A tour of Lansing’s “Destination Parks”
by Melanie Jongsma
LANSING, Ill. (July 30, 2021) – Lansing is graced with at least 19 parks throughout the community, and nine of those have been designated as “Destination Parks” by the Lan-Oak Park District. The Lansing Journal visited each of those nine Destination Parks and created a video tour of them. The map below the video provides an overview of where the Destination Parks are located in Lansing.
Lan-Oak Park (beginning at 0:32)
- Location: 180th and Arcadia
- Destination features: Cornhole, horseshoes, large playground
- Related articles:
- Community gathers for July 3 fireworks at Lan-Oak Park (July 2021 article)
- Bringing beauty: Lansing Garden Club adds patriotic plants at Lan-Oak Park (June 2021 article)
Bock Park (beginning at 1:38)
- Location: 175th and Chicago Avenue
- Destination features: Dog park, skateboard park
- Related articles:
- Lansing dogs and owners mingle at dog park Grand Opening (October 2018 article)
- Dog park opens; Grover Hoffman is first known user (September 2018 article)
- Facebook Group for dog park members
Potts Park (beginning at 3:05)
- Location: 172nd, west of Oakwood Avenue
- Destination features: Bocce ball
- Related article:
- Potts Park playground equipment installed (October 2017 article)
Copper Muggers Park (beginning at 3:49)
- Location: 177th and Bernadine Street
- Destination features: Pickleball
- Related article:
- Pickleball comes to Lansing, Illinois (September 2017 article)
Winterhoff Park (beginning at 4:30)
- Location: Roy Street and 180th Street
- Destination features: Musical instruments
- Related article:
- Sure to be a hit: Winterhoff Park gets music-themed addition (January 2019 article)
Van Laten Park (beginning at 5:20)
- Location: 183rd and Holland Drive
- Destination features: StoryWalk
- Related article:
- Van Laten Park updates include “StoryWalk” (September 2017 article)
Oakley Park (beginning at 6:18)
- Location: 184th and Oakley Avenue
- Destination features: Interactive app
- Related article:
Rotary Park (beginning at 7:14)
- Location: 193rd and Sherman Street
- Destination features: Tennis courts
- Related article:
- Tennis court resurfacing at Rotary Park complete (September 2017 article)
Erfert Park (beginning at 7:42)
- Location: 188th and Burnham Avenue
- Destination features: Fishing pond, sledding hill
Destination Parks overview
Other parks in Lansing, Illinois
The full list of Lansing’s parks — and the various amenities available at each — is available from Lan-Oak Park District as a downloadable PDF:
- Lansing Park Directory (PDF)
Wonderful posting, Melanie & Josh! I had NO idea we had so many beautiful parks here in town. I hope lots of people read/listen to this article. Thanks much for sharing – I’m leaving right now, for a park!! 🙂
Thank you Barb! Josh and I had fun shooting this video, and we are glad to know it is providing useful information to Lansing residents.
Well done video. You’ve done your homework. Bock Park has issues though, like the gutters falling apart on the shelter and a glass strewn parking lot. I’ve reported these items, to no avail.
Erfert would be a great destination for the cruise nights, instead of clogging up Ridge road, in my opinion.
Why the name change to Lions Park?
Thanks for the kudos, Eb. I don’t remember all the specifics behind the name change at Lions Park, but I’ll share what I can. The Copper Muggers had a different Lansing park named after them, but that park was near a school (possibly Reavis?), and when the school needed to expand, the park district ceded the land to them. The Lansing Lions Club already had an area on the south end of town with a couple of baseball fields. That area is known as Lions Stadium. The park district added a park near Lions Stadium and named it Lions Park, and they “gave” the former Lions Park to the Copper Muggers.