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Running trails in Lakewood, WA
Lakewood has 6 trails in the directory — 2 paved and 1 on crushed gravel or dirt and 1 loop that returns to the trailhead. 4 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 956 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.
Lakewood Active Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 382 reviews
Grassy park with swings, slides and other play equipment, plus a basketball court, BBQ grill and picnic tables.
Seeley Lake Park
3.5 ★★★★☆ 232 reviews
This 47-acre natural area offers a loop trail that passes through woods & past wetlands.
Waughop Lake Trailhead
4.7 ★★★★★ 141 reviews
Quiet area featuring a paved walkway around a serene lake and an off-leash area for dogs.
Chambers Creek Canyon Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 109 reviews
Park with kid-friendly hiking trails, a view of the Puget Sound, and a creek that's good for wading.
Ft. Steilacoom Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 71 reviews
Big public space with playground and off-leash dog area.
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Lakewood
- Match the surface to your legs. Lakewood gives you a choice: 2 paved and 1 natural surface. 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? 1 trail here is a loop, 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.
- 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. 4 of the 6 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Lakewood. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 that runners describe as quiet, 4 dog-friendly, and 1 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 Lakewood trails by type
Running trails near Lakewood
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.