
Island featuring serene trails for hiking and wildlife viewing, plus boat ramps.
Mississippi River St. Paul
4.8 ★★★★★ 9 reviews
Ayd Mill Road Trail
4.1 ★★★★☆ 8 reviews
Little Bohemia Trail
4.3 ★★★★☆ 7 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in St Paul
- Match the surface to your legs. St Paul gives you a choice: 7 paved and 3 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? 3 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. The longest stated distance in St Paul is Hidden Falls Regional Park at 6.7 mi. 2 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in St Paul are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 19 of the 21 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. 17 have trailhead parking, 9 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in St Paul. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 shaded, 7 that runners describe as quiet, 10 dog-friendly, and 5 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 St Paul trails by type
Running trails near St Paul
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.