COLUMBUS OUTDOOR GUIDE

Embrace the beauty awaiting you throughout the city’s magnificent park system.

Nature Trails

Admire the soaring majesty exhibited by the bald eagles nesting at Highbanks Metro Park, named for the 100-foot-tall bluffs overlooking the Olentangy River. Then, pay a visit to the bison roaming freely in two enclosed pastures at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, which has 7,000 acres of forests, prairies and wetlands. Put bike pedal to the metal while cycling the paved Olentangy Trail, winding more than 20 miles through neighborhoods filled with historic and cultural sites; or on the 12.2-mile Scioto Greenway Trail, offering breathtaking views of the Columbus skyline. Don’t forget to use the Columbus Outdoor Trails Pass, where you can check in at different stops and find even more trails to explore.

Water Escapes

Chart your course in boating, kayaking or fishing on the city’s celebrated waterways. Head to Alum Creek State Park for an exhilarating day of jet skiing, or find solitude while fishing in a quiet cove or paddling at your own pace in a kayak that can be rented at Alum Creek Marina. Kayaking is also a popular pursuit along the picturesque route of the Scioto River, which runs through Dublin. Olentangy Paddle offers two-hour guided tours that follow the Scioto Mile in downtown Columbus.

BIRD’S EYE VIEWS

Scale new and memorable heights as you conquer the free 35-foot-high outdoor climbing wall at Scioto Audubon Metro Park, one of the largest in the country. Get a picture-postcard view of the wetlands and waterfowl inhabiting them by climbing the 25-foothigh observation tower at Glacier Ridge Metro Park in Plain City. Take to the skies at ZipZone Outdoor Adventures with unforgettable experiences that include zipline tours and conquering a treetop obstacle course. Be one of the first to experience the thrill of via ferrata, a mountaineering style of rock-climbing that employs steel cables, rungs and ladders, when the attraction — the first one in an urban setting — opens at Quarry Trails Metro Park this spring.