COLUMBUS When You Go

River. The Dublin Market brings together local vendors on Saturdays from May through September, while the Dublin Irish Festival draws crowds for music, dance and food in early August.

Outdoors

Experience Columbus has teamed up with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission to create the Columbus Outdoor Trails Pass, spanning 42 destinations. Anyone can sign up for the free digital pass using a mobile phone.

“We want people to get outside, get moving and experience some of the beautiful trails we have on our Central Ohio Greenways,” says Michelle Wilson, director of visitor experience for Experience Columbus. “It also encourages users to walk, bike and paddle, which promotes active transportation as sustainable options.”

The pass includes suggested itineraries that incorporate local businesses along some of the trails, and GPS check-ins via mobile devices enter users into a monthly drawing for a $100 gift card to a local business.

Explore the Heritage Trail in Hilliard, where you can end the day with beers and dinner at the Center Street Market. Cycle past the bison roaming the open prairie at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, spy the bald eagle nest along the 14-mile T.J. Evans Trail or bike the 16-mile Camp Chase Trail that follows railroad tracks and has murals along the route.

One of the more unique experiences on the Trails Pass is the new urban via ferrata at Quarry Trails Metro Park The park, which opened in 2022, is fashioned out of a former quarry on the city’s west side. Following the success of the climbing wall at Scioto Audubon Metro Park, park managers were looking for ways to create a new climbing experience in Columbus.

Via ferrata is Italian for “iron pathway,” explains Liz Christian, marketing and social media specialist for Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks.

“Ours is the first urban outdoor via ferrata,” she says. “What you see at Quarry Trails is a bunch of iron rungs that you climb across. You’re clipped into cables that are seated three-to-four feet into the rock.” The 1,040 feet of cabled via ferrata includes a 90-foot suspension bridge.

Learn more about other destinations and events in Columbus at experiencecolumbus.com.

Downtown

Columbus Clippers milb.com/columbus

Columbus Commons columbuscommons.org

COSI cosi.org

The Junto thejuntohotel.com

Scioto Mile sciotomile.com

Events

CAPA Summer Movie Series capa.com

Columbus Arts Festival columbusartsfestival.org

Columbus Pride Festival columbuspride.org

Dublin Irish Festival dublinirishfestival.org

Festival Latino festivallatino.net

Jazz & Rib Fest hotribscooljazz.org

Picnic with the Pops columbussymphony.com

NEIGHBORHOODS & NEARBY

Dublin visitdublinohio.com

Franklinton experiencecolumbus.com/ neighborhoods

German Village germanvillage.com

Grandview destinationgrandview.org

Short North shortnorth.org

Outdoors

Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park metroparks.net

Columbus Outdoor Trails Pass experiencecolumbus.com/outdoortrails

Quarry Trails Metro Park metroparks.net