Outdoor Recreation

If the outdoors is beckoning, then listen and get outside! Your momentum doesn’t need to slow down or stop but can keep you moving despite the weather or season.

Winter in Greater Lansing includes lots of time spent on sledding hills, tubing and toboganning, cross-country skiing through the woods and ice skating.

On warmer days there’s nothing better than kayaking the Grand and Red Cedar Rivers, hitting up the beach at Lake Lansing or enjoying the splash pad at Hawk Island Park.

Getting back to nature may mean walking the trails at one of the three nature centers⁠—Fenner Nature Center, Woldumar Nature Center and Harris Nature Center. Or maybe fishing is more your style? Then with lakes, rivers and streams, there’s plenty of fish waiting to be reeled in.

If strolling gardens is more like it, Lansing has some beautiful, serene gardens like Lansing Community College's Shigematsu Memorial Garden or the lovely Cooley Gardens. Another option is to head over to Michigan State University for their multiple horticultural displays. The demonstration gardens and the 4-H Children’s Gardens will soothe your soul.

Biking

Get on your bike and enjoy Greater Lansing. Take a leisure ride to see the sights, challenge…

Two people playing cornhole at Rotary Beach

Beaches & Swimming

When it's hot and time to cool down, go swimming. Ingham and Eaton County parks, the cities of…

Fishing

Looking to cast your line in Lansing? The Greater Lansing region is home to multiple lakes, rivers…

Kayaking & Canoeing

Paddle or row the Red Cedar River or the Grand River. Lansing is situated at the junctions of both…

Tulips and Japanese Red Bud in full bloom

Parks & Gardens

Visit the Koi ponds, fresh blooms, and seasonal gardens of the Greater Lansing region that create…

Sledding/Ice Skating/Skiing

Enjoy Greater Lansing in the winter! Rent a sled, tube, or toboggan and hit one of the many snow…

Trails & Hiking

Get out in nature! Greater Lansing offers multiple trail systems throughout the region. From short…

Lansing Receives 2024 Pure Michigan Trail Towns Award

Each year, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Pure Michigan spotlight some of the state’s best trails and trail destinations through the Pure Michigan Trails and Pure Michigan Trail Towns designation program. Designed to help boost Michigan’s position as the “Trails State,” the program provides recognition to locations that represent some of Michigan’s best trail experiences.

Michigan’s Capital City has a regional trail network of 30+ miles of trails that serve as a popular destination for recreation and social activities. Trail users can walk, run, bike, or paddle their way around as they experience a wide range of scenery, from dense forest and wildlife to downtown city treasures. Outside of Lansing proper, the trails connect schools and businesses, providing a safe recreation and transportation tool for residents and visitors. These trails connect several communities in the area with a diverse array of cultural histories, including the Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center, an educational center which preserves Anishinaabe history, arts and culture of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi nations. The network continues to the north toward Dewitt, to the south toward Delhi Township, and west toward Delta Township. These connections are integral parts of the trail system, providing a range of opportunities to explore the businesses and communities through which they traverse.