Trail Running Los Angeles: Best Runs in the City

When running on the hot pavement in crowded Los Angeles, you might not imagine that dirt tracks and green hills are close by... but they are! LA is, in fact, surrounded by mountains with a plethora of trails, and the city itself is dotted with public greenspace. This convenient access, along with Southern California’s abundant warm and dry days, makes Los Angeles one of America’s best big cities for trail running. You can run for miles on trails within the limits of LA and its surrounding suburbs.

At times you might fight traffic on the roads and contend with crowds on the trails, but as a runner, it’s easier to confront these challenges of the urban area. You can arrive at less-busy hours, like early morning or a weekday afternoon, and log a few fast miles. If a place does become crowded, you can get farther down the trail than most other trail users, and leave them all behind. Don’t let the enormity of the metropolis dissuade you from running, and don’t think for a second that the West Coast’s largest city can’t have good trails. Los Angeles is sure to surprise you if you give these runs in the city a try.