Fall is the season Columbus does best, and the parks are where it shows.
Color around Columbus usually holds through the end of October and into early November. Here’s when the leaves change in Columbus if you want to time a trip to the peak.
Every hike below is within about 45 minutes of downtown. Each entry names the one trail to take for color, with mileage and difficulty taken from the park’s own trail list. Drive times are from City Hall on a weekday.
| Park | Trail for color | Miles | Difficulty | Drive from downtown |
| Highbanks | Overlook Trail | 2.3 | Moderate to difficult | 25 min |
| Clear Creek | Hemlock Trail | 1.5 | Difficult | 43 min |
| Chestnut Ridge | Ridge Trail | 1 | Moderate to difficult | 27 min |
| Blendon Woods | Sugarbush Trail | 1.2 | Moderate to difficult | 17 min |
| Battelle Darby Creek | Terrace Trail | 2.1 | Moderate to difficult | 25 min |
| Slate Run | Covered Bridge Trail | 0.5 | Easy | 31 min |
| Shale Hollow | Great Horned Owl Trail | 1 | Moderate | 32 min |
| Blacklick Woods | Beech Trail | 0.7 | Easy | 23 min |
| Scioto Grove | REI River Trail | 1.8 | Easy | 16 min |
| Quarry Trails | Millikin Falls Trail | 0.6 | Easy | 14 min |
Highbanks Metro Park
Highbanks offers a variety of trails for a variety of skill levels. But the best trail in the fall has got to be the Coyote Run trail. In the winter, this 3.5-mile trail is reserved for cross-country skiing, but in the fall, it takes guests through all sorts of terrain, including woods and fields. Coyote Run has a difficulty ranking of moderate. For the big view, add the Overlook Trail: 2.3 miles of gravel through a state nature preserve to an observation deck 100 feet above the Olentangy River, rated moderate to difficult. Dogs are welcome on Coyote Run but not on the Overlook Trail.
Location: 9466 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center
Website: Highbanks Metro Park
READ MORE: The 8 Best Things To Do At Highbanks Metro Park
Clear Creek Metro Park
Located about 45 minutes southeast of Columbus, Clear Creek Metro Park has 11 trails to explore across 5,470 acres of sandstone cliffs, ravines and hemlock groves. The Creekside Meadows trail is a 1.7 mile hike that follows the banks of Clear Creek through beautiful, open fields, and leashed dogs are allowed on the 1-mile section west of Starner Road. If you’re looking for a bigger challenge, consider taking the .9 mile Lake Trail to get beautiful views of Lake Ramona from its observation deck, or the 1.5-mile Hemlock Trail, which drops into a steep ravine and climbs back out through hemlocks and ferns. The Creekside Meadows trail is considered easy. Hemlock is rated difficult.
Location: 185 Clear Creek Road, Lancaster
Website: Clear Creek Metro Park
READ MORE: The Most Magical Columbus Metro Park Isn’t In Columbus At All
Chestnut Ridge Metro Park
Chestnut Ridge is the first ridge of the Appalachian foothills, which is how a 486-acre park 27 minutes from downtown ends up with a real climb. Dogs have their own loop here, the 0.7-mile Milkweed Trail around the fields, but the fall hike is the Ridge Trail: a 1-mile gravel and boardwalk loop with a gradual 150-foot ascent through the woods to the top, where the ridge reaches about 1,116 feet. It’s rated moderate to difficult. Black oak and shagbark hickory grow on the upper slopes, so the color up top runs to orange and rust rather than maple red.
Location: 8445 Winchester Road NW, Carroll
Website: Chestnut Ridge Metro Park
READ MORE: The Best Things To Do At Chestnut Ridge Metro Park
Blendon Woods Metro Park
Blendon Woods is 17 minutes from downtown and the closest thing on this list to a proper beech-maple forest, cut by ravines where Ripple Rock Creek has exposed the sandstone. The Sugarbush Trail is the fall pick: 1.2 miles of grass path through the woods that opens onto a meadow, rated moderate to difficult, and full of birds. If the ground is soft, the gravel Brookside and Overlook trails cross the same creek in shorter loops. Keep an eye out for the park’s flock of wild turkeys.
Location: 4265 E Dublin Granville Road, Columbus
Website: Blendon Woods Metro Park
READ MORE: The 9 Best Things To Do At Blendon Woods Metro Park
Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park
There’s nothing like a creekside view of fall, which is why the Terrace trail at Battelle Darby Metro Park is an absolute must-do. This 2.1-mile trail is gravel, traveling along Big Darby Creek for a stretch, before journeying through woodlands. Metro Parks rates it moderate to difficult. I had childhood birthday parties at this park, so I know I’m a little biased, but it is a magical place to explore in Autumn. The bison pastures are along the Darby Creek Greenway if you want to add them.
Location: 1775 Darby Creek Drive, Galloway
Website: Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park
READ MORE: The Best Things To Do At Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park
Slate Run Metro Park
Known primarily for its Living Historical Farm, Slate Run Metro Park also has beautiful, fall scenery. The Covered Bridge trail at Slate Run is probably the easiest hike on this list, but it’s also one of the most stunning. This half-mile trail meanders along a gravel path, with breathtaking views of fall foliage. The Covered Bridge on the trail is a picture-perfect place to stop, grab a selfie, and enjoy the beauty Ohio has to offer. Dogs are allowed, and the Shagbark Trail adds another half-mile loop of forest and meadow at the far end. For hills, the 1.3-mile Sugar Maple Trail crosses Slate Run Creek and several steep climbs.
Location: 1375 State Route 674 North, Canal Winchester
Website: Slate Run Metro Park
READ MORE: Your Complete Guide To Slate Run Metro Park
Shale Hollow Park
Shale Hollow isn’t a Metro Park. It belongs to Preservation Parks of Delaware County, 32 minutes north of downtown, and it’s on this list for the cliffs: 20- to 40-foot walls of Ohio shale lining the creek, with round concretions weathering out of them. The Great Horned Owl Trail is a 1-mile gravel loop, about 45 minutes at a walk, that climbs among the big white and red oaks on top of the cliffs and then loops through meadows. Leashed dogs are fine on it. The Overlook Trail starts at the base of the cliff walk and rises steeply to a spot above a bend in Big Run creek.
Location: 6320 Artesian Run, Lewis Center
Website: Shale Hollow Park
READ MORE: Shale Hollow Park Is A Magical Place To Connect With Nature
Blacklick Woods Metro Park
Blacklick Woods has one of the best remaining beech-maple forests in central Ohio, and the Beech Trail runs straight through it: 0.7 miles of flat gravel, ADA accessible, past a swamp forest at the far end. Beech leaves go gold late and hang on after the maples drop, so this is the hike to save for the first week of November. The Maple Trail (0.9 miles) adds a small wetland and better birding.
Location: 6975 E Livingston Avenue, Reynoldsburg
Website: Blacklick Woods Metro Park
READ MORE: The 7 Best Things To Do At Blacklick Woods Metro Park
Scioto Grove Metro Park
Scioto Grove opened in 2016 on the south side and sits on bluffs above the Scioto River, 16 minutes from downtown. The REI River Trail is the one to take: 1.8 miles of natural-surface path along the river, with stepping stones across a creek and a swinging bridge beside them. It’s rated easy and dogs are allowed. The overlook decks along the bluffs are where the river bottom shows its color.
Location: 5172 Jackson Pike, Grove City
Website: Scioto Grove Metro Park
READ MORE: The 10 Best Things To Do At Scioto Grove Metro Park
Quarry Trails Metro Park
Quarry Trails is the close one: 14 minutes from downtown on the west side, built in an abandoned quarry. The Millikin Falls Trail is 0.6 miles of paved path that starts with a set of steep steps up to an overlook at Millikin Falls, a 25-foot waterfall, and ends at an old railway truss bridge on the Scioto River. It’s rated easy once the stairs are behind you, and dogs are allowed. The Tall Wall Trail adds another 0.75 miles of paved path with views over the north end of the park and the quarry that is still working next door.
Location: 2158 Old Dublin Road, Columbus (waterfall entrance)
Website: Quarry Trails Metro Park
