Running trails in Wilmington, OH
Wilmington has 9 trails in the directory — 4 paved, 2 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 3 open 24 hours. 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 2,168 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.
Cowan Lake State Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 1,507 reviews
Camping & cabin rentals are available in this 1,075-acre park that offers hiking, boating & fishing.
J. W. Denver Williams Jr. Memorial Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 401 reviews
Recreation area with a playground and splash pad, plus picnic tables, and areas for baseball, tennis, and basketball.
Denver Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 159 reviews
Paved, wooded paths, playgrounds and a splash pad at this park with ducks, a fishing pond and an exercise area.
Cowan Lake Spillway Trail - Trailhead
4.5 ★★★★★ 66 reviews
Biking, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking and lake-swimming options at a serene park with woodland trails.
Todd’s Fork Nature Preserve
4.3 ★★★★☆ 8 reviews
Lytle Creek Nature Preserve
3 ★★★☆☆ 1 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Wilmington
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is paved (4 of 9). 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? 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 Wilmington is OgdenTrail/Elizabeth J Looney Memorial Trail at 15 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 3 trails in Wilmington are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 5 of the 9 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking, 5 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Wilmington. 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, 2 with mile markers, 3 that runners describe as quiet, 2 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 Wilmington trails by type
Running trails near Wilmington
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.