Newcastle's best running follows the Bathers Way coastal path past six beaches, crosses the Newcastle Memorial Walk with its steel ANZAC soldier silhouettes, and traces the 15 kilometre Fernleigh Track along a former coal railway.
Verified by The Daily Newcastle editorial teamLast verified: 7 July 2026
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Newcastle's running is defined by its coastline and a genuinely moving clifftop memorial, alongside flat harbour and rail-trail options. Here are the best running routes in Newcastle for 2026.
The Bathers Way Coastal Walk
The Bathers Way runs about 6 kilometres one way from Merewether Ocean Baths to Nobbys Beach, often run as a 5.5 kilometre out-and-back, on a sealed path passing six beaches, Nobbys, Newcastle, Susan Gilmore, Bar, Dixon Park and Merewether, with clifftop ocean panoramas from Strzelecki Lookout and the reach toward Nobbys Lighthouse, mostly flat with one climb around King Edward Park.
The Newcastle Memorial Walk
Part of the Bathers Way, the Newcastle Memorial Walk is a 450 metre clifftop walkway including a 160 metre cliff-top bridge, on sealed boardwalk. It commemorates the ANZAC Gallipoli centenary and 100 years of Newcastle steelmaking, adorned with soldier silhouettes laser-cut from 10-millimetre weathering steel and inscribed with nearly 4,000 family names of the roughly 11,000 Hunter men and women who enlisted in the First World War, opened on 24 April 2015.
The Fernleigh Track
The Fernleigh Track runs 15 kilometres one way from Adamstown to Belmont on a sealed, mostly flat surface, built on a former coal-railway corridor whose branch line opened in the late 1880s and closed in 1991, running through bushland and wetlands and passing through a 181 metre brick rail tunnel.
Throsby Creek and Blackbutt Reserve
The Throsby Creek and Honeysuckle foreshore path runs up to 6 to 7 kilometres one way from Newcastle's Foreshore Park along the harbour to Islington Park, paved, waterside and flat, home to the Newy parkrun. Blackbutt Reserve, 8.5 kilometres from the CBD, offers over 20 kilometres of signposted bush trails including the 2.6 kilometre Tall Trees loop, and hosts a free Saturday Blackbutt parkrun.
Running the Newcastle Marathon Route
The City of Newcastle Marathon and Half Marathon returns on 19 April 2026, a flat, AIMS-certified course along the city and harbour foreshore starting and finishing at The Station.
Practical Guide to Running in Newcastle
The Bathers Way and Throsby Creek foreshore are the most reliable choices for a coastal or harbour run; the Fernleigh Track is the pick for a long, flat, traffic-free route.
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