Crocker Park Recreational Trail

I like this trail a lot. I don’t mind the gravel but I recommend proper outdoor running shoes. The graffiti tunnel is cool but it also means you should have turned right a little earlier instead of going straight. The trail crosses the road a few times so just make sure the traffic (BIG TRUCKS) are going to stop for you before you cross.

This has been a hidden treasure now that I’m training for the half-​marathon. It’s right near work so I can easily hit the trail for a 2.5 mile workout at lunch time. It can be a bit secluded, but I always encounter about a half dozen people on the trail whenever I go so I don’t feel like I’m completely alone. If you want to stretch out your run, you can always take it up Old Quarry Road to add some distance, or even run up and around the Ridge homes for some elevation.
Good terrain to run on so you don’t get too much impact on your legs. There’s parking at the trail head on Park Lane off of Valley Drive.

At first, the Crocker Park Recreational Trail sounds more exotic than it is when it is deconstructed. Trails make me think of adventure, wilderness, etc.
Crocker Park is actually one of the light industrial parks in Brisbane, and the trail circles the «park» for 2.5 miles so you can get some recreation on your lunch hour, I suppose.
Now that your expectations are suitably low, let me tell you: it can actually be quite nice, in a repurposed space kind of way. Sort of like Oyster Point– if you turn your head away from the office park, all there is is nature.
The trail is essentially an oblong loop. Going counterclockwise from the starting point by the dog park, you run parallel to San Bruno mountain, past the quarry road, turning right before the newer condos (Swallowtail? Ridge something?), then along the base of the ridge, then right again through a kind of creepy backstretch (notice the long basketball hoop on the other side of the fence), past the Goonies-​ish old train tunnel (?), and then back to civilization. In the spring, there are a lot of wildflowers in bloom, particularly below the condos, so even in the most unlikely of places, there is beauty.
The trail is made up of the gravel, now crushed, that used to hold the train tracks of the Southern Pacific Rail Line. The tracks themselves are now being used to create a new rail line in the Sierras. Cool, no?
There are benches spaced along the trail, along with several mutt-​mitt dispensers (nice touch) and trash receptacles. I’ve only seen a few other people on the trail, so in this somewhat secret city there is a somewhat secret trail. I’d like to see more people using it, if only to reduce the creepiness factor in certain spots.
As a convenient, flat place to go for a quick jog in Brisbane, this trail is an asset to the community.