Hiking trails near Sanford, North Carolina

38 official trails lie within 25 miles of Sanford — 96 miles in total, 32 rated easy and 0 hard or expert. Every distance and elevation figure below is computed from the agency centerline and a 10 m elevation model, not crowd-sourced.

The biggest climb nearby gains 227 ft; the median trail gains 82 ft.

Open the map on Sanford

24 trails worth the drive

Trail	Miles	Climb	Difficulty	Drive from town
New Hope Trail	5.0	148 ft	Moderate	27 min · 17 mi
Mountain Laurel Loop Bicycle Trail Beginner	6.3	166 ft	Moderate	34 min · 21 mi
Campbell Creek Loop Trail	4.1	227 ft	Moderate	34 min · 20 mi
Governors Creek	5.3	107 ft	Moderate	20 min · 12 mi
West Loop Bridle Trail	3.9	137 ft	Moderate	58 min · 34 mi
East Loop Bridle Trail	4.0	157 ft	Easy	56 min · 33 mi
Boyd Horse Trail	3.4	61 ft	Moderate	40 min · 28 mi
Mountain Laurel Loop Bicycle Trail Advanced	3.8	134 ft	Easy	37 min · 21 mi
Raven Rock Loop Trail	2.2	150 ft	Easy	34 min · 20 mi
High Side to Castor Creek	3.1	90 ft	Easy	44 min · 29 mi
Mountain Laurel Loop Bicycle Trail Intermediate	2.4	141 ft	Easy	36 min · 21 mi
Mom Jeans-ZIpper	2.3	78 ft	Easy	49 min · 27 mi
Forest Creek Trail	2.1	118 ft	Easy	42 min · 29 mi
Oak Leaf Greenway	2.0	150 ft	Easy	32 min · 25 mi
Lower Haw River Trail	3.9	60 ft	Easy	35 min · 21 mi
Peninsula Trail	4.8	51 ft	Easy	36 min · 25 mi
Red triangle Trail	2.0	53 ft	Easy	46 min · 29 mi
Shiner's Way	1.1	127 ft	Easy	17 min · 11 mi
Hwy-104	1.3	138 ft	Easy	58 min · 30 mi
White Square blazed trail	1.3	162 ft	Easy	46 min · 31 mi
Poplar Point Campground Trail	1.8	57 ft	Easy	29 min · 20 mi
Holly Springs Greenway	1.5	82 ft	Easy	37 min · 28 mi
Middle Creek Greenway	3.3	41 ft	Easy	37 min · 30 mi
River Trail	1.2	98 ft	Easy	19 min · 11 mi

Quick picks near Sanford

Easy and short: East Loop Bridle Trail — 4.0 mi, rated easy, 16 mi from town

What the trails reach

Lakes: Bass Lake Trail to Bass Lake; David R White Greenway to Southern Pines Waterworks

Nearby towns: Spring Lake (24 mi) · Angier (25 mi) · Chapel Hill (31 mi) · Raleigh (38 mi)

All North Carolina trail guides · Hiking by city · Dispersed camping rules