Reach 11 in Scottsdale is a hidden gem that I love every winter I visit
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve lived in Phoenix for 10 years and had never heard of this place before your post. Finally ran there today. Wow! Hidden gem indeed. Felt like I was at a playground for runners.
Eagle Creek Park 3900 acres of land. 1400 acres is water. Also, not located within a city.
4500> 3900
Forest Park (Portland) is entirely within the city limits as is the attached Washington Park. FP is 5,200 acres and Washington Park is 410 acres. They have 80 and 15 miles of trails respectively. Wildwood is 29.5 miles long and connects the two parks. It’s only mildly technical, you can run the entire way at a decent pace.
I’ve run Central Park, Green Lake in Seattle, Golden Gate and others. Theodore Wirth + the Minneapolis chain of lakes are a lot better than any of these if you are looking for some mileage and not a tourist visit.
Central Park is more interesting, but smaller, more congested, and less varying. It is a good park for where it is, but it’s not that good really.
As others have stated, you can link-up to many other areas as well. Minneapolis Parks are often rated #1 in various national rankings.
Piedmont Park in Atlanta isn't the very best, but it's good running. (I was there watching the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials so I checked it out). There is also a good 1K limestone loop for training reps that the Atlanta Track Club and others hit up.