Running trails in Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor has 28 trails in the directory — 6 paved and 7 on crushed gravel or dirt, 4 boardwalk, 8 loops that return to the trailhead, 2 shaded, and 2 open 24 hours. 24 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 10,625 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.
University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum
4.8 ★★★★★ 2,333 reviews
Tranquil garden with spring-blooming flowers, popular for quiet walks, painting & photography.
County Farm Park
4.8 ★★★★★ 1,186 reviews
Green county park featuring a wooded area, fitness trails, gardens, playgrounds & picnic pavilions.
Argo Nature Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 1,108 reviews
Riverfront park featuring canoe, kayak & paddleboat rentals, a boat launch & biking/hiking trails.
Lillie Park South
4.6 ★★★★★ 902 reviews
Park with a lake, 2 ponds, a boardwalk & sports fields plus asphalt, wood-chip & limestone trails.
Parker Mill County Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 773 reviews
This park offers forested trails, seasonal tours of its old grist mill & a museum in a cider mill.
Bandemer Nature Area
4.6 ★★★★★ 713 reviews
Riverfront natural area with trails, picnic facilities & activities such as fishing & canoeing.
Barton Nature Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 617 reviews
River park offering picnicking & trails amid meadow, forest & marsh, some accessible by boat only.
Delhi Metropark
4.7 ★★★★★ 606 reviews
Riverside spot on 53 acres with fishing, canoeing, wildlife, a playground, ball field & picnics.
Bird Hills Nature Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 575 reviews
The city's largest park at 161 acres, this hilly green space offers unpaved woodland hiking trails.
Furstenberg Nature Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 528 reviews
Scenic 38-acre wetlands & woodlands park, with picnic tables, a boardwalk & walking paths.
Olson Park
4.5 ★★★★★ 337 reviews
54-acre natural area with a pond offers trails, sport courts & fields, plus a playground & dog run.
Gallup Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 189 reviews
City park featuring playgrounds, paved walking paths, picnic tables and a barbecue grill.
Scio Woods Preserve
4.6 ★★★★★ 124 reviews
Nature preserve featuring hiking trails in a forested area that are also suitable for kids.
Fox Science Preserve
4.8 ★★★★★ 85 reviews
Former gravel pit transformed into a nature preserve with trails for hiking and birdwatching.
Miller Nature Area
4.8 ★★★★★ 69 reviews
Kid-friendly park with forested trails.
Black Pond Woods Nature Area
4.7 ★★★★★ 64 reviews
Park with picnic tables and kid-friendly hiking trails, plus plants and a bridge.
Saginaw Forest Trailhead
4.8 ★★★★★ 61 reviews
Trails through woods plus a lake are the highlight of this peaceful spot for walking, hiking and bird-watching.
Marshall Nature Area
4.4 ★★★★☆ 65 reviews
Relaxed nature preserve featuring dirt trails for hiking, walking and mountain biking.
Bluffs Nature Area
4.4 ★★★★☆ 60 reviews
39-acre forested park featuring a variety of rugged hiking & biking trails & scenic ridge views.
Pittsfield Preserve Nature Trail Area
4.4 ★★★★☆ 48 reviews
Quiet preserve, featuring picnic tables, a mix of prairie, woods, and open grasslands.
Cedar Bend Nature Area
4.4 ★★★★☆ 33 reviews
Longtime refuge offering native plants, mature forest & ample wildlife via steep trails.
Scio Farms Trails
4.2 ★★★★☆ 6 reviews
Pittsfield Preserve North
5 ★★★★★ 3 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Ann Arbor
- Match the surface to your legs. Ann Arbor gives you a choice: 6 paved, 6 natural surface, 4 boardwalk, 4 mixed, and 1 crushed gravel. 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 paved trails →
- Loop or out-and-back? 8 trails here are loops, so you finish back at the car with no backtracking — the easiest way to run a set distance without thinking about it. On an out-and-back you turn round at half your target distance, which makes any trail fit any run.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 2 trails in Ann Arbor are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 24 of the 28 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 20 have trailhead parking, 10 have restrooms, and 5 have a water fountain in Ann Arbor. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 2 shaded, 3 with mile markers, 15 that runners describe as quiet, 17 dog-friendly, and 6 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 Ann Arbor trails by type
- Paved trails
- Natural surface trails
- Boardwalk trails
- Mixed trails
- Crushed gravel trails
- Loop trails
- Shaded trails
- Flat & fast
- Hilly trails
- Scenic trails
- Trails with restrooms
- Trails with water fountains
- Trailhead parking
- Trails with mile markers
- Quiet, uncrowded trails
- Dog-friendly
- Stroller & wheelchair-accessible
Running trails near Ann Arbor
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.