Home › New Jersey › Hillsborough Township
Running trails in Hillsborough Township, NJ
Hillsborough Township has 8 trails in the directory — 3 paved and 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, 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 5,908 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.
Duke Farms
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,896 reviews
Historic estate offering undeveloped natural habitats, gardens, outdoor activities & workshops.
Sourland Mountain Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,529 reviews
Rugged terrain for moderate hikes, mountain biking, birding & horseback riding in a nature preserve.
Sourland Mountain Hiking Trail Hillsborough
4.7 ★★★★★ 641 reviews
Park featuring boulder formations as well as hiking trails, a few of which are easy and a few of which are steep.
Ann Van Middlesworth Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 508 reviews
Vibrant neighborhood park with ball fields, basketball courts & a skate park, plus a fishing pond.
Mountain View Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 152 reviews
Park featuring baseball fields and playgrounds for younger children.
Woodfield Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 130 reviews
Recreational space featuring soccer and baseball fields, tennis courts, and a playground.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Hillsborough Township
- Match the surface to your legs. Hillsborough Township gives you a choice: 3 paved and 3 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? 2 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. 3 trails in Hillsborough Township are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 8 of the 8 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 5 have trailhead parking, 5 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Hillsborough Township. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 with mile markers, 3 that runners describe as quiet, 3 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 Hillsborough Township trails by type
Running trails near Hillsborough Township
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.