Erfert Park
Managed by Lan-Oak Park District
19 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Lansing
98% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Lansing
The biggest trail networks: Erfert Park (0.6 mi), Rotary Park (0.5 mi). 138 acres are parks and preserves, 4.9 per 1,000 residents. 2.4 miles of mapped trail cross Lansing, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #451 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
148 acres · of 7.5 sq mi of land
Trails
2.4 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
138 ac
4.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
3.3 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Lansing?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lansing have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lansing is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #451 of 768 in Illinois. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lansing’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical IL town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · IL 0.3 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land4.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (138 acres) · IL 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · IL 88% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 56%
LessMore
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 41%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Erfert Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rotary Park
Managed by Lan-Oak Park District
9 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Lan-Oak Park
Managed by Lan-Oak Park District
17 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bock Park
Managed by Lan-Oak Park District
8 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 13 parks & preserves
Erfert Park19 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsRotary Park9 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsLan-Oak Park17 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Lan-Oak Park District
Bock Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsVanLaten Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsWinterhoff Park6 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsSchultz Park4 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
Oakley Park4 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsOakwood Park4 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
Lions Park3 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
DirectionsPotts Park3 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
Kiwanis Park3 acres · Lan-Oak Park District
Veterans Park1 acres · Calumet Memorial Park District
Who protects it
148 conserved acres
3% of Lansing’s land. Who manages Lansing’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency78 ac
Town or city69 ac
Local Park · 114 acLocal Resource Management Area · 17 acUnknown · 14 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erfert Park Local Park | Regional agency | 18 | Open |
| Old Timers Sports Complex Local Resource Management Area | Regional agency | 17 | Open |
| Lan-Oak Park Local Park | Town or city | 17 | Open |
| Veterans Park Local Park | Regional agency | 13 | Open |
| Oakwood Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Rotary Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Unnamed Property Unknown | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Kiwanis Park Local Park | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Bock Park Local Park | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Jaycee Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
8 places to go in Lansing
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lansing
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
12Baseball
8Tennis
4Volleyball
1Basketball
1Softball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Ford Airport HangarBuilding · listed 1985
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Lansing: April, August and September
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 32 | 36 | 48 | 60 | 71 | 81 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Lansing →
Next door
Lansing and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
North Township42 miBloom Township29 miThornton Township21 miMunster8.1 miSouth Holland4.7 miCalumet City3.5 miLansing2.4 miLynwood0.2 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansing | 3% | 0.3 | 5 | 98% | B |
| Calumet City | 8% | 0.5 | 7 | 96% | B+ |
| Lynwood | 2% | under 0.1 | 7 | 92% | C+ |
| South Holland | 5% | 0.6 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| Thornton Township | 7% | 0.5 | 8 | 98% | B+ |
| Bloom Township | 3% | 0.6 | 10 | 92% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lansing
Where can I hike in Lansing?
The longest trail networks: Erfert Park, 0.6 miles; Rotary Park, 0.5 miles; Lan-Oak Park, 0.3 miles; Bock Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lansing is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 4% for an Illinois town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Lansing’s trails?
Erfert Park and Rotary Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lansing?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Lansing?
11,273 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lansing or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 152 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lansing have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #451 of 768 in Illinois. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Lansing neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →