Running trails in Roanoke, VA
Roanoke has 15 trails in the directory — 6 paved and 4 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 3 loops that return to the trailhead, 4 with a stated distance, 1 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 10 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 6,881 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.
Mill Mountain Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 3,365 reviews
Mountaintop hiking & biking trails with scenic overlooks, plus a zoo & discovery center.
Wasena Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 1,224 reviews
City park, connected to the Roanoke River Greenway, with recreational fields, courts & playgrounds.
Fishburn Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 475 reviews
Expansive nature park offering hike & bike trails, a playground, tennis, disc golf & picnic areas.
Read Mountain Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 304 reviews
Forested recreation area with 5 mi. of hiking trails & a summit with panoramic valley views.
Happy Hollow Gardens Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 208 reviews
Park featuring a boardwalk and trails through blooming azaleas.
Vic Thomas Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 178 reviews
Linear recreational space with a river path, plus sculptures and exercise stations.
Poor Mountain Trail
4.6 ★★★★★ 172 reviews
A series of looping mountain trails leading to scenic overlooks , waterfalls and a stream.
Chestnut Ridge Trail
4.5 ★★★★★ 166 reviews
Popular trail through the woods, plus a campground.
Tinker Creek Trailhead
4.4 ★★★★☆ 87 reviews
Paved trail for walking, biking and running, plus a few non-paved trails.
Roanoke River Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 61 reviews
Area for canoeing, hiking and rock scrambling, plus waterfalls and river rapids.
Tinker Creek Greenway, Hollins Trailhead
4.5 ★★★★★ 57 reviews
Park featuring a kid-friendly hiking trail that's also popular for mountain biking.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Roanoke
- Match the surface to your legs. Roanoke gives you a choice: 6 paved, 3 natural surface, 1 crushed gravel, 1 boardwalk, 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? 3 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 Roanoke is Tinker Creek Greenway, Hollins Trailhead at 40 mi. 3 trails are long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Roanoke are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 10 of the 15 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. 11 have trailhead parking, 7 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Roanoke. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 shaded, 2 with mile markers, 4 that runners describe as quiet, 6 dog-friendly, and 8 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 Roanoke trails by type
- Paved trails
- Natural surface trails
- Crushed gravel trails
- Boardwalk trails
- Mixed trails
- Loop trails
- Long-run trails (5+ mi)
- 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 Roanoke
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.