5 Things to do at Blacklick Woods Metro Park

Blacklick Woods Metro Park in Reynoldsburg, Ohio is a great Metro Park to visit with kids! There is a great playground, a nature center and the incredible Canopy Walk!

One of the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, this 652-acre park features beech-maple forests and a buttonbush swamp. The trails we have been on have been tree-covered, which is great on hot days! The park has 5 reservable shelters and several non-reservable shelters throughout the park for a casual picnic.

• Address: 6975 E Livingston Ave, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

Read on to see some of the fun things there are to do at Blacklick Woods!

1. Canopy Walk

The Canopy Walk opened in May of 2024 and there is really nothing else like it in Columbus! What a gem! Of course, this is a popular spot to visit and my best advice is to come early. The Canopy Walk currently opens at 9:00 AM, but please check the website to confirm the most current information.

There are 99 steps from the bottom to the top of the Canopy Walk, which is 40 feet in the air! There is an elevator to make this attraction more accessible. You can walk the boardwalk through the trees and enjoy the view. There are no pets allowed on the Canopy Walk.

The Canopy Walk features a rope bridge, a cargo net and a treehouse for kids to play in. It’s definitely a highlight at Blacklick Woods and you don’t want to miss it when you visit!

2. Nature Center

The Nature Center at Blacklick Woods Metro Park is a fun one for all ages, but especially for kids! There are large windows that overlook bird feeders where you can watch for all kinds of birds and wildlife.

There are lots of activities for kids including a puppet theater, coloring sheets, matching games, toys and puppets and other rotating activities. There are aquariums throughout the space that are home to turtles, toads and more!

A major draw for my kids at the Nature Center is the open aquarium that is home to fish and turtles!

3. Playgrounds

There are a couple of playgrounds at Blacklick Woods. The first one can be found in the Meadows Picnic Area of the park. It’s situated between the Meadows Area and the Ash Grove Picnic Area. It’s the newest playground in the park.

The main play structure has monkey bars, lots of climbing elements for kids to explore and multiple slides.

This playground has two play structures. One for toddlers and one for older kids. There are also swings and a metal zip line. There are also a couple of stand-alone climbing structures for younger kids and the frog is a fun element on the toddler play structure!

Near that same playground area is a Natural Play Area with logs to climb on.

Also in the Meadows Picnic Area is another playground. This one is near the Mulberry area. It’s a fun one, too and my kids enjoyed it!

There were some unique climbing elements and slides on this playground! Check out my list of fun playgrounds at the Columbus Metro Parks if you’re looking for more ideas!

4. Ashton Pond

Ashton Pond is close to the park entrance and the Beech-Maple Lodge. There is a parking lot and short path back to the pond.

There is a dock and a couple of benches. We had a fun time listening for and looking for frogs. We found quite a few!

You can also do catch-and-release fishing here!

5. Buttonbush Trail

If you’d like to take your kids on an easy trail at Blacklick Woods, I recommend Buttonbush Trail which is a half mile loop that begins and ends at the Nature Center.

The trail is gravel and boardwalk and it’s mostly in the woods and shaded. Make sure to check the maps posted along the trail because it does branch off onto another trail at one point and you could end up on a much bigger loop!

Check out my list of kid-friendly trails at the Metro Parks for more easy (and short) trails like this one!

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