Archery

Bring out your inner Robin Hood or Katniss Everdeen and fly your arrows at giant foam animal targets on our 3D archery course at Scioto Grove Metro Park, which boasts 12 monster targets set along two trails. If you prefer a more conventional archery experience, Scioto Grove’s traditional archery course includes 16 targets with circular target points, spread out at four different distances to offer a progressive challenge.

Backpacking

Enjoy 10 miles of primitive backpacking trails at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park along the Big and Little Darby Creeks, or sign up for one of our four overnight backpacking sites. For additional information or to make a reservation for one of the overnight backpacking sites at the park, visit our page at SignUpGenius.

Try backpacking at Scioto Grove Metro Park, whether you’re just getting into the sport or you’re an experienced backpacker looking for a quick overnight experience close to home. To reserve a backpacking experience at Scioto Grove along the REI River Trail, visit our page at SignUpGenius. Backpacking is available at Scioto Grove every weekend (Friday and Saturday nights), from the first weekend in April through the last weekend in October.

Biking

Fresh air and beautiful scenery! That’s what you want when you’re out biking. Metro Parks has about 75 miles of trails that provide both to you in abundance. Nearly all of our trails are paved, closed to traffic and up to 12 feet wide. The Darby Creek Greenway Trail at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park and Prairie Oaks Metro Park provides an alternative with its very flat and stable gravel surface. Enjoy a bike ride with friends or family on the bike trails at any of the following 14 parks. (You can also ride on park roads and on picnic area paths).

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Boating

Bring your motorboat downtown and launch it on the Scioto River from the boat ramp at Scioto Audubon Metro Park. This is the only place you can use a motorized boat at Metro Parks, but Prairie Oaks is the place for you if you want to get out on the water in a small sail boat or other non-motorized craft. Head to the park’s Beaver Lake or Darby Bend Lakes to put out on the water in your non-motorized craft.

Canoeing / Kayaking

Bring your canoe or kayak down to one of our creek or river access points and enjoy hours of fun floating on a central Ohio waterway. You can float on Big Darby Creek from Prairie Oaks and from Battelle Darby Creek, which has canoe access to Little Darby Creek as well. You can float on the Olentangy River from access points at Highbanks, or on the Scioto River from both Scioto Audubon and Scioto Grove Metro Parks. At Three Creeks you can take to the water in your canoe or kayak on Alum Creek and take out on Big Walnut Creek. There are also two access points to Walnut Creek from the Buckeye Area at Walnut Woods.  If you prefer still water rather than flowing water for your canoeing or kayaking, you can float on Osprey Lake at Battelle Darby Creek, on Beaver Lake or Darby Bend Lakes at Prairie Oaks or in Turtle Cove or on Swan Lake at Quarry Trails.

Canopy Walk

Rising 40 feet into the air at Blacklick Woods, this wide boardwalk loops for an eighth-of-a-mile through the canopy of trees, including maples, beech, shagbark hickory and various oaks. The walk affords fabulous views of the surrounding beech-maple forest and parkland, and is great for birdwatching. An elevator provides easy access to the Canopy Walk, making it ADA accessible for wheelchair users. The boardwalk is also accessible via steps. There is an even higher viewing platform, above the elevator tower, standing 55 feet above the forest floor. Access to the viewing platform is by further steps. There are a total of 99 steps from the forest floor to the top-most viewing platform. The Canopy Walk also includes features for adventure or relaxation. Navigate the three rope bridges, relax in the hammock-style cargo net, or seek shade or play in the large treehouse, which includes climbing apparatus and a fireman’s pole. The Canopy Walk is completely free to use and is open every day, from 9am to 7pm during the months April to September, and 9am to 5pm from October through March (except for regularly scheduled sessions for cleaning and maintenance – see below).

The Canopy Walk will be closed until noon on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month, for necessary cleaning and maintenance.

Cross-Country Skiing

When the snow comes down thick and fast, cross-country skiers love to head out to a Metro Park and get a workout on the trails. Cross-country skiers are welcome to use any Metro Parks trail when snow conditions permit skiing, but five parks have dedicated trails that are reserved solely for cross-country skiing. The five parks are Battelle Darby Creek (Dyer Mill Ski Trail), Blendon Woods (Sugarbush Trail), Glacier Ridge (Savannah Trail), Highbanks (Coyote Run and Scenic River Trails) and Prairie Oaks (Bridle and Coneflower Trails).

Day Camps

Scout and youth groups love Metro Parks’ three day camps: the fabulous Camp Sugarbush at Blendon Woods, the exciting Dragonfly Day Camp at Highbanks and the terrific Camp Starview at Slate Run. Scout groups can reserve these wonderful facilities for day camping and even for overnight camping. Other youth and church groups can reserve the camps too, but for day camping only.

Disc Golf

Forget the clubs, putters and dimpled golf balls. Experience the fun of disc golf instead at one of our 18-hole disc golf courses. It’s free to play. Just bring your golf discs with you and fling your way to birdies, pars or bogeys at our Blendon Woods, Glacier Ridge and Scioto Grove disc golf courses.

Fishing

Get out your fishing gear and head out to one of 13 Metro Parks where you can spend a few quiet hours engaged in this most tranquil and yet absorbing activity. An Ohio fishing license is required to fish rivers and creeks, but you won’t need a license to fish those Metro Parks ponds and lakes that are available for catch-and-release fishing. Age and bait restrictions vary and are posted at fishing docks.

Fitness

Walk or run in a Metro Park and you’ll derive both physical and emotional health benefits from the experience. At two parks, we’ve added exercise stations so you can expand your fitness routine while still enjoying the immeasurable benefits of being outdoors in a natural setting. The fitness stations at Blacklick Woods and Sharon Woods are just off each park’s Multipurpose Trail.

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Golf

Head out to Blacklick Woods Golf Course and experience one of the highest rated public golf facilities in Ohio. The 18-hole Championship Course is a true test for experienced golfers, and fun for beginners too, to help broaden and improve your game. The Golf Course also features a 9-hole Learning Course for families and beginning golfers, plus a full-service driving range and a 30,000 square-foot practice putting green with three bunkers to test your sand iron play, and a separate 3-hole practice course to hone your game ready for your tee time. The Course has been certified as a Cooperative Sanctuary by Audubon International because of our comprehensive environmental management practices and protection of wildlife habitats. It truly is an area where both birds and birdies are in abundance.

Horseback Riding

Giddy-up and get down to one of five Metro Parks that feature a trail dedicated solely to horse riding. All the trails have a staging area with horse-trailer parking. The bridle trails are from 2-5 miles up to 5.7 miles long, and take you through woods and fields and acres of beautiful scenery.

Ice Skating

When it’s cold enough for water to freeze, Metro Parks has two sure-fire (or should that be sure-ice) winners for those people who love to strap on their skates and take to the ice in the beautiful outdoors. The skating ponds at Battelle Darby Creek and Blendon Woods Metro Parks are shallow and safe, and at around half an acre in area, there’s plenty of room for skaters to glide across the surface. We make sure there are at least 4 inches of solid ice across the entire area of the pond before opening the skating ponds to the public. Check our social media to see if the skating ponds are open, or call 614-370-6254 for the skating pond at Battelle Darby Creek, and 614-620-1861 for the skating pond at Blendon Woods.

Mountain Biking

At Chestnut Ridge, the Mountain Bike Trail built by volunteers of the Central Ohio Mountain Bike Organization (COMBO) features steep climbs and descents through the woods and includes a 5-mile inner loop for beginner or intermediate riders, with a 4-mile outer loop designed with more advanced riders in mind. There are also separate special loop sections designed for expert riders only, such as the gravity flow More Cowbell Trail. The entire Mountain Bike Trail is reserved solely for mountain biking. Metro Parks has created a second mountain bike area at Quarry Trails Metro Park, which extends for three-quarters of a mile over rugged terrain and features several artificial obstacles to add intrigue and variety to your ride.

Natural Play Areas

Natural Play Areas are adventure playgrounds in nature designed to bring out your inner child. At eight Metro Parks, we’ve created natural play areas that encourage kids of any age to climb trees, build forts, wade in creeks and interact with the natural environment as an unstructured playground to increase their connection to nature.

Nature Centers

Four of our parks feature a nature center, great places to drop in and learn more about the park and it’s features. Take a break from the heat, or the cold, according to season, and enjoy display materials or interactive exhibits, or take a seat at one of the nature viewing windows and get an up-close view of birds and other wildlife at the park’s feeders.

Nature Preserves

Five Metro Parks feature areas that have been dedicated as state nature preserves, recognizing their importance in terms of Ohio’s natural history and granting them protection by the state as natural areas. The areas include the largest state nature preserve in Ohio, the 4,729-acre Allen F Beck State Nature Preserve in Clear Creek Metro Park.

Obstacle Course

Fitness enthusiasts with a will to challenge themselves should head out to Glacier Ridge or Scioto Audubon Metro Parks to tackle the multiple obstacles, including tunnel crawls, balance beams, monkey bars and other tests to get your heart pumping and boost both your fitness and sense of achievement. Both courses are surrounded by a running track so you can gear up, or gear down, and get ready to try the free obstacle course over again.

Pets

Metro Parks has sought to find a balance that allows us the flexibility to maintain our mission of conservation, provide trail access to certain natural areas reserved for passive recreation such as hiking and birdwatching, while also recognizing the increasing call from pet owners for places where they can bring their animals. To that end, Metro Parks now provides leashed-pet-access to designated trails at all 20 Metro Parks, has fenced-in dog parks at six parks, and provides dog-swimming areas at two parks. The annual WagFest at Prairie Oaks also bears testament to Metro Parks’ willingness to provide facilities and events for pet lovers and their pets, as is also demonstrated by our popular Howl at the Moon Hikes, plus our work with Friends of Metro Parks to organize regular Yappy Hour events. Dogs may be by far the most common leashed pets on trails at Metro Parks, but it ain’t just Fido who’s welcome on them. Per our Rules and Regulations, leashed cats are welcome on the trails too, so don’t forget Whiskers when you head out to one of our pet trails.

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Picnicking

In addition to our reservable shelters and lodges, Metro Parks provides a fantastic range of free to use shelters and grills for picnics or parties. There are 68 shelters available on a first-come, first-served basis, all of them with grills, seating mostly from 16 up to 80 people, although the Buzzard’s Roost Picnic Area at Slate Run can seat up to 200 people.

Play Areas

Most picnic areas include free play equipment such as swings, slides and climbing structures.

Rock Climbing

Climbing Wall
Grab your climbing harness and head downtown to Scioto Audubon Metro Park to get your climbing fix on the mid-West’s largest free outside climbing wall. Reaching a height of 35 feet, the climbing wall has four auto belays and features three towers and two arches for challenging top-rope and bouldering climbs.

Via ferrata
Quarry Trails Metro Park’s via ferrata is the first known urban via ferrata in the United States. Via ferrata is an Italian phrase that means “iron path.” Quarry Trails’ via ferrata route includes 1,040 feet of cabled climbing using metal rungs, ladders and fixed cables as a means of climbing over intermediate rocky terrain. The route includes a 90-foot treadway suspension bridge situated 105 feet above a scenic pond, two aerial walkways and a 54-foot steel staircase.

Due to the unique nature of the via ferrata, access is only available through program registration. Visitors can enjoy the via ferrata on fully guided programs by reservation with the Metro Parks Outdoor Adventure team.

Register for Via Ferrata

Sledding

When the snow obliges, there’s no greater fun and free winter activity than to get out your sled, clamber to the top of a Metro Parks sledding hill and just go! All the sledding hills are monitored by park staff for safety and to make sure everyone has a great time.