Where to Run in Greensboro and High Point

The Triad area is home to amazing greenways and trails that are perfect for running since you don’t need to worry about traffic or getting lost. Paths are accessible year-round, but keep in mind that rainy days lead to slick red clay on trails, and on the rare occasions that it snows, most of the greenways will not be plowed.

If you're looking for a group to run with, check out our running club and training program.

Here is a list of some of our favorite places to run in Greensboro and High Point.

Battleground Military Park

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 2.25-mile loop
Start and End Point: 2332 New Garden Rd, Greensboro, NC 27410
Surface: Paved path
Best for: shorter runs

Run or walk on this beautiful paved path around this National Park and Revolutionary War battlefield. The park commemorates the Battle of Guilford Courthouse between Major General Nathanael Greene's milita and the British in 1781. This is a paved road that is a 2.25-mile loop. The road is occasionally open to cars visiting the park, but they are infrequent and drive slowly as it’s mostly used by bikes and people walking or running.

There is a parking lot to the left of the park entrance. It can get busy, particularly in early spring when the weather is nice. There are bathrooms with water fountains about halfway through the loop. If you want additional miles, the entrance is on the Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway or there is a cut through to Country Park about halfway through the path.

If you’re in the mood for ice cream, nearby Ozzies is perfect for a post-run treat.

High Point Athletic Park

Location: High Point
Distance: ¼ mile
Start and End Point: 2920 School Park Road
Surface: Track
Best for: Track workouts

This is a great 8-lane, quarter-mile rubberized track that is open to the public from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. It’s lit in the dark, making it the perfect place for speedwork at any time of day. You’ll find plenty of local runners there on a daily basis.

Some of the schools in Greensboro will let you use their tracks when they are not in use, but it’s not guaranteed.

Salem Lake

Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Distance: 7-mile loop
Start and End Point: 815 Salem Lake Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27107
Surface: Well groomed dirt and gravel path (you can wear road shoes)
Best for: long runs

Although this is in Winston-Salem, it’s close to High Point and Greensboro and a favorite for weekend long runs. This dirt path is easy on the knees. It loops around Salem Lake, and is beautiful and shaded.

There are two parking lots: the main lot is at the marina at 815 Salem Lake Road and there is another lot at Linville Rd. There are bathrooms and water fountains at both places, but bathrooms are closed during the winter.

Laurel Bluff

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 3.1 miles, point-to-point
Start and End Point: Lake Brandt Rd. and Church Street
Surface: Single track trail
Best for: trail runs, especially long ones

Greensboro is home to over 40 miles of single track watershed trails, many of which are interconnected. Laurel Bluff is a hiking and running-only trail, with a decent size parking lot at one end of the trailhead, located off of Lake Brandt road. There is also access from Church St. to the other end. You can cross Church St. (be careful) and continue onto Crockett Trail or you can take a left on Church St., run alongside the road as you cross Lake Brandt and take a left on Reedy Fork Trail to do about a 7-mile loop.

Laurel Bluff takes you by Lake Brandt through the woods, by an abandoned barn and bamboo forest. There is plenty of wildlife to see and there are some hills and roots alongside the route. There are no water fountains or bathrooms at either the trail head or along the route.

After you enjoy the trail, in Summerfield there is either the Blue Vanilla bakery to grab a pastry and a cup of coffee, or Village Beverage, a great place to enjoy a beer or glass of wine.

Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 7.5 miles
Start and End Point: Behind the Target on Lawndale and corner of Summerfield Rd. and Hwy 220 N.
Surface: Asphalt, a paved greenway
Good for: Everything including long runs

There are a couple different parking options for this greenway. To start at the Northernmost end, there is a gravel lot on the corner of Summerfield Rd. and 220 for parking. Other popular places to park are Bur-Mil Park (drive all the way down to the Education Center and park there and go down the hill to get to the Greenway), Spencer Love Tennis Court (park and then walk towards the Pisgah Church Rd., take a right at Lewis Recreation Center and then take a left before you get to the cemetery) or the Lawndale Target (pick up the greenway behind Target).

This Greenway is popular, especially on weekend mornings, so you will get plenty of greetings from people along the way. On Saturday mornings, there is typically water left out in a couple of places by local running groups. There are bathrooms and water fountains at Spencer Love Tennis Courts, Battleground Park, and Bur-Mil Park, but times that they are open may vary. Water fountains are also turned off in the winter.

This is a paved trail, there are a few places where roots have disrupted the pavement, but for the most part it is smooth and you will be sharing it with bikes. Most of it is shaded, which is particularly nice in the summer. There are some rolling hills and one big hill right before or after the apartments depending on which way you are running. This is a great place to walk or run at any pace and, given that it’s an out and back route, you can run nearly any distance.

Afterwards, if you parked at the Summerfield lot, the Jumping Bean is a great little drive-thru coffee shop or, if you are running later, Summerfield Farms or Village Beverage (which is owned by runners) are great places to grab a drink.

If you park at the South side, Bruegger's Bagels, Delicious Bakery are great places to grab breakfast, Terminal Tap is a great bar to grab a drink in the evening.

Bicentennial Greenway

Location: Jamestown/High Point
Distance:6.2 miles point to point
Start and End Point: Piedmont Environmental Center (1220 Penny Road) and Gallimore Dairy Rd.
Surface: Paved asphalt path
Best for: Everything, long runs, short runs, hill repeats

This paved trail is the perfect place to run, walk or bike. It is mostly shaded, runs alongside many parks and lakes to provide scenery. There are also a variety of trails that are offshoots if that is more your speed. If you need even more distance, the Bicentennial Greenway connects to the High Point Greenway at Piedmont Environmental Center and runs an additional 4.9 miles to Armstrong Park.

You can park at the Piedmont Environmental Center or you can park at the following places and access the Greenway (Jamestown Park, Gibson Park). There are bathrooms and water fountains at all three parks listed. You will see all sorts of people walking, running, biking and so forth. There is one big hill between Jamestown Park and Gibson Park that is affectionately named “Big Bertha” and is great for doing hill repeats. Eventually this greenway will connect with the Greensboro Bicentennial Greenway for over 20 miles of paved trails.

Some great runner owned and operated places to go after you are finished with your run include Blue House Bakery (they make amazing eclairs) and Potent Potables for a beer (and there is normally a food truck). Black Powder Smokehouse also offers amazing bbq if you are looking for something more.

Country Park

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 1.67 mile loop
Start and End Point: park at Spencer Love Tennis Court (3805 Jaycee Park Dr.) or there is limited parking at 3900 Nathanael Greene Dr
Surface: Paved asphalt path
Good for: Weekday runs, hill repeats

Park at Spencer Love Tennis Courts and go all the way to the back of the lot. Parking can be an issue during baseball season since there are fields adjacent. There are bathrooms at the tennis courts and also about halfway through the loop at the bottom of Country Park.

This is a popular route to run, walk or bike on weekdays. It is hilly, but very pretty as it goes around a lake and about half of it is shaded. This is actually a great place to do hill repeats. Pay attention on Saturday and Sunday mornings because this is a popular place for 5Ks (Running of the Turkeys takes place on Thanksgiving morning here). If you want to get additional miles in, there is a cut through to Battleground Military Park.

There is also Copperhead trail that goes off this loop if trails are more your speed. It is a 3-mile loop trail that you can either reach from the paved loop or the small parking lot by Leonard Recreation and Safetytown. This is also a mountain bike trail, so pay attention to bikes.

There is a playground here, picnic shelters, carousel, zip line and other park facilities. In the summer there is a snow-cone stand and paddle boats. The Greensboro Science Center is also adjacent, which is a great aquarium and zoo. This is also located about a quarter mile away from your favorite running store, Fleet Feet Greensboro.

Owl’s Roost

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 5.4 mile loop
Start and End Point: Bur Mil Park
Surface: Single track trail/ asphalt
Best for: mid-distance trail runs

Park at the end of Bur Mil Park (you will pass the pool and golf course). Then go down the hill to the greenway and take a right on the greenway, the trailhead to Owl’s Roost is down a little bit on your left. This is a beautiful run or hike right by Lake Brandt. It is also a popular mountain bike trail, so pay attention to your surroundings. The first 4.5 miles are on single track trails that are moderately difficult. It will then spit you out on the greenway, take a left and head back to Bur Mil.

Please note that Bur Mil Park is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and there is a gate, so you can’t get in before 8 a.m. and your car could be stuck if it is after 8 p.m. Bur Mil also offers a playground, picnic shelters, golf course, swimming pool and driving range. There are indoor bathrooms at the Wildlife Education Center when it is open, a port-a-potty the rest of the time and a water fountain (that is shut off in the winter).

Lake Daniel/ Latham Park Greenway

Location: Greensboro
Distance: 3.2 miles point to point
Start and End Point: Friendly Center to Elm St. just North of Mose Cone Hospital (accessible by pedestrians only)
Surface: Concrete path
Best for: hill adverse, speedwork, mid-distance runs

These two greenways connect to each other and are just a short run away from the downtown area and connect it to Friendly Center. It runs parallel to the Buffalo Creek, which you can see on numerous spots during your run. This path is beautiful and relatively flat (it is Greensboro, so there are no completely flat routes). This is a great place to do speedwork or for beginners. The downside is that there is not much shade during the summer.

The thing that makes this greenway different from the others is that there is fitness equipment along the path. These exercise stations allow you to run in between different workout stations.

You can park at Friendly Center and the trailhead is located on West Friendly Avenue, just east of the Wendover Avenue overpass and adjacent to Wesley Long Community Hospital. You can also access the path from Latham Park or Cridland road. Afterwards, there are plenty of places to eat in Friendly Center or Downtown. Sage Mule is a great brunch spot and, don’t worry, there’s outdoor seating if you are smelly from your run!

Oak Ridge Town Park

Location: Oak Ridge (North of Greensboro)
Distance:1.3 mile loop
Start and End Point: 6231 Lisa Drive
Surface: Asphalt/Concrete or Trails
Best for: Speedwork, Beginners, Runners with kids

Oak Ridge Town Park is a great place to start out walking or running. There are numerous paved paths and an easy one-mile loop around the park that is perfect for mile repeats. It is relatively flat and many people use the paved path.

The park also has baseball fields, soccer fields and two playgrounds. It is the perfect place to run while your kid is at practice or a great place to take the stroller for a run and then let your kid enjoy some time at the park.

At the back of the park there are also numerous unpaved trails where people can also mountain bike. These trails are not super populated, so it is a nice time to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Parking can be found either on Lisa Drive in the big parking lot or there is a smaller parking lot off Linville Road. There are two bathrooms and water fountains in the park.