Running trails in Knoxville, TN
Knoxville has 28 trails in the directory — 3 paved and 7 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 5 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, 3 shaded, and 3 open 24 hours. 22 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 12,816 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.
Concord Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,554 reviews
Recreation area with par-3 golf course, asphalt skate park with 3 ramps & cove with sand volleyball.
Ijams Nature Center
4.7 ★★★★★ 2,394 reviews
Wetlands & rock formations fill urban nature park with 10 miles of trails plus bike & canoe rental.
Concord Cove Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,817 reviews
Park offering a playground, volleyball court, picnic tables, and baseball field, plus a swimming area.
Fort Dickerson Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 1,186 reviews
Expansive 1,000-acre city park featuring hiking trails, a swimming quarry & Civil War sites.
Holston River Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 781 reviews
Kids-friendly park featuring a grassy soccer field and fishing docks.
Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 712 reviews
Sprawling public park with over 50 miles of interconnected trails, forested expanses & a river.
Sequoyah Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 634 reviews
City park set on 87 acres, offering picnic spaces, playing fields & 2.6 miles of greenways & trails.
Sharp's Ridge Veterans Memorial Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 451 reviews
Smoky Mountains veterans’ memorial park offering hiking, picnicking, bird-watching & skyline views.
Melton Hill Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 369 reviews
Park featuring a picnic area, playground, and trails, plus a boat launch and swimming.
I.C. King Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 321 reviews
Waterfront expanse with shore & pier fishing, non-motorized boating & trails for hiking or biking.
Third Creek Greenway Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 299 reviews
Peaceful greenway for walking and jogging amongst the trees, plus biking.
William Hastie Natural Area
4.6 ★★★★★ 174 reviews
Recreational area for walking, running, and mountain biking with trails and picnic tables.
High Ground Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 155 reviews
Civil War-era park with wooded trails and views of the city and Smokies.
Concord Park East Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 150 reviews
Well-maintained park boasting lake vistas, woodland areas, golf and multiple trails for hiking and biking.
Ten Mile Creek Greenway Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 140 reviews
Biking trail with a creek, benches and a play area, plus picnic tables and restrooms (though the latter may be closed).
Baker Creek Preserve
4.9 ★★★★★ 119 reviews
Nature preserve with trails, a pump track, and jump line for bikers of all skill levels.
Baker Creek Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 113 reviews
Park featuring wooded and landscaped areas for hiking and mountain biking trails.
The Bluffs
4.7 ★★★★★ 71 reviews
Easy hiking trails, plus a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Knoxville.
Halls Greenway Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 46 reviews
Sharp's Ridge Trailhead
4.5 ★★★★★ 46 reviews
Scenic woods trail through the hills, offering views and featuring hiking and mountain-biking options.
Marie Myers Park
4.3 ★★★★☆ 48 reviews
Park offering kid-friendly hiking trails and biking.
River Bluff Wildlife Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 42 reviews
Landscaped park offering trails for hiking and gravel pathways, along with views of the city skyline and river.
TVA Hickory Bend trailhead
3.2 ★★★☆☆ 19 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Knoxville
- Match the surface to your legs. Knoxville gives you a choice: 8 mixed, 7 natural surface, 3 paved, 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 mixed trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 5 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 Knoxville is Sharp's Ridge Veterans Memorial Park at 4.7 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 3 trails in Knoxville are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 22 of the 28 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 10 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 16 have trailhead parking, 11 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Knoxville. 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, 7 that runners describe as quiet, 19 dog-friendly, and 11 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 Knoxville trails by type
- Mixed trails
- Natural surface trails
- Paved trails
- Boardwalk trails
- Loop trails
- Shaded trails
- Lit for early & night runs
- Flat & fast
- 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 Knoxville
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.