Best Running Routes in Detroit 2026

Detroit has rebuilt much of its running geography from repurposed industrial land, giving runners a genuine mix of riverfront, island and rail-line routes. Here are the best running routes in Detroit for 2026.

The Detroit Riverwalk

The Detroit Riverwalk runs about 3.5 miles of paved, flat, non-motorized path along the Detroit River from West Riverside Park east to Gabriel Richard Park at the MacArthur Bridge, expanding toward 5 miles. It offers unobstructed skyline and river views, with the final East Riverfront stretch, on the former Uniroyal Tire factory site, opened in October 2023, managed by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.

Belle Isle Park

Belle Isle offers a 5.6 mile paved perimeter loop road on a 982 acre island in the Detroit River, now a Michigan state park, flat and paved with interior trails to extend the distance, and waterfront views of both the Detroit skyline and Windsor, Ontario across the river.

The Dequindre Cut Greenway

The Dequindre Cut runs roughly 1.65 to 2 miles on a 20-foot-wide paved path with separate pedestrian and cyclist lanes, connecting Eastern Market to the Riverwalk. It runs below grade and largely traffic-free in the sunken bed of a former Grand Trunk Western Railroad line dating to the 1830s, opened as a greenway in 2009 and known for its street-art walls.

Palmer Park and the Joe Louis Greenway

Palmer Park offers a 2.1 mile loop plus up to 10 miles of interlacing trails across 281 acres in northwest Detroit, on mixed paved and wooded surface, containing some of the last uncut old-growth woodland in the tri-county area. The planned Joe Louis Greenway, a 27.5 mile paved loop connecting the Riverfront, Highland Park, Hamtramck and Dearborn, was about 8.4 miles complete as of 2026 and will eventually absorb the Dequindre Cut and Riverwalk into one city-circling route.

Running the Detroit Free Press Marathon Route

The Detroit Free Press Marathon, run every third Sunday in October since 1978, is billed as the only major marathon that crosses two international borders, heading into Windsor, Ontario over the Ambassador Bridge and returning through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, whose stretch beneath the river is the world's only official underwater international mile.

Practical Guide to Running in Detroit

The Riverwalk and Belle Isle are the most reliable choices for a flat, scenic run; the Dequindre Cut is worth the trip for a genuinely different, art-lined route away from traffic.

This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.