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Running trails in Fort Atkinson, WI
Fort Atkinson has 9 trails in the directory — 1 shaded and 2 open 24 hours. 8 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 1,065 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.
Jones Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 407 reviews
Community park featuring baseball fields, a playground, picnic tables, and monthly car shows.
Dorothy Carnes County Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 257 reviews
Landscaped park with a lake, trails, playgrounds and picnicking plus birding.
Rock River Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 191 reviews
Park featuring grassy areas, a playground, picnic tables, an open-air pavilion and a shelter.
Rose Lake State Natural Area
4.8 ★★★★★ 79 reviews
Nature preserve offering picnic tables, trails, an observation deck, and wetland views.
Mush-Ko-Se-Day Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 54 reviews
Park with kid-friendly hiking trails and picnic areas.
Dorthy Carnes Trails
5 ★★★★★ 34 reviews
Picturesque park with trails for hiking and cross-country skiing, plus an old barn.
Arrowhead Island
4.2 ★★★★☆ 13 reviews
Glacial River Trail Red Covered Bridge, Fort Atkinson
4.8 ★★★★★ 6 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Fort Atkinson
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is mixed (1 of 9). 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 mixed 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.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Fort Atkinson are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 8 of the 9 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 3 have trailhead parking and 4 have restrooms in Fort Atkinson. 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, 3 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 Fort Atkinson trails by type
Running trails near Fort Atkinson
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.