This summer most of our usual go-to things to do are not available. This has helped us discover some new parks in the Columbus area and rediscover some that we had forgotten about. There are still many things to do around town – and many of them are inexpensive or free. It just takes a little bit of exploring and thinking differently than you usually do.
Here are some of our favorite places to explore this summer, along with a couple of our previous favorites that we hope to get back to once things are slightly closer to normal.
Alum Creek
The Alum Creek park has one of the biggest beaches in Ohio. We’ve gone there multiple times this summer. Just pack up a picnic lunch (or supper) along with snacks and water bottles and enjoy a day on the water. They have a pool house right by the beach including showers you can use to wash off the sand and bathrooms. There is also a playground with rocks to climb on next to the pool house so if the kids get tired of swimming, they can go play for a while.
Battelle Darby Creek
This is one of my favorite parks in the area and discovering it was like a gateway into how much the parks in Columbus have to offer. It has miles of trails – and significant portions of the trails run right by large creeks and under a railroad bridge. There is also a rusted out truck in the middle of the woods that makes you wonder how it got there.
For those with kids, there are multiple playgrounds spread throughout the park as well as a stream study area with steps that let you climb right into the creek to see what kind of fish and other critters you might be able to find.
There is also an area near a parking lot to drop canoes off, bike trails, and multiple spots that are good for fishing. They also have “Natural Play Areas” which are basically dirt trails that take you through the woods to explore.
During the winter they have an available sledding hill and nearby cross-country skiing trail.
Last but not least they have trails going through meadows that are fenced in areas that house bison. Who would have expected that in the middle of Ohio?
Gantz Park
Gantz Park is another one we’ve known about for a while. It is one of the smaller parks we enjoy, but it is packed with things to do.
One of the best known things about Gantz Park is the Gardens at Gantz which features various flowers and other plants that are often found in gardens in the area. They also have a couple that are recreations of gardens that people historically had in the past.
The park also features trails that loop through the trees near the creek and also by the tennis courts and arboretum – a field full of all different kinds of trees each labeled with what they are.
Gantz also redid their playground in the last few years and has a good-sized shelter house right next to the playground allowing parents or other family members to relax while their kids play on the playground.
On the other side of the shelter house not too far away is a shallow creek that is full of minnows, pond skaters, and if you look hard enough – crawdads. You would be surprised at how much entertainment a bucket, a couple of nets, and a stream can provide for children.
Fryer Park
Fryer Park is the park surrounding the Grove City YMCA and offers many things to do. They have one of the best playgrounds in the area with a nice trail running around it.
Fryer Park also includes a fishing pond, large sledding hill, and (once it is safe to play in again) splash pad.
Scioto Grove
Scioto Grove is one of the newer parks in the area. The playground is mostly cargo nets to climb up and slides to slide down. They are appealing to kids old enough to navigate them. The playground also has swings.
We first revisited Scioto Grove because we had heard it was one of the best places to go exploring their creeks. The creek connects to the Scioto River and has a rope bridge across a small waterfall that forms a pool that is a ton of fun to go swimming in when the weather is hot and pools are all closed.
The park also has miles of trails, canoe access points, an area to fly drones, disc golf course, and catch and release fishing ponds as well as an archery area.
Scioto Mile
Scioto Mile is a park that is made up mainly of a trail that runs along the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. The trail goes right by COSI and many other points of interest in that part of town. During the summers whenever COVID-19 isn’t causing problems the fountain provides a fantastic place for children to play and cool off from the heat.
Homestead
Homestead Park’s main feature for us is the playground which feels more like two playgrounds connected by a tunnel which the kids immensely enjoying playing in.
Along with the tunnel is a trail that crosses over a covered bridge, a replica of a train station, and a scenic pond.
Bonuses
Two things we discovered this summer that aren’t really parks, but we still had fun with.
- Gardening.
This spring we built garden boxes in our backyard and planted strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, carrots, lettuce, green beans, mint, and basil.
- Ohio Caverns
Ohio Caverns was about an hour drive for us and you have to pay admission to get in, but the tour is about an hour, get to see a side of Ohio you don’t get to see every day. Also being somewhere that is in the 50’s year round when it was in the 90’s and super humid was wonderful.