Running trails in Lake Forest, IL
Lake Forest has 9 trails in the directory — 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, 2 with a stated distance, and 1 shaded. 3 of them post opening hours, so you can check the gate before an early start. They're ranked here by rating weighted by review volume, across 2,088 Google reviews. Filter by surface, loop, distance, shade or lighting to get to the run you're actually planning — no made-up difficulty score, just the facts you'd check before driving out.
Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 1,344 reviews
Shoreline forest preserve with rolling terrain & trails for hiking, biking & cross-country skiing.
Forest Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 300 reviews
37-acre park district facility with a 3/4-mile walking trail & a lakefront beach.
Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve
4.7 ★★★★★ 257 reviews
This nature area features a tallgrass savanna, a 4-mile trail & wildlife such as Blanding's turtles.
Lake Forest Open Lands: Skokie River Nature Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 72 reviews
Nature preserve featuring kid-friendly hiking trails through forestland.
Lake Forest Open Lands: West Skokie Nature Preserve
4.2 ★★★★☆ 13 reviews
Lake Forest Open Lands Association
4.5 ★★★★★ 10 reviews
Lake Forest Open Lands: Derwen Mawr Nature Preserve
4.9 ★★★★★ 7 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Lake Forest
- Match the surface to your legs. Lake Forest gives you a choice: 1 crushed gravel, 1 boardwalk, and 1 mixed. Asphalt and concrete are fast, predictable and runnable year-round but the least forgiving; crushed limestone and dirt take the sting out of high mileage; boardwalk is flat and scenic but slick in the wet. If your shins or knees are complaining, the fix that actually works is varying the surface you run on rather than chasing one "best" one. More crushed gravel trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? A loop finishes back at the car with no backtracking; on an out-and-back you simply turn round at half your distance. The longest stated distance in Lake Forest is Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve at 4 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. Plenty of trails sit inside parks that gate at dusk and don't unlock until well after sunrise, so a trail that's perfect at lunchtime can be locked at 6am. 3 of the 9 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 1 is lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 2 have trailhead parking, 1 has restrooms, and 1 has a water fountain in Lake Forest. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 1 shaded, 2 that runners describe as quiet, 3 dog-friendly, and 4 smooth and wide enough for a stroller or a wheelchair. Busy or quiet isn't a good-or-bad thing here: a busy path is the safer choice for a solo run at dawn, a quiet one is better for intervals.
More on all of this in the trail-running guides.
Browse Lake Forest trails by type
Running trails near Lake Forest
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.