Running trails in Ashland, VA
Ashland has 3 trails in the directory — 1 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt and 1 with a stated distance. Every one post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 495 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.
Poor Farm Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 471 reviews
Scenic
Park with baseball fields and an amphitheater, as well as picnic and playground areas, and hiking trails.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Ashland
- Match the surface to your legs. Ashland gives you a choice: 1 paved and 1 crushed gravel. 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 Ashland is North Ashland Railside Park and Trail at 3 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. 3 of the 3 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 2 have trailhead parking, 1 has restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Ashland. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Ashland trails by type
Running trails near Ashland
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.