Rouge Park once had over nine miles of hiking trails.  The first trail was the Wildwood Trail built in 1935 by the  Conservation Committee of the Louisa St. Clair NSDAR, and dedicated in 1936 in honor of Odawa ornithologist and woman's rights advocate, Etta S. Wilson who inspired the trail.  Around the same time, the Scout Hollow Campground was immensely popular with Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and other youth groups, and a hiking loop encircled the campground connecting to the Brennan Pools, the Wildwood Trail and later to  the Joe Prance Day Camp when it began in 1947.  In 1957, the Nature Center opened in the Joe Prance area and Detroit City staff naturalists offered junior naturalist and junior forester programs, and nature hikes on all the trails. 

The Friends of Rouge Park developed the new Prairie Pathway in 2010 and restored the Stone Bridge Nature Trail in 2016. They developed the Automotive History Interpretive Trail and restored the first section of the Scout Hollow Trail in 2018. Work has been ongoing to restore all of original trails and to remove non-native invasive plant species through the park.  If you are interested in volunteering, sign up here.  The Rouge Park Hiking Club is a Friends of Rouge Park member-led club. Our vision is to bring hiking back to Rouge Park as a way to build community by reconnecting with nature and promote fitness in the natural wonderland that is Rouge Park.