Running trails in Albany, OR
Albany has 16 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, and 6 shaded. 15 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 5,716 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.
Monteith Riverpark
4.4 ★★★★☆ 1,065 reviews
Park with a playground, picnic tables, and carousel, plus a stage where concerts and movies are held.
Timber Linn Memorial Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 988 reviews
Grassy park featuring a veterans memorial, athletic fields & a playground, plus a lake for fishing.
Talking Water Gardens
4.3 ★★★★☆ 661 reviews
Scenic man-made wetlands area featuring waterfalls, ponds, birds and turtles.
Grand Prairie Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 523 reviews
10-acre green space with a fishing pond, playground, picnic areas & basketball courts.
Albany Dog Park at Timber Linn Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 527 reviews
Lakeside park featuring three fenced-in dog runs and an unfenced area for off-leash play next to the water.
Kinder Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 502 reviews
Recreational oasis featuring a colorful children's playground, grassy fields & a baseball diamond.
Bowman Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 386 reviews
Off-the-beaten-track waterfront park featuring trails, a boat ramp and picnic spots.
Hyak County Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 241 reviews
Popular park with clean restrooms, an awesome bridge, picnic tables and a dock, plus a boat launch and ramp.
Swanson Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 174 reviews
Play area with a climbing frame alongside an outdoor pool featuring a water slide and lazy river.
Gibson Hill Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 157 reviews
Popular recreational area featuring 2 play areas for kids, plus a grassy field and a beach volleyball court.
Takena Landing
4.4 ★★★★☆ 130 reviews
Park with a path running alongside the river that's popular for walking, running, and fishing.
Eades Park
4 ★★★★☆ 102 reviews
Park with a playground and picnic tables, plus trails for walking or riding bikes.
Takena Landing Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 97 reviews
Peaceful park featuring a 1.5- to 2-mile trail for walking and hiking along a river.
Luckiamute Landing State Natural Area
4.5 ★★★★★ 87 reviews
Dog-friendly site with a lake and river features hiking trails for bird-watching and kayaking.
Simpson Park
3.8 ★★★★☆ 63 reviews
Park with a public restroom featuring kid-friendly hiking trails and a biking trail.
Willamette Greenway Truax Island
4.1 ★★★★☆ 13 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Albany
- Match the surface to your legs. Albany gives you a choice: 3 natural surface, 1 paved, 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? 2 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 Albany is Takena Landing Park at 2 mi.
- 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. 15 of the 16 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 9 have trailhead parking, 11 have restrooms, and 4 have a water fountain in Albany. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 6 shaded, 5 that runners describe as quiet, 12 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 Albany trails by type
Running trails near Albany
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.