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Running trails in Burlington, NC
Burlington has 8 trails in the directory — 2 paved and 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 loop that returns to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 1 open 24 hours. 7 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 3,860 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.
Cedarock Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,503 reviews
Disc golf, nature trails & a restored 19th-century farmstead with animals, plus private tours.
Joe C. Davidson Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 848 reviews
Soccer & baseball fields, walking tracks, tennis courts, play equipment & a picnic shelter.
Burlington Springwood Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 717 reviews
78 acres of green space featuring soccer & baseball fields, a playground & a walking track.
Great Bend Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 395 reviews
Relaxing park featuring walking and hiking trails along the Haw River and a dam.
Burlington Arboretum
4.8 ★★★★★ 203 reviews
Arboretum (fenced-in) featuring walking paths and bridges, plus benches, a playground and restrooms, plus a picnic area.
City Park Walking Track
4.6 ★★★★★ 95 reviews
Clean gravel-surface running track alongside ballfields and exercise equipment.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Burlington
- Match the surface to your legs. Burlington gives you a choice: 2 paved, 2 crushed gravel, and 1 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? 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 Burlington is Cedarock Park at 6.3 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Burlington is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 7 of the 8 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. 5 have trailhead parking, 6 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Burlington. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 3 shaded, 1 with mile markers, 6 that runners describe as quiet, 6 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 Burlington trails by type
- Paved trails
- Crushed gravel trails
- Natural surface trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- Shaded trails
- Lit for early & night runs
- Hilly trails
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Trails with mile markers
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near Burlington
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.