Recently we met up with several friends in SF to run the beautiful Marin Headlands trails. Located north of San Francisco, just over the Golden Gate Bridge, this hilly area has great views of the bridge, bay, and the city. Strava link to our 9 mile route can be found here.
There are many loop options available to find your ideal distance, from a short run to ultra.
Back: Graves shorts, Rockies shirt, Muir hat | Front: Sykes 5'' Shorts, Cascade Shirt, Big Bend Trucker
Left: Graves shorts, Cascade Shirt, Big Bend Trucker | Right: Sykes 7'' shorts, Cascade Shirt, Big Bend Trucker
Stunning coastal views from many sections of the trails.
Most of the trails here are non-technical fire roads. The terrain is hilly with significant elevation change on most of the routes.
Some of these hills are no joke!
Some of these challenging hills are definitely worth the unbelievable views from the top!
Our good friend Toby Silver showed us around on his local trails. Check out his project 50 Shades of Pavement (Instagram | Strava). He is running the entire city of San Francisco, all 1260+ miles and 2612 streets. There are 36 neighborhoods, over 50 hills and nearly endless vistas. He is already 95% there! Read more!
🚨New enter for a chance to win a $100 Path Projects gift card.🚨(Congrats to Chuck Riddell for winning last weeks $100 gift card)
To enter, let us know in the comments below, what is your favorite place to run and why? One winner will be annouced on July 15th. Good luck!
87 commenti
My favorite run is along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, north from Emigration Canyon in SLC, UT
Near Savannah GA, there are great trails around tidal marshes, where tiny crabs scurry out of your way as you run. Sunsets and sunrises across the marshes are breathtaking.
Upper Cohasset in Mill Creek Park.
Near Chicago the trail running options are limited, especially with a family. Southwest of the City is a couple of sprawling park district areas with well kept trails called Palos Park Woods is really a diamond in the rough. There’s tons of weekend trail traffic because of the limited options and you can stick to the main areas or strike out on rarely traveled rough paths. There’s also a stair climbing area that really can bring in the crowds. Great weekend long run destination.
Hands down…West Maui. Great trails up W Maui Crater, tradewinds and occasional showers to cool you down, humidity to keep you loose, lush forests or coastal views every turn.
The Foothills in Boise, Idaho. Especially Polecat Loop.
It’s everywhere…from the late season snow covered peaks of the Sawatch Range, gritty sidewalks in LA, dusty single track in the foot hills, or the sunny, sand covered paths in San Diego. It’s gearing up and embracing the weather regardless and accepting days where lacing up is the hardest part. It’s taking an extra rest day, or doing extra PT exercises when you’re injured and recognizing it as part of the experience. The journey is the reward—it’s about the story—getting caught in a hail storm, chasing a PR, committing to the training cycle, it’s the workout where you went the extra mile because you felt great, or took the shortcut home when you knew it was time to back off. It’s smiling ear to ear bombing downhill on trail during the golden hour after a stressful work day, or laughing at yourself when a 5k around the block shakeout feels like you’re giving it everything you have, when you’re 2 minutes off race pace. It’s about forgetting your watch at home on the charger, and then enjoying the recollection of what it was like to run before GPS and leaving it there for a week. The best place to run is where we are emotionally, physically, spiritually— running will always be there.
I live to run the trails along the bluffs above Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes it is truly one of the most beautiful areas of the USA
Buena Vista, Colorado! The Barbara Whipple Trail System is amazing, starting in the town you can go anywhere! From fire roads to technical climbs it has it all for any trail runner. It was the place I first began my journey with trail running!
Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, Indianapolis, IN
My favorite place to run is here in Central VA on the Appalachian Trail, southern section of the Shenandoah National Park! Challenging climbs, classic technical Beast Coast roots and rocks, plus an abundance of wildlife and cascading mountain streams with waterfalls make it the perfect trail for an hour, afternoon or day-long run!
My favorite place to run is Staten Island, NY, where I was born and raised and where I got into running. Staten Island, one of New York City’s five boroughs, is home to 1/2 a million people in 58 square miles. The current school district I teach in is bigger than that. Despite the crowded environs, Staten Island has great training variety with protected lands (miles and miles of trails), beaches and boardwalks, public parks, hills galore, and many a high school track with poorly locked gates. It was through this exploring in my early days of running that I was asked to get into coaching, a life-defining moment for me. I’ve run in Boulder, Colorado, run in a number of European countries, and had some great workouts in the Adirondacks. But there is that extra emotional pull running at home.
There is section of the semi legal “Dirt Loop” that runs behind my sub division in Athens, GA for 3 miles to the back of our local Home Depot. It is a great rolling dirt trail that is maintained by our local mountain bike community. I love the challenge of measuring my effort over 10K. I love rolling into the Depot’s front door, trot straight to back of the store for a natural break and a drink of water. I love darting in and out of the woods while watching the rest of the world rolling along in their cars.
Traverse City- Grand Traverse Bay: Center Road and East Shore Road
My favorite place to run is Letchworth State Park. It has a gorge with several waterfalls, lots of scenic overlooks, and a lot of beautiful woodsy trails!
Mount Sentinel in Missoula, MT is where i got my start in trail running and is still my favorite place to run. Large variety of terrain, steeps, fireroad, single track, etc. Super accessible from town. Love it!