Running trails in Petersburg, VA
Petersburg has 10 trails in the directory — 1 paved, 1 with a stated distance, and 1 open 24 hours. 7 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 2,236 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.
Ettrick Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 543 reviews
Family-friendly park featuring picnic tables, walking and running trails, and several playgrounds.
Pamplin Historical Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 432 reviews
Civil War battle site & museum featuring exhibits, artifacts, camp recreations & antebellum homes.
Appomattox Riverside Park (Ferndale Park)
4.3 ★★★★☆ 328 reviews
Canal-side and riverfront park popular for picnics, fishing hiking, and kids' fun on a playground.
Legends Park
3.9 ★★★★☆ 326 reviews
Expansive park featuring woods and a lake, plus a playground and tennis courts.
Matoaca Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 235 reviews
Patton Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 106 reviews
Relaxing park offering trails, swimming, fishing and views.
Rotary Park - Pocahontas Path
4.6 ★★★★★ 36 reviews
Hatcher's Run Battlefield
4.3 ★★★★☆ 8 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Petersburg
- Match the surface to your legs. Petersburg gives you a choice: 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 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 Petersburg is Appomattox River Trail - Lower Falls (University Blvd Trailhead) at 25 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 1 trail in Petersburg is open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 7 of the 10 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 1 is lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 5 have trailhead parking, 6 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Petersburg. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 with mile markers and 4 that runners describe as quiet. 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 Petersburg trails by type
Running trails near Petersburg
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.