Home › Missouri › Maryland Heights
Running trails in Maryland Heights, MO
Maryland Heights has 7 trails in the directory — 3 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 loop that returns to the trailhead, 1 shaded, and 3 open 24 hours. 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 2,982 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.
Creve Coeur Park Picnic Site 1
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,528 reviews
Public park featuring a sailboat lake, plus family areas with spray-fountain playgrounds for kids.
Eise Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 191 reviews
Paved city park with slides, a playground, a splash pad and a half-court basketball court.
Bootlegger's Run Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 146 reviews
Easy to medium-intensity hiking area featuring dirt trails, a playground, and frisbee golf.
Quiet Hollow Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 56 reviews
Park featuring picnic tables and a fitness court, along with an app for suggested workout routines.
Lower Park and Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Maryland Heights
- Match the surface to your legs. Maryland Heights gives you a choice: 3 paved, 1 natural surface, 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? 1 trail here is a loop, 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. 3 trails in Maryland Heights are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 7 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 5 have restrooms in Maryland Heights. 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, 1 that runners describe as quiet, 3 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 Maryland Heights trails by type
Running trails near Maryland Heights
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.