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Browse running trails by feature
"Running trails near me" covers wildly different runs. A five-mile loop you can do a long run on is not the same thing as a lit riverside path for a dark Tuesday evening, a shaded woodland trail in August, or a flat greenway with mile markers where you want the effort to be exactly what your watch says. What you want changes with the session, the season and the hour — so browse by the thing that actually decides it. Each feature below links to trails nationwide, with a map and a state-by-state list, and the labels come from the trails' own listings and what runners wrote in reviews rather than from guesswork.
Loop Trails (No Backtracking)
Start and finish at the same trailhead: a known distance, no backtracking and no car shuttle.
Shaded Running Trails
Tree cover for summer miles, when an exposed path turns into a heat trap.
Long-Run Trails (5+ Miles)
Five miles or more of continuous trail — enough to build a real long run on.
Lit Trails for Early & Night Runs
Lights for the pre-dawn start and the after-work run once winter takes the evenings.
Dog-Friendly Running Trails
Trails where dogs are welcome, with leash rules, bags and water still on you.
Scenic Running Trails
Waterfronts, overlooks and river loops: the trails that get you out of the door.
Trails with Trailhead Parking
A trailhead lot you can actually park in — and the ones that fill by mid-morning.
Trails with Restrooms
A toilet somewhere on the route, which is what makes a long run workable.
Quiet, Uncrowded Trails
Room to run intervals without weaving through walkers and bikes.
Stroller & Wheelchair-Accessible Trails
Hard, smooth and step-free: what a jogging stroller or a wheelchair needs.
Trails with Water Fountains
Somewhere to refill mid-run instead of carrying every mile of water you need.
Hilly Trails & Hill Workouts
Climbing and vert — hill repeats, and the strength flat running never builds.
Flat & Fast Running Trails
Gentle grades for tempo efforts, goal-pace long runs and steady miles.
Trails with Mile Markers
Marked miles for pacing and measured intervals, for when GPS drifts under trees.
Start with surface, then pick your feature
Features tell you what a trail offers; surface tells you how it will feel underfoot and what shoes to bring. The two together are most of the decision: a flat, mile-marked crushed-limestone rail-trail is a different proposition from a hilly dirt singletrack loop, even at the same distance.
A note on crowding, because it is the one people expect us to rate: quiet and busy are recorded as neutral facts, not as good and bad. A runner doing intervals wants the empty path; a runner heading out alone before dawn often wants the busy one. Same trail, opposite answer.
You can also browse by surface, jump straight to your state, see the best-rated trails in the country, or read the guides.