Running trails in Wausau, WI
Wausau has 13 trails in the directory — 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 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 3,619 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.
Rib Mountain State Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,535 reviews
Park featuring billion-year-old Rib Mountain, hiking & an observation tower with panoramic views.
Sylvan Hill Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 376 reviews
Popular place with a mountain biking park, cross-country ski trails & a tubing hill with tows.
Isle of Ferns Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 227 reviews
Tranquil riverside park, reached by a bridge, for walking and hiking, plus fishing.
Sunnyvale County Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 180 reviews
Lake and river beach park, with swimming, fishing, kayaking, hiking and picnic spots.
Nine-Mile Forest Recreation Area | Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing
4.7 ★★★★★ 107 reviews
Well-maintained park offering mountain biking, skiing and snowshoeing.
Sylvan Hill Bike Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 56 reviews
Compact downhill park featuring a pump track and multi-skill-level trails with jumps & berms.
Big Bull Falls Park
4.1 ★★★★☆ 51 reviews
Smaller riverfront green space with an open shelter for picnics & events, a trail & scenic views.
River Edge Walkway
4.6 ★★★★★ 10 reviews
Cedar Creek Bike & Pedestrian Trail
4.8 ★★★★★ 6 reviews
Trillium Trail
4.3 ★★★★☆ 4 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Wausau
- Match the surface to your legs. Wausau gives you a choice: 2 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 natural surface 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 Wausau 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 13 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. 3 have trailhead parking, 2 have restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Wausau. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Wausau trails by type
Running trails near Wausau
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.