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Dead Horse Ranch State Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 1,245 Google reviews · Running trail in Cottonwood, Arizona · Posted hours
Runner's snapshot
- Surface
- Not reported
- Loop distance
- Not reported
- Shape
- Loop
- Shade
- Tree cover
- Access
- Posted hours
Confirmed from Dead Horse Ranch State Park's own listing, the park or land manager's website, and runner reviews. Blank cells mean we could not verify that fact — we would rather say "not reported" than invent one. There is no Easy / Moderate / Hard rating on this page on purpose: a one-word difficulty score tells you nothing about whether a trail suits your run. Surface, distance, shade and hours do.
What runners say about Dead Horse Ranch State Park
“People can fish, dogs can walk as long as they are leashed, and the restroom facilities were well maintained.”
“This is a beautiful, serene place that’s a nice alternate to hiking in Sedona when you want flat terrain, slow pace, and to avoid the crowds.”
“If you are going during the summer months, the campsites have very little shade so it can be very warm until the sun goes down.”
“I hiked several of the trails and that was very nice beautiful scenery and well marked trails.”
First time camping at Dead horse ranch campground. The bathrooms are some of the nicest campground bathrooms I’ve experienced. Very clean and well maintained. We camped in spot 117 which wasn’t bad, but the light from the bathroom was very bright and impacted our star gazing and sleeping.
This park is amazing, it has a lot of thing to do with family, really nice hiking trails. Also there’s a playground for kids but the zip line area in the playground hasn’t been fix. Great place to go and forget about everything else
This was a neat little State Park that my family attended as part of an invitation to a Foundation's event. The roads were were good to drive on-no gravel, and there was a play ground, horse stable and two ponds that we saw.
Great State Park. Campground loops all looked to be in great shape. We were in Coopers Hawk site 100. Faces west. Beautiful mountain view. Trails all over the place. W/E site. Paved with lots of low shade trees. Bathrooms/showers were always clean. Hot water.
Trail conditions & character
“This is a beautiful, serene place that’s a nice alternate to hiking in Sedona when you want flat terrain, slow pace, and to avoid the crowds.”
“People can fish, dogs can walk as long as they are leashed, and the restroom facilities were well maintained.”
“If you are going during the summer months, the campsites have very little shade so it can be very warm until the sun goes down.”
“People can fish, dogs can walk as long as they are leashed, and the restroom facilities were well maintained.”
“I hiked several of the trails and that was very nice beautiful scenery and well marked trails.”
Plan your run at Dead Horse Ranch State Park
The practical stuff
- AccessPosted hours — posted hours below; park gates sometimes close earlier than the listing says
- DistanceNot reported. Trail systems often quote total path mileage rather than a single loop, so measure the route you actually want before you drive out.
- ShadeRunners describe real tree cover here — it makes a summer afternoon workable
- At the trailheadrestrooms — reported by runners
- DogsWelcome, per reviewers. Leash rules vary by park — the trailhead sign is the authority.
- Stroller / wheelchairReported as smooth and step-free enough for a running stroller or a chair.
- Websiteazstateparks.com
- Phone(928) 634-5283
- Social Instagram · Facebook
Hours
| Monday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Tuesday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Wednesday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Thursday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Friday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Saturday | 7 AM–6 PM |
| Sunday | 7 AM–6 PM |
Running trails near Cottonwood
Other trails within easy driving distance — useful when this one is flooded, gated, or just not the run you had in mind today.
