Choose one of these short trails that will be easy for kids to walk or hike for your next outing in the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks!
Getting outside has been the name of the game this summer and we are enjoying making trips to many of the local Metro Parks! We have discovered so many new areas! It really takes an astute studying of the park maps to figure out where to go and what to do!
I’ve said it before, we have a habit of always parking at the same entrance in most of the parks, therefore we do and see the same things over and over again! Some of the parks are HUGE and we have been missing out on a lot!
This summer I am making an effort to explore new parts of the parks! For instance we discovered where to go creeking at Battelle Darby Metro Park and we finally found the Rope Bridge at Scioto Grove!
I’m taking some of the guesswork out of map reading for all of you and providing this list of trails that are easy for kids to do! These trails are, generally speaking, less than 1 mile and most of them go in a loop. A bonus is the great scenery along the way!
6 Easy Trails for Kids in the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks:
1. Turtle Pond Trail
Park: Three Creeks Metro Park
Distance: .4 miles
Terrain: Gravel
Where to Park: Confluence Trails Area, 3860 Bixby Rd., Groveport, OH 43125
Take a walk around Turtle Pond! The great thing about this trail is that it goes completely around the pond so you always have a great view of the water. This trail is less than a half a mile! It’s also within walking distance of a playground which is always a bonus!
2. River Rock Trail
Park: Prairie Oaks Metro Park
Distance: .7 miles
Terrain: Gravel
Where to Park: Darby Bend Lakes Entrance, 2755 Amity Rd., Hilliard, OH 43026
This is a trail that has a good amount of shady areas and takes a loop around one of the Darby Bend Lakes. I think it’s beautiful here and it’s one of my favorite Metro Park areas!
3. Boardwalk Trail
Park: Inniswood Metro Gardens
Distance: .5 miles
Terrain: Gravel and Boardwalk
Where to Park: Main Entrance, 940 S. Hempstead Rd., Westerville, OH 43081
This path is so beautiful! With so many things to do and see at Inniswood Metro Gardens, I think it can be easy to overlook this trail! I love this trail in the fall because it’s such a great place to see fall colors in Columbus! I mean just look at this picture! I remember it like it was yesterday!
See more about Inniswood Metro Park in: 3 of the Most Unique Parks in Columbus Ohio
4. Lake Trail
Park: Blendon Woods Metro Park
Distance: .3 miles (one way)
Terrain: Paved
Where to Park: Nature Center, Enter at Main Entrance: 4265 E Dublin Granville Rd., Columbus, OH 43081
Take this trail behind the Nature Center to the Thoreau Lake and Walden Waterfowl Refuge. This one doesn’t go in a loop, but it’s an easy there and back for .6 miles. Plus when you get to the lake, there are observation blinds (with binoculars) for watching birds. When we took this trail for the first time it was such a fun surprise! (P.S. that picture above is so old, but it is one of my favorites!)
Read about all there is to do at Blendon Woods here: Exploring Blendon Woods Metro Park
5. REI River Trail
Park: Scioto Grove Metro Park
Distance: less than .5 miles (one way)
Terrain: Dirt
Where to Park: Grove Lodge, Use Main Entrance: 5172 Jackson Pike, Grove City OH 43123
The entire REI River Trail is 1.8 miles, but for kids, I am only recommending the portion of the trail that goes from Grove Lodge to the Rope Bridge. The REI River Trail ends at the Rope Bridge (it becomes the Mingo Trail). We simply cross the bridge and then turn around and go back over it and walk back to Grove Lodge!
6. Edward S Thomas Trail
Park: Sharon Woods Metro Park
Distance: 1.1 miles
Terrain: Gravel
Where to Park: Schrock Lake Picnic Area, Use Main Entrance: 6911 Cleveland Ave., Westerville, OH 43081
This is a nice, shady trail through the Edward S Thomas Nature Preserve. The cool part about the trail is the Wildlife Observation Deck which is just about at the halfway point of the trail. If you want to keep your hike to a mile, you could turn around at this point and head back to the parking area, but going all the way around the loop is just about the same distance.
On our hike we saw 3 wild turkeys, 2 deer and a chipmunk, which made the trail pretty memorable in my kids’ minds!
7. Buttonbush Trail
Park: Blacklick Woods Metro Park
Distance: .5 miles
Terrain: Gravel
Where to Park: 6975 E Livingston Ave, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068, Follow the signs to the Nature Center.
If you’d like to take your kids on an easy trail at Blacklick Woods, Buttonbush Trail is a great one! This trail is only a half-mile loop that begins and ends at the Nature Center. Look for the trail to the left when facing the Nature Center.
The trail is gravel and boardwalk and it’s mostly in the woods and shaded, which is great on hot days. 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!
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