Running trails in Hammond, IN
Hammond has 12 trails in the directory — 1 on crushed gravel or dirt, 1 boardwalk, and 2 open 24 hours. 9 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 2,023 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.
Riverside Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 368 reviews
Public park featuring a playground, a baseball field, and a disc-golf course, plus a dog park.
Gibson Woods Nature Preserve
4.5 ★★★★★ 297 reviews
Large, lush area featuring hiking trails, 160+ species of birds & an environmental center.
Carlson Oxbow Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 276 reviews
Peaceful nature retreat on the Little Calumet River with a boardwalk, fishing pier & boat launch.
Columbia Park
4.2 ★★★★☆ 244 reviews
Sprawling park with playgrounds, a trail and courts for basketball and volleyball.
Harrison Park
4 ★★★★☆ 253 reviews
Relaxed park with mature trees, a playground and tennis courts, plus a pond.
Dowling Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 196 reviews
Multi-use park, featuring ball fields, a playground and fishing ponds, along with walking trails.
Edison Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 160 reviews
Park with a playground and a skateboarding area, plus picnic tables and soccer.
Irving Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 88 reviews
Park featuring athletic fields, a playground, and other facilities for kids and adults.
Hammond Lakefront Park and Bird Sanctuary
4.4 ★★★★☆ 63 reviews
Beach for families and individuals as well as a bird trail and breakwalls.
Pulaski Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 35 reviews
Bairstow Trailhead
4.5 ★★★★★ 18 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Hammond
- Match the surface to your legs. Hammond gives you a choice: 1 natural surface and 1 boardwalk. 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 natural surface 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.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Hammond are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 9 of the 12 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 4 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 4 have trailhead parking, 3 have restrooms, and 2 have a water fountain in Hammond. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 4 that runners describe as quiet, 4 dog-friendly, and 5 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 Hammond trails by type
Running trails near Hammond
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.