Running trails in Canandaigua, NY
Canandaigua has 13 trails in the directory — 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 1 loop that returns to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, and 2 open 24 hours. 9 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 3,655 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.
Kershaw Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 2,155 reviews
Landscaped beach features lakefront walkways, a public dock, picnic pavilions & an open-air gazebo.
Onanda Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 651 reviews
Playful park with trails for walking, a dog-friendly upper area, basketball courts and a playground.
Richard P. Outhouse Memorial Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 394 reviews
Playground and field for soccer and lacrosse, plus a gravel track and pavilions.
Canandaigua Lake State Marine Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 279 reviews
Green space & busy boat launch offering restrooms, fishing & access to Canandaigua Lake.
Baker Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 38 reviews
Blue Heron Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 18 reviews
Ontario Pathways
4.8 ★★★★★ 4 reviews
Lower Woodland HOA Trail
5 ★★★★★ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Canandaigua
- Match the surface to your legs. Canandaigua gives you a choice: 1 crushed gravel 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 crushed gravel 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. The longest stated distance in Canandaigua is Canandaigua Vista Nature Preserve at 1.5 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Canandaigua are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 9 of the 13 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 7 have trailhead parking and 4 have restrooms in Canandaigua. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 4 that runners describe as quiet, 4 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 Canandaigua trails by type
Running trails near Canandaigua
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.