Running trails in Kalispell, MT
Kalispell has 10 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 2 on crushed gravel or dirt and 2 with a stated distance. 7 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 2,700 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 Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 1,109 reviews
Green zone with a picnic shelter & playground, 2 duck ponds & an adjacent seasonal water park.
Lone Pine State Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 784 reviews
Woodland park offering scenic overlooks & trails for horseback riding, hiking, biking & snowshoeing.
Lawrence Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 419 reviews
Clean, well-kept area featuring 18-hole disc golf, climbs, ziplines and a playground.
Camp Misery Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 169 reviews
Popular hiking area with trails leading to Mount Aeneas and views of goats, lakes, and valleys.
Herron Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 161 reviews
Casual outdoor destination offering hiking and mountain-biking trails, plus horseback riding.
Strawberry Lake Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 43 reviews
Kid-friendly hiking area featuring a steep trail.
Meridian Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 8 reviews
Buffalo Head Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 6 reviews
Whitefish Stage Linear Park
4 ★★★★☆ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Kalispell
- Match the surface to your legs. Kalispell gives you a choice: 2 natural surface and 1 paved. 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 natural surface 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 Kalispell is Lone Pine State Park at 7.5 mi. 1 trail is 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 10 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking and 3 have restrooms in Kalispell. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 with mile markers, 4 dog-friendly, and 2 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 Kalispell trails by type
Running trails near Kalispell
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.