Where to run
in Flagstaff.

5.6 mi one wayHard-packed dirt, some concreteFlat

The longest trail in the Flagstaff Urban Trails System and the easiest place to start. Mostly wide packed dirt with short concrete stretches, and no dramatic climbing. Good for a first run at altitude, when the goal is to move without asking much of yourself.

FUTS runs to more than 50 miles of shared-use path across the city, roughly half paved and half packed aggregate, most of it eight to ten feet wide. Wherever you're staying, some piece of it is probably minutes away.

5 mi prime stretchPavement, wide shoulderLong and steady

The road you use when you need real mileage on pavement. It runs south out of town for well over fifty miles, but the section worth driving to is the roughly five miles along the lake itself, about thirteen miles south of Flagstaff. Wide shoulder, long sightlines, and scenery that makes a marathon build feel less like a chore.

2 mi loopHard-packed cinderMostly flat

The one everybody runs. A two-mile loop on McMillan Mesa, on packed cinder, with the San Francisco Peaks, Mount Elden and the Dry Lake Hills laid out around you. It opens across grassland and drops into woods before returning to the buffalo statue and seasonal pond at the entrance.

Flat enough to do repeats on, and it connects out to Oldham, Switzer Canyon and the Arizona Trail when two miles isn't enough. If you only run one route here, run this one.

Out and backDirt roadRolling

A quiet dirt road with steady rolling hills, usually run as an out-and-back from the Arboretum. Its real value is in winter: it stays open and plowed when singletrack is buried, which makes it the answer on days when the trails aren't one.

Short loopRocky, technicalReal climbing

A short, rocky climb on the flank of Mount Elden that gets you a view of the whole town without a long day. The trail passes alligator junipers said to be over 900 years old, then crosses a lava flow roughly half a million years old, cooled into blocks and boulders.

Watch your feet. This is where the ground stops being forgiving and starts being volcanic.

4 mi up · 7 mi out and backSingletrackSteady climb

The Flagstaff trail run. From the parking area at the bottom of Schultz Pass Road, the trail follows the creek bed up a shaded valley through ponderosa, rock gardens and aspen, climbing about four miles to Schultz Tank. It's the spine of a braided network — trails split and rejoin the whole way up, which is half the appeal and the reason to follow signs your first time.

For a loop instead of an out-and-back: take the Sunset Trail from Schultz Tank, turn right onto Brookbank, follow it down to Rocky Ridge, turn right, then right again onto Schultz Creek to come back to the tank. Around six miles.

LoopSingletrack + road≈ 2,270 ft gain

The step up before the big one. The loop via Lookout Road and Schultz Creek stacks roughly 2,270 feet of climbing, which at this elevation is a different proposition than the same number at sea level. Treat it as a long day rather than a long run, at least the first time.

All dayRock, scree, exposure≈ 3,870 ft gain via the loop

The highest point in Arizona. The Humphreys–Weatherford–Kachina loop carries about 3,870 feet of gain, more than anything else you can run near town. The top is above treeline, which means no shelter and no shade.

Go early. Afternoon thunderstorms build fast here in late summer, and being above treeline in one is the genuinely dangerous thing on this list — everything else is just hard. Check the forecast, start at dawn, and be off the ridge before the sky changes.