Running trails in Beacon, NY
Beacon has 9 trails in the directory — 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, and 1 loop that returns to the trailhead. 5 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 2,558 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.
Scenic Hudson's Long Dock Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,103 reviews
Dock with water sports from kayaking & paddleboarding, plus picknicking & barbecuing.
Madam Brett Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 583 reviews
Tranquil park on Fishkill Creek offering walking trails to a wetland observation area & a waterfall.
Beacon Overlook
4.8 ★★★★★ 387 reviews
Popular trail featuring a fire tower at the summit, plus steep inclines.
Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 253 reviews
Scenic park near the Hudson River, featuring a playground.
Fishkill Ridge Trail
4.6 ★★★★★ 164 reviews
Hiking area featuring scenic views and varied terrain.
Hiddenbrooke Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 6 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Beacon
- Match the surface to your legs. Beacon gives you a choice: 2 natural surface and 1 boardwalk. 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? 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. 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. 5 of the 9 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 6 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Beacon. 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, 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 Beacon trails by type
Running trails near Beacon
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.