Five of the Best Heart Healthy Trails on the SouthCoast

If you don't want to be tied to your gym membership for all forms of exercise, here are five awesome walks and trails outside to get your heart pumping.

Fairhaven's Phoenix Bike Path is a staple and it's not just for biking. The trail is just about 4.5 miles and stretches from the village in Fairhaven all the way to Mattapoisett. It can be used for biking, walking and running, roller skating, in-line skating or any non-motorized type of transportation.

Historic Fort Taber in New Bedford is probably one of the most beautiful places for a walk or run in all of New England, not just the SouthCoast. It's a 47-acre town park and the trail stretches roughly 3.5 miles along the water and has a few highs and lows to get your heart rate up.

Heritage Park in Fall River is right along the water and another really nice area to get a good walk or run in to work up a sweat and feel the beauty of the outdoors on the SouthCoast. You'll have miles to yourself and not feel like you're in a crowd of people; it's a pretty low key trail.

It's just at the tip of the SouthCoast for us but worth the 20-minute ride if you're traveling from New Bedford. The Cape Cod Canal has a really nice walking, running, biking or rollerblading trail that just goes for miles. Again, the ocean. You're literally on it when you're walking the canal and the salt water breeze is something I never take for granted when I have the chance to get down there.

The Brookside Conservation area in Dartmouth gets 4.6 stars on Google and the folks who've left a review are raving about the trails and natural beauty. Lots of up and downhill trails to get you moving and breaking a sweat. This is one that is definitely on my to-do list this year.