The Complete Guide To Columbus Metro Parks

Columbus has 22 Metro Parks, but many people either don’t know any or only know their closest. This guide puts the whole system on one page with all the info you need to know: where each park is, how big it is, the one thing it does better than the others, when to go, and whether the dog and the kids should come along. Every card links to a deeper Columbus Navigator guide where one exists.

A few things hold across the system. Admission is free at every park. Most parks open at 6:30am and close at 10pm from April through September and at 8pm from October through March, though several close at dark, so it’s always a good idea to check. Leashed dogs are welcome on marked pet trails at almost every park, with one exception that gets its own note below. Metro Parks also runs the greenway trail network that ties many of these parks together.

All 22 Parks At A Glance

Bank Run Metro Park

Where: 1570 Rohr Rd., Lockbourne
Acres: Metro Parks hasn’t published a figure yet
Known for: Two lodges and a 299-person shelter built for big events, plus a 3-mile trail around an old quarry lake
Best season: Once the nature side of the park opens
Dogs: Leashed, on the trail, which closes during some events
Kids: Not yet

Bank Run is the odd one out. The event center opened first and the park around it is still being built, so right now it’s a place you reserve rather than a place you wander. Check the trail status before driving down.

Read about the Bank Run event center

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park

Where: 1775 Darby Creek Dr., Galloway (Cedar Ridge Area); the nature center is at 1415 Darby Creek Dr.
Acres: 7,358
Known for: The bison herd, which roams two fenced pastures along 13 miles of the Big and Little Darby creeks
Best season: Fall for the bison against turning trees, winter for the sledding hill on Alkire Road
Dogs: Yes, on the pet trails, and they can swim at Osprey Lake and in the Pleasant Valley lake
Kids: Yes, with a nature center and a 9-acre natural play area at Indian Ridge

This is the biggest park in the system by a wide margin, and it’s split into several areas with their own parking lots, so pick one before you leave the house. The nature center is the best first stop with kids. The bison pastures are visible from the Darby Creek Greenway and the Camp Chase Trail.

Read the full Battelle Darby Creek guide

Blacklick Woods Metro Park

Where: 6975 E. Livingston Ave., Reynoldsburg
Acres: 652
Known for: The Canopy Walk, a walkway 40 feet up in the trees of a beech-maple forest
Best season: Fall, when the beeches and maples turn under the walkway
Dogs: Yes, on the paved multipurpose trail
Kids: Yes, with a nature center and two playgrounds

Blacklick Woods has one of the last good beech-maple stands in central Ohio and a buttonbush swamp you can cross on a boardwalk. The Canopy Walk closes until noon on the second Tuesday of every month for cleaning, so plan around that. There’s a golf course on the grounds too.

Read the full Blacklick Woods guide

Blendon Woods Metro Park

Where: 4265 E. Dublin Granville Rd., Columbus
Acres: 653
Known for: Thoreau Lake and the Walden Waterfowl Refuge, with two observation shelters and spotting scopes for the ducks
Best season: Winter, when the waterfowl crowd the lake and the wild turkeys are easy to spot
Dogs: Yes, on two grass pet trails
Kids: Yes, and this is the park with the Inclusive Playground and a 10-acre natural play area with a zip line

Blendon Woods is the north-side family park. The Inclusive Playground is built for kids who use mobility devices and is open to everyone outside its reservable hours. There’s also a free 18-hole disc golf course and a nature center with feeders outside the windows.

Read the full Blendon Woods guide

Chestnut Ridge Metro Park

Where: 8445 Winchester Rd. NW, Carroll; the mountain bike trailhead is at 5260 Mason Rd., Canal Winchester
Acres: 486
Known for: The first ridge of the Appalachian foothills, and a 10.5-mile mountain bike trail with 230 feet of elevation change
Best season: Fall, for the view off the ridge
Dogs: Yes, on a half-mile pet loop around the fields
Kids: Yes, with playground equipment at the shelter and a 2-acre fishing pond

Chestnut Ridge is where the flat part of Ohio ends. The ridge tops out around 1,116 feet, and the hiking trails on it are rated moderate to difficult, so it’s a real climb by Columbus standards. Mountain bikers get their own trail on a separate property.

Read the full Chestnut Ridge guide

Clear Creek Metro Park

Where: 185 Clear Creek Rd., Lancaster
Acres: 5,470
Known for: Ohio’s largest state nature preserve, with blackhand sandstone cliffs, hemlocks and the state’s last rhododendron colonies
Best season: Spring for wildflowers, fall for the gorges in color
Dogs: One grass pet trail along the creek; the rest of the park is off limits to pets
Kids: Older kids who can handle rugged trails; there’s no playground

Clear Creek is the closest thing to Hocking Hills inside the Metro Parks system, and it’s about an hour from downtown. The 4,729-acre Allen F. Beck State Nature Preserve makes up most of the park, and off-trail travel isn’t allowed inside it. Cell service is thin, so download a map first.

Read the full Clear Creek guide

Glacier Ridge Metro Park

Where: 9801 Hyland Croy Rd., Plain City
Acres: 1,032
Known for: A boardwalk through the Honda Wetlands and a 25-foot observation tower
Best season: Summer, when the wetland is loud with birds and frogs
Dogs: Yes, on four pet trails plus a 2.5-acre dog park
Kids: Yes, with a 3-acre obstacle course of 12 stations

Glacier Ridge sits on the glacial moraine northwest of Dublin, and most of it used to be farmland, so most of the trails are paved and easy on bikes. There’s a free 18-hole disc golf course here as well.

Great Southern Metro Park

Where: 125 Williams Rd., Columbus
Acres: 70
Known for: Being the newest park in the system. It opened April 1, 2026 as the 21st Metro Park, on the Scioto River along the old riverboat canal land
Best season: Summer, while the obstacle course and fitness stations are dry
Dogs: Yes, on every trail
Kids: Yes, with a playground and a recreation field

Great Southern is small and built for the South Side neighborhoods around it. The overlook mound gives you the river, and the 230-yard obstacle course has a ninja jump and a wall climb. Hours run 7:30am to dark, an hour later than most parks.

Read about the Great Southern opening

Heritage Trail Metro Park

Where: 7262 Hayden Run Rd., Hilliard
Acres: 87
Known for: The trailhead for the 6.1-mile Heritage Rail Trail, and a 4-acre dog park with splash pads
Best season: Summer, when the dog park’s water pads are running
Dogs: Yes, and the fenced dog park has separate sections for active and calmer dogs
Kids: No playground listed; bring bikes for the rail trail

Heritage Trail is more of a trailhead than a destination. The paved rail trail runs from Old Hilliard toward Plain City with a bridle path alongside, and the park is where you park for it.

Highbanks Metro Park

Where: 9466 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center
Acres: 1,204
Known for: A 100-foot shale bluff over the Olentangy River, with an observation deck at the end of the Overlook Trail
Best season: Fall, when the ravines turn and the river is low enough to see the shale
Dogs: Yes, on five pet trails
Kids: Yes, with a nature center, playgrounds and a 15-acre natural play area down to the river

Highbanks is the flagship, and the busiest park on this list. The Overlook and Dripping Rock trails are the ones people come for, and both are rated moderate to difficult. Tributary streams have cut deep ravines across the eastern side of the park, and the shale in them holds large concretions worth looking for.

Read the full Highbanks guide

Homestead Metro Park

Where: 4675 Cosgray Rd., Hilliard
Acres: 43
Known for: A covered bridge, a train station replica and two barns around a 2.5-acre fishing pond
Best season: Summer, for the pond and the sand volleyball courts
Dogs: Yes, on the paved three-quarter-mile loop
Kids: Yes, with play equipment and easy fishing

Homestead is the smallest park on this list and works best as a picnic stop. Its paved trail connects to the 6.1-mile Heritage Rail Trail, so it pairs well with a bike ride from Heritage Trail Metro Park.

Inniswood Metro Gardens

Where: 940 S. Hempstead Rd., Westerville
Acres: 123
Known for: More than 2,000 plant species across a set of themed gardens, including a rose garden and a herb garden
Best season: Spring, when the bulbs and woodland wildflowers come up together
Dogs: No. Pets can’t go past the parking lot, except on the Chipmunk Chatter Trail outside the gardens
Kids: Yes, and the Sisters’ Garden is a 2.8-acre children’s garden with seven gardens inside it

Inniswood is the one park where the dog stays home. It closes earlier than the others too, at 9pm from April through September and 7pm from October through March. The gardens sit inside a nature preserve, so there are woodland trails and boardwalks beyond the planted beds.

Read the full Inniswood guide

Pickerington Ponds Metro Park

Where: 4071 Bowen Rd., Canal Winchester (Glacier Knoll Picnic Area)
Acres: 1,619
Known for: Birdwatching. More than 260 species have been recorded here, and there are observation decks over the ponds and marshes
Best season: Spring and fall migration
Dogs: Yes, on three pet trails
Kids: Yes, with a playground at the Burning Lake picnic area

Pickerington Ponds is quiet on purpose. The permanent wetlands and seasonal ponds pull in migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and a 418-acre state nature preserve inside the park has four decks over the marshes. Bring binoculars and skip the loud picnic.

Prairie Oaks Metro Park

Where: 3225 Plain City-Georgesville Rd., West Jefferson; Darby Bend Lakes are at 2755 Amity Rd., Hilliard
Acres: 2,291, with nearly 500 acres of restored prairie
Known for: The Darby Bend Lakes, the Doggie Beach and the tallgrass prairie in bloom
Best season: Late summer, when the prairie is at full height
Dogs: Yes, on six pet trails, and they can swim at the Doggie Beach in the Darby Bend Lakes area
Kids: Yes, with a 25-acre natural play area around Beaver Lake

Prairie Oaks is the water park of the system. You can canoe or kayak on Beaver Lake and the Darby Bend Lakes, put in on Big Darby Creek at 4275 Amity Road, and let the dog swim afterward. The prairie was restored with seed native to the Darby Plains.

Quarry Trails Metro Park

Where: 2600 Dublin Rd., Columbus (Northern Area); the waterfall entrance is at 2158 Old Dublin Rd.
Acres: 182
Known for: Millikin Falls, a 25-foot waterfall, plus a via ferrata and a sport climbing area on the old quarry walls
Best season: Winter for the sledding hill, fall for the waterfall trail
Dogs: Yes, on every trail, plus a 2-acre dog park split by size
Kids: The sledding hill across from the mountain bike area; no playground listed

Quarry Trails opened as the 20th Metro Park on the site of the Marble Cliff Quarry, which supplied limestone for the Ohio Statehouse. It’s the only park in the system with a via ferrata. The waterfall trail starts with a steep set of steps and ends at an old railway truss bridge over the Scioto.

Rocky Fork Metro Park

Where: 7180 E. Walnut St., Westerville
Acres: 1,096
Known for: An off-leash dog trail, the only one in the system, plus a fenced 1.8-acre dog park
Best season: Any dry day; the off-leash loops turn to mud after rain
Dogs: Yes, and this is their park. Two off-leash loops through the woods and past a wetland
Kids: Yes, with a playground and swings at the Millstone picnic area

Rocky Fork is where north-side dog owners go. There’s a bridle trail for horses with its own trailer lot on Bevelhymer Road, and a set of big wooden chairs facing the open fields where you can sit and watch for deer.

Scioto Audubon Metro Park

Where: 400 W. Whittier St., Columbus
Acres: 119
Known for: A free outdoor climbing wall that reaches 35 feet, with the downtown skyline behind it
Best season: Summer, while the auto-belays are up on the wall
Dogs: Yes, on the trails and in a 1.5-acre dog park with turf sections
Kids: Yes, with play equipment at the picnic shelters and an obstacle course

Scioto Audubon was a brownfield on the river south of downtown before Metro Parks, the city and Ohio Audubon turned it into a park. The climbing wall has bouldering, top rope and lead routes, and you bring your own harness. The Grange Insurance Audubon Center is next door at 505 W. Whittier St.

Read the full Scioto Audubon guide

Scioto Grove Metro Park

Where: 5172 Jackson Pike, Grove City
Acres: 620
Known for: Five backpacking sites and a 3D archery course with foam animal targets, on bluffs over the Scioto River
Best season: Fall, for the bluff overlooks
Dogs: Yes, everywhere. Leashed dogs are allowed in every part of the park
Kids: Yes, with a play area and a small sledding hill

Scioto Grove opened in May 2016 as the 19th Metro Park and is the only one where you can camp on a backpacking site. It has more than 7 miles of trail, several overlook decks and a disc golf course south of the lodge. Canoe and kayak access is on a bend of the river.

Read the full Scioto Grove guide

Sharon Woods Metro Park

Where: 6911 Cleveland Ave., Columbus
Acres: 761
Known for: The 3.8-mile paved loop around Schrock Lake, and oaks more than 250 years old in the Edward S. Thomas State Nature Preserve
Best season: Fall, for the old oaks
Dogs: Yes, on two pet trails
Kids: Yes, with playgrounds at the picnic areas and a 7.5-acre natural play area

Sharon Woods is the workhorse park for Westerville and the northeast side. The paved multipurpose loop is the running and biking track of choice, and the 320-acre preserve inside the park holds eight species of oak. The 11-acre Schrock Lake sits in the middle of it all.

Read the full Sharon Woods guide

Slate Run Metro Park

Where: 1375 State Route 674 North, Canal Winchester
Acres: 1,705
Known for: Slate Run Living Historical Farm, a working 1880s farm with costumed staff, plus nesting sandhill cranes in a 156-acre wetland
Best season: Spring for the farm’s baby animals, fall for the harvest programs
Dogs: Yes, on three pet trails
Kids: Yes, with the farm, a 7-acre natural play area and two children’s fishing docks on Buzzard’s Roost Lake

The farm is the draw. The 1856 farmhouse and the barns are staffed with people doing 19th-century chores, and from January through March some buildings close for winter with programs resuming in April. The rest of the park is grassland, wetland and forest with a 14-acre lake.

Read the full Slate Run guide

Three Creeks Metro Park

Where: 3860 Bixby Rd., Groveport
Acres: 1,100
Known for: The confluence of Alum, Big Walnut and Blacklick creeks, and the junction of two greenway trails
Best season: Summer, for long bike rides in either direction
Dogs: Yes, on seven pet trails, and the city runs a 4-acre dog park in the Sycamore Fields area
Kids: Yes, with a playground and a 12-acre natural play area in a pine forest

Three Creeks is where the Alum Creek Trail ends and meets the Blacklick Creek Trail, which makes it the hub of the southeast greenway system. The park is a partnership with Columbus Recreation and Parks. Herons and owls are regulars, and Heron Pond has its own entrance on Williams Road.

Read the full Three Creeks guide

Walnut Woods Metro Park

Where: 6716 Lithopolis Rd., Groveport (Buckeye Area); Tall Pines is at 6833 Richardson Rd.
Acres: 1,521
Known for: The Tall Pines area, with dramatic stands of pines and sweetgums
Best season: Winter, when the pines are the only green thing for miles
Dogs: Yes, on all five trails, plus a 3-acre dog park for big dogs and a 1-acre one for small dogs
Kids: Yes, with a playground at the Buckeye Area that has a climbing web and boulders

Walnut Woods is two parks under one name. Tall Pines is the photo spot, and Buckeye is the family side with the shelter, the playground and the dog parks. The Buckeye area’s long rows of old nursery trees are worth a walk in spring.

Read about Tall Pines at Walnut Woods

The Greenway Trails

Metro Parks manages most of central Ohio’s greenway trail network with several partner agencies, and the trails are how the parks connect to each other and to downtown. All of them are paved except the Darby Creek Trail, which is crushed gravel. Text “Greenways” to 1-781-728-9542 for closure alerts.

Alum Creek Trail: 24.5 miles, from Westerville south to Three Creeks
Blacklick Creek Trail: 16 miles, linking Pickerington Ponds, Blacklick Woods and Three Creeks
Camp Chase Trail: 12.5 miles, through Battelle Darby Creek, and part of the Ohio to Erie Trail
Darby Creek Trail: 8.3 miles of crushed gravel through Battelle Darby Creek and Prairie Oaks
Heritage Trail: 6.1 miles, from Old Hilliard to Plain City
Downtown Connector Trail: 5 miles, from Fort Hayes along I-670 to the Alum Creek Trail
Olentangy Trail: 15 miles, from Worthington Hills to Confluence Park downtown
Scioto Trail: 10 miles along the Scioto River through Scioto Audubon

Metro Parks lists current hours, closures and program schedules for every park at metroparks.net.