Running trails in Cold Spring, NY
Cold Spring has 7 trails in the directory — 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, and 2 open 24 hours. 4 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 3,095 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.
Hudson Highlands State Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,015 reviews
Scenic 8,000+ acre area along the Hudson River offering vistas & trails for all fitness levels.
Little Stony Point
4.8 ★★★★★ 419 reviews
Hiker-friendly area on the Hudson River featuring a sandy beach, plus hiking trails.
West Point Foundry Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 352 reviews
Trails in former industrial area designated by the US government to create munitions for the army.
Breakneck Ridge Trailhead
4.9 ★★★★★ 218 reviews
Popular hiking area featuring a rock scramble, plus marked trails (easy to challenging) with Hudson River views.
Washburn Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 70 reviews
Trail for hiking to a summit with panoramic vistas overlooking Cold Spring.
Little Stony Point Beach
4.9 ★★★★★ 14 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Cold Spring
- Match the surface to your legs. Cold Spring gives you a choice: 3 natural surface and 1 mixed. 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? 4 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. The longest stated distance in Cold Spring is Breakneck Ridge Trailhead at 1 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Cold Spring are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 4 of the 7 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 5 have trailhead parking and 4 have restrooms in Cold Spring. 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, 2 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 Cold Spring trails by type
Running trails near Cold Spring
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.