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Running trails in Port Washington, WI
Port Washington has 8 trails in the directory — 1 boardwalk and 1 with a stated distance. 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 2,217 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.
Upper Lake Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 913 reviews
Large park on Lake Michigan with a playground, scenic views, hiking/biking trails & beach access.
Coal Dock Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 480 reviews
Clean, friendly park featuring a gazebo, picnic tables and a lighthouse.
Port Washington South Beach Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 477 reviews
Lakefront beach spot with soft sand, shallow, clear water and an alerting system for riptides.
Sauk Creek Nature Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 148 reviews
Secluded spot featuring a small waterfall, hiking trails, deer, salmon and trout.
Forest Beach Migratory Preserve
4.5 ★★★★★ 46 reviews
Nature preserve popular with birders featuring a variety of wildlife.
Whitefish Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 18 reviews
Sauk Creek Park
2.7 ★★★☆☆ 3 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Port Washington
- Match the surface to your legs. Most of what's here is boardwalk (1 of 8). 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 boardwalk 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 Port Washington is Forest Beach Migratory Preserve at 71 mi. 1 trail is long enough for a 5-mile-plus run without repeating yourself.
- 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. 7 of the 8 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking, 4 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Port Washington. 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 and 3 dog-friendly. 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 Port Washington trails by type
Running trails near Port Washington
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.