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 comments
I love running at John Bryan state park in Yellow Springs, OH. The trail system has a bit of everything. There are miles of fast single track and technical rocky sections along the Little Miami river in the beautiful Clifton Gorge preserve.
I live in Old Lyme, CT, where the local land trust has done an incredible job of preserving open spaces. It’s an old New England village on the banks of the CT River and the Long Island Sound, more often the haunt of whalers and shipping captains throughout history than runners and hikers. But half a mile from my door is a trail system good for eight to ten miles of unrepeated trails. Another few miles up the road is a nine mile forested trail loop, with plenty of ascents and descents. A few miles north is another 14 mile trail through wilderness preserves. It combines for a piece of trail running Eden in one of the oldest and most picturesque parts of the country.
I love running in the alps. Lots of challenging vert and technical downhills. And those vieeeeews!
I just started running again so right now my favorite place is in my neighborhood as I get back up to speed. I travel a lot for work and am looking forward to finding beautiful places to run in some of those areas such as Oregon and New Mexico. I really like the Sykes shorts for running and the Brim model for Disc Golf!
I love to run anywhere I can meet up with friends, explore a bit, and challenge ourselves. Coffee and doughnut accessibility afterwards is pretty key too.
There is a section of the Bruce Trail in Milton that runs between Rattlesnake Point and Crawford Lake which has a long, winding downhill section under heavy tree cover that you can run flat out and still be relatively safe…if you consider 2:30/km or 4:00/mi downhill safe :)
Just thinking of it makes me smile. Thank you for bringing back the memory!
I just returned from a trip to the UK’s Lake District and it is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever run. Can’t wait to go back.
Flume Trail, Lake Tahoe
My favorite place to run is a section of the Appalachian Trail. I’m a newer runner and part of my still believes that nobody could run up this mountain when I stop and stare up at the trail.
I rescued a dog a few months ago, and I bring him with me as I tackle this impossible section. I still struggle up the mountain, but Titan literally runs circles around me as I do it. Each week I cut a few more seconds off my time up the mountain just trying to keep up with my pup.
Rock creek park, Washington, D.C. Special— super close downtown DC but nice diverse trails and a way to get out and get lost.
El Morro (Crystal Cove State Park) – one of the few places you can run trails and have an ocean view almost the whole time! Plus, plenty of vertical to train for anything…
My favorite place to run are the trails around Arcadia Lake.
Metropolitan Branch Trail — it’s got everything! Asphalt! Amazing original murals! Views of construction sites and the U.S. Capitol! It used to have cool totem poles but they were removed because of a new construction project. :(
North Cascades National Park!
Marquette, Michigan.. Running there this weekend!
The superior hiking trail in Duluth, MN. Fun, technical trails with awesome views and few people!