Running trails in Lansing, MI
Lansing has 21 trails in the directory — 7 paved and 2 on crushed gravel or dirt, 2 boardwalk, 1 with a stated distance, 6 shaded, and 5 open 24 hours. 17 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 9,467 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.
Hawk Island Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 3,065 reviews
100-acre, all-seasons park with a vehicle entrance fee features swimming, trails & snowboarding.
Frances Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 940 reviews
City park featuring a picturesque rose garden, woodland trail, river overlook & athletic fields.
Fenner Nature Center
4.7 ★★★★★ 828 reviews
134-acre environmental education site with a visitor center, hands-on exhibits & self-guided trails.
Grand Woods Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 815 reviews
Public park with athletic fields & courts, a pavilion, picnic shelter, walking trails & disc golf.
Granger Meadows Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 701 reviews
A 75-acre park with picnic shelters, playground & summer sports, plus sledding & skating in winter.
Crego Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 684 reviews
200-acre wooded park featuring river access for fishing, kayaking & canoeing plus linkage to trails.
Hawk Meadow Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 411 reviews
Scenic community park for picnics and paved walks.
Maguire Park
4.4 ★★★★☆ 357 reviews
Wooded park with gym equipment, picnic and bike-fix areas for an easy trail walk.
Delta Mills Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 324 reviews
Sizable park offering ball fields, trails, tennis courts, picnic areas, and river access.
Scott Woods Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 310 reviews
Natural park area featuring nature trails, a lake for kayaking, deer & other forest animals.
Tollgate Wetlands
4.7 ★★★★★ 243 reviews
Nature preserve with a loop trail through habitat for wildlife such as deer and herons.
Delta Mills Park Kayak Launch
4.6 ★★★★★ 232 reviews
Spacious park featuring trails, picnic spots, playgrounds and ball fields as well as sledding slopes.
Hunters Orchard Park
4.6 ★★★★★ 219 reviews
Paved trail-equipped park with picnic areas and scenic river views.
Anderson Nature Park
4.7 ★★★★★ 159 reviews
Wooded park for mountain biking with river views and nature trails, plus spots for hiking and walking dogs.
Bancroft Park (North Trailhead)
4.5 ★★★★★ 42 reviews
Paved and unpaved trails wind through the woods, around ponds and past a playground.
Clippert St Trailhead - Lansing River Trail
4.3 ★★★★☆ 33 reviews
Red Cedar Pkwy Trailhead - Lansing River Trail
4.5 ★★★★★ 2 reviews
No trails match those filters.
How to pick a trail in Lansing
- Match the surface to your legs. Lansing gives you a choice: 7 paved, 4 mixed, 2 crushed gravel, and 2 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 paved 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 Lansing is Hawk Meadow Park at 4.5 mi.
- Check the hours before a 6am run. 5 trails in Lansing are open 24 hours — the rest can sit inside a park that gates at dusk and doesn't unlock until well after sunrise. 17 of the 21 listings carry posted opening hours — worth a look before you set an alarm. 3 are lit, which is what you want for winter evenings.
- Long run? Check water and restrooms first. 12 have trailhead parking, 9 have restrooms, and 6 have a water fountain in Lansing. Anything over an hour and those stop being nice-to-haves — and in summer, shade counts double.
- The small things that decide it. 6 shaded, 2 with mile markers, 7 that runners describe as quiet, 10 dog-friendly, and 7 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 Lansing trails by type
Running trails near Lansing
Worth the short drive — the closest towns with trails in the directory.