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Running trails in Roswell, NM
Roswell has 12 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 4 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 with a stated distance, 2 shaded, and 4 open 24 hours. 10 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 4,986 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.
Bottomless Lakes State Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 2,998 reviews
Park features several sinkhole-formed lakes with water sport activities, plus hiking trails.
Cahoon Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 974 reviews
Public green space with tennis and basketball courts, a playground, and a picnic area.
Spring River Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 408 reviews
Peaceful park featuring a carousel, a playground, picnic areas, a small zoo, and a pond.
J Kenneth Smith Bird Sanctuary and Nature Center
4.6 ★★★★★ 160 reviews
Park with trails for walking and bird watching, as well as benches and a pond.
Enchanted Lands
4.5 ★★★★★ 138 reviews
Sports fields, an 18-hole disc golf course, playground & picnic shelters are the focus at this park.
Berrendo Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 131 reviews
Large park featuring playground equipment, slides and trees.
Spaceport Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 65 reviews
Public park with a playground, slides, picnic tables, and a restroom.
Altrusa Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 48 reviews
Salt Creek Wilderness
4 ★★★★☆ 46 reviews
Hiking trail through an area featuring sinkholes and foothills, plus sightings of local wildlife and wildflowers.
Oxbow Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 12 reviews
Dragonfly Trail
4.5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Roswell
- Match the surface to your legs. Roswell gives you a choice: 4 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 Roswell is Spaceport Park at 2 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 4 trails in Roswell are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 10 of the 12 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. 1 has trailhead parking, 5 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Roswell. 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, 4 that runners describe as quiet, 1 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 Roswell trails by type
Running trails near Roswell
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.