Trail Information

THE CHALLENGE: Nowhere to run

The Monterey County region’s cross-country teams have nearly run out of places to run. Our schools’ options are so few that some have resorted to using public roads and parking lots for race courses.

THE SOLUTION: A new, best-in-class cross-country course at Palo Corona Regional Park

With your help, the former Rancho Cañada Golf Club is about to gain new life as a cross-country running venue. The running trails will be open for year-round use by the community and provide a world-class, certified racing course for school cross-country meets.  Youth, high school, collegiate and adult runners will all benefit from it.

Together, we can build a better future for cross-country running in Monterey County and beyond.

The running course will be at the former Rancho Cañada Golf Club, now part of Palo Corona Regional Park. Please donate to develop this cross-country running course at Palo Corona.

Course Design & Objective:

Working closely with local high school and college coaches, veteran runners, a local Olympic marathoner, and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, we have designed a course that repurposes many existing features, paths, and bridges for a dynamic, exciting running venue. The new grass, dirt, and wood chip path features 2,000 and 3,000 meter loops for races of 2,000 to 10,000 meters (1.2 to 6.2 miles). It will also feature flush-mounted, permanent signs for start, finish, mile, and kilometer markers and a large map near the start/finish.

The course protects environmentally-sensitive areas of the park while maintaining public access. There are plenty of areas to get a good view of the runners, and ample parking is available.