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Michigan Avenue at Beech Daly Road Inkster MichiganPhoto: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Inkster

12% of Inkster’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park

Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 6.3 miles of mapped trail cross Inkster, 1.0 per square mile of land. 12% of Inkster’s land is conserved, about 461 acres.

Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #56 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Conserved land
12%
461 acres · of 6.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.3 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
533 ac
21 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
1.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1

What kind of outdoors town is Inkster?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Inkster have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Inkster is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #56 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Inkster’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 92%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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.

1234
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 Lower Rouge Parkway, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Lower Rouge Parkway

Park
374 acres4.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Inkster Park

Park
64 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Westwood Park

Park
11 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Colonial Park

Park
18 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 16 parks & preserves
Lower Rouge Parkway374 acres · 4.3 mi of trail
Directions
Inkster Park64 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
Directions
Westwood Park11 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Directions
Tyrone Wheatley Park9 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Dozier Recreation Center8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
LeMoyne Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
King Memorial Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Colonial Park18 acres
Directions
Brookside Park12 acres
Directions
Parkwood Playground7 acres
Kennedy Park6 acres
Directions
Bel-Aire Park2 acres
Demby Park2 acres
Manor Park1 acres
Directions
Dartmouth Park1 acres
Wellington Park1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

461 conserved acres

12% of Inkster’s land. Who manages Inkster’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city409 ac
County161 ac
Local Recreation Area · 389 acLocal Park · 181 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
R. Herndon's Dearborn Hills Golf Course
Local Recreation Area
Town or city228Restricted
Inkster Valley Golf Course
Local Recreation Area
County161Restricted
Inkster Park
Local Park
Town or city87Open
Colonial Park
Local Park
Town or city21Open
Brookside Park
Local Park
Town or city14Open
Westwood Park
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Dozier Recreation Center
Local Park
Town or city10Open
Wheatley Park
Local Park
Town or city9Open
Parkwood Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open
Kennedy Park
Local Park
Town or city5Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

16 places to go in Inkster

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Inkster

16 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

1.4 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Basketball
4Baseball
4Tennis
1Soccer

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Malcolm X HouseBuilding · listed 2021
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Inkster: June to 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.410.511.813.314.615.315.013.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)323546597180848275624837
Rain (in)2.21.92.33.23.73.33.43.33.22.72.62.2

February is the driest month (1.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 3.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. The climate in Inkster →

Next door

Inkster and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

TownConserved
of land
Trail mi
per sq mi
Park acres
per 1,000
Near a park
½ mile
Outdoors
Inkster12%1.02199%+A
Dearborn Heights12%0.61395%A−
Westland11%1.41689%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Inkster

Where can I hike in Inkster?

The longest trail networks: Lower Rouge Parkway, 4.3 miles; Inkster Park, 0.9 miles; Westwood Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Inkster is conserved land?

12% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Michigan town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Inkster’s trails?

Lower Rouge Parkway and Inkster Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Inkster?

1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.4 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Inkster?

15,975 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Inkster or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 533 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Inkster have?

Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #56 of 701 in Michigan. 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 Inkster neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →