HOME RUNS

Some of the best trail running lies right outside your door.

By Michael Lanza

Photographs by Peter and Maria Hoey

PUBLISHED 04/30/2009

Los Angeles
With the city surrounded by the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Santa Monica Mountains, as well as a constellation of public lands including four national forests, southern California runners can choose among thousands of miles of trails.

Try This Trail: For jaw-dropping views of the Malibu hills and Pacific coastline, nothing beats the 10.7-mile Ray Miller Trail in Point Mugu State Park; shorten the distance to five or six miles with cutoff trails. California State Parks, parks.ca.gov/trailsearch.

Portland
Forest Park sprawls from the city's heart over more than 5,000 acres—one of the largest urban parks in the country, with nearly 70 miles of paths and gravel roads. And within an hour's drive lie the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot national forests, which combined have upwards of 2,000 miles of trails through lush Pacific Northwest forests.

Try This Trail: In Forest Park, immerse yourself in dogwoods, sword ferns, and lush ravines by running a loop of nearly six miles from Lower Macleay Trailhead, linking the Balch Creek, Wildwood, and Dogwood Trails with a stretch of the gravel Leif Erikson Drive. The Forest Park Conservancy, forestparkconservancy.org.

Denver
Denver Mountain Parks alone have 14,000 acres of diverse terrain, and hundreds of miles of trails sprawl across the Arapaho, Roosevelt, and Pike national forests west of the city. The trails in the scattered park system contain plenty of variety, from rugged mountainous climbs to peaceful open valley day trips.

Try This Trail: Steven Bragg, author of Run the Rockies: Classic Trail Runs in Colorado's Front Range, says his favorite run is a 6.5-miler in Deer Creek Canyon Park in Littleton, on the Meadowlark, Plymouth Creek, Plymouth Mountain, and Homesteader Trails, with its rolling hills, open pine forest, and breathtaking views across the plains. Jefferson County Open Space, co.jefferson.co.us/openspace.

Boise
The Ridge to Rivers trail system in the Boise Foothills extends for more than 120 miles through high-desert sage and wildflowers, pine forest, and quiet creek valleys, with more than 4,000 feet of relief. The trails begin within running and biking distance of many Boise neighborhoods and downtown.

Try This Trail: The six-mile Upper Hulls Gulch Trail, on 8th Street. Ridge to Rivers Trail System, ridgetorivers.org.

Salt Lake City
With at least 900 miles of footpaths spiderwebbing the Wasatch Mountains, local runners have a lifetime of terrain to explore. But they don't have to venture farther than City Creek Canyon, 10 minutes north of the city center.

Try This Trail: From Memory Grove at the canyon's bottom, just east of the state capitol, run a mile on the flat, paved City Creek Canyon Road to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which climbs steadily for three miles up the west side of City Creek Canyon through forests of scrub oak that stay cool in summer. Bonneville Shoreline Trail, bonnevilleshorelinetrail.org.

Dallas
The city has 150 miles or more of easily accessible trails in its immediate vicinity and a similar amount across a broader swath of North Texas. The trails surround a system of lakes framing the city that provide plenty of places to take in the big Texas sky.

Try This Trail: A favorite of local runners is the Northshore Trail on Grapevine Lake, which follows the lake's convoluted shore for nine miles from Rockledge Park to Twin Coves Park, winding through rocky hardwood forest with numerous little ups and downs and views of the lake from bluffs. North Texas Trail Runners, nttr.org.

Boston
Dozens of state parks and forests and conservation lands ring Beantown, protecting several hundred miles of trails. These trails traverse upland and bottomland forests, meadows, bogs, and many rough and rocky hills. But the biggest of them, with the best running, are the 2,575-acre Middlesex Fells Reservation (www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/fells.htm) north of the city, and the ruggedly hilly, 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation (www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/blue.htm) just south of Boston.

Try This Trail: The seven-mile Middlesex Fells Skyline Trail, which follows a meandering loop through the western side of the Fells showcasing quiet woods, countless rocky ledges, and some stunning views of the Boston skyline.