Will be in SLO next week, wanting to do some trail running near town. Suggestions? Trail Heads? 6-10 milers. Thanks in advance.
My favorite run is from the CalPoly campus through Poly Canyon.
Otherwise for short hard runs you can run up either of the two mountains in town, Bishops or Madonna, each with amazing views. If you feel like getting out of town the trails out at Montana de Oro are amazing.
As a current resident of SLO, I second the poly canyon suggestion. There are a bunch of places to branch off if you want to make it a bit longer. My advice would be to stop by foothill cyclery (many of the mtb trails are common running trails as well) or a local running store as they can provide you with some maps and guidance.
This may not be the best map, but it gives a general overview: http://www.cpdistanceclub.com/trailpage/PolyCanyon.html
Head over to Irish Hills (Near Laguna Lake / Madonna Rd). Its behind Costco. Tons of fun trails there. Join the SLO Trail Runner group on face book too.
Up behind Poly Canyon is nice but the MTB riders will run you over on the weekends, be careful! Up on Questa Grade you can run the Radio Tower road all the way to Cerro Alto in Atascadero. It can get really hot up there, bring lots of water. You can refill at Cerro Alto Campground.
Or head up to Montana de Oro and enjoy the coastal breezes and vistas out there. The canyons out there get pretty hot too, plan accordingly. Nice thing about MdO is that the MTB clubs in the area provide baskets with handlebar bells on them at trail heads and most people use them. At least you get some warning a bike is sreaming down behind you.