Home › Washington › Seattle
Running trails in Seattle, WA
Seattle has 33 trails in the directory — 14 paved and 3 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 8 loops that return to the trailhead, 1 with a stated distance, 2 shaded, and 4 open 24 hours. 25 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 12,348 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.
Warren G. Magnuson Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 5,074 reviews
Leafy city park along the shores of Lake Washington, with historic art deco homes, wetlands & art.
Myrtle Edwards Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,713 reviews
Waterfront recreation area with bike & pedestrian paths, plus an adjacent sculpture park.
Centennial Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,682 reviews
Scenic green space along the water with biking & walking paths, a fishing pier & picnic tables.
Seward Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 1,170 reviews
Wooded refuge boasting a 300-acre forest with hiking trails, walking paths, beaches & a playground.
Schmitz Preserve Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 472 reviews
Tranquil, 53.1-acre park with hiking paths & nature watching among old-growth forest.
Interlaken Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 370 reviews
51.7-acre city park featuring paths & trails for bikers, hikers & joggers in a densely wooded area.
Elliott Bay Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 300 reviews
Vibrant waterfront park with a beach, benches and paths for cycling, walking and jogging.
Lakeridge Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 277 reviews
Hiking trails through the forest & flowing streams highlight this urban recreation area.
Llandover Woods Greenspace
4.7 ★★★★★ 245 reviews
Kid-friendly trail-filled expanse with trees and golf-course views for walking and jogging.
Foster Point Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 127 reviews
Natural area featuring a walking trail with views.
Frink Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 125 reviews
Serene community park offering a network of recreational trails among woodland environs.
Discovery Park Beach
4.6 ★★★★★ 114 reviews
Kite-surfing, hiking, and picnicking are activities at this area with a beach and lighthouse.
Taylor Creek & Trail
4.7 ★★★★★ 70 reviews
Hiking area featuring wooden bridges and a small river, plus kid-friendly routes.
Schmitz Park Trail
4.9 ★★★★★ 66 reviews
Park featuring forested areas with hiking trails, plus a river.
SW Queen Anne Greenbelt
4.3 ★★★★☆ 65 reviews
City park offers a natural forest setting with native wildlife via walking & biking trails.
Arboretum Waterfront Trail
4.5 ★★★★★ 51 reviews
Trail traversing dense woods and a marsh, with islands and weathered bridges.
End of Burke Gilman Trail
4.9 ★★★★★ 24 reviews
Central Park Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 12 reviews
Mountains To Sound Greenway Trust
5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Seattle
- Match the surface to your legs. Seattle gives you a choice: 14 paved, 5 mixed, 3 natural surface, and 1 boardwalk. 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? 8 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 Seattle is Seward Park at 2.8 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 4 trails in Seattle are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 25 of the 33 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 17 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 21 have trailhead parking, 21 have restrooms, and 3 have a water fountain in Seattle. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 shaded, 10 that runners describe as quiet, 19 dog-friendly, and 19 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 Seattle trails by type
Running trails near Seattle
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.