Nice big shaded urban park. The Pride festival meets here every year in June. Very accessible as…read morewell with paths and benches.

Spent another lazy Sunday in the park! I welcome any chance to soak up some sunshine. The tree I…read moresat under kept dropping flowers on my head, so I'll likely bring an umbrella next time.

YE Gurl Says: Franklin Park Lit Up My Night (Literally)…read more Date: September 6, 2025 Place: Franklin Park - Water Lantern Festival (Yelp Contest Winner!) I've been to Franklin Park before for the African Festival, but little did I know there was a gorgeous man-made lake and walking area tucked behind the amphitheatre. Honestly, Columbus needs more events out here--imagine summer concerts lakeside. Come on, Cbus, don't sleep on this! Thanks to a Yelp contest win, I got two tickets to the Water Lantern Festival and was excited to experience it for the first time. I brought the beau, packed a sweater (because yes, sweater-and-jacket weather arrived), and we found a spot to settle in. The experience started with decorating our lanterns--super thoughtful packages that came with a deck of cards and conversation prompts to keep the evening flowing. The event itself was well organized: shuttles helped us avoid the parking madness, there were plenty of food trucks (though I ate beforehand), and the staff kept things moving. The only hiccup was the AV system--it was a little hard to hear, and the lantern launch was delayed due to the chill. But when those lanterns finally floated onto the water, the view was worth it. Beautiful, reflective, and something I can now check off my list as an artistic and soulful evening. YE Gurl checked the box and lit the night!

We love Franklin Park and love doing our family walk time with our doggie Ellie. Absolutely would…read morerecommend taking a stroll on a pretty day, or you could even have a picnic. It's a huge park with an amphitheater, cascade waterfalls, a community garden, an Asian-inspired garden, a playground, a picnic shelter, and ponds stocked for fishing. The park is also the home of the annual Columbus Asian Festival, the Franklin Park Adventure Center, and the amazing Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

I've always wanted to live near farm land, as it's my ideal dream home. Therefore this park then…read morebecomes the next place that comes up in that conversation where I take my pet besides my dream home, the Prairie Oaks Metro Park of course! Prairie Oaks reminds me of the days when I was a child and would wander free running much like my dog around parks. I truly miss those good ole days but try to relive my childhood through my pet who is much like a little child. This park has over so many acres of land for dirt paths, woods, ponds, etc. What is there not to love about this place? Except why I don't live nearby! I swear if this was much conveniently closer, Bella and I would be visiting this place on a daily basis for walks and play time. There's nothing like being in a metro park with fresh air and beautiful nature surrounding you. I cannot wait to come back here during a nice beautiful day with my husband and dog Bella enjoying what nature has to offer at Prairie Oaks Metro Park.

So I've got this dog-mom guilt, and I feel horrible if I go somewhere to enjoy the outdoors, and I…read morecan't take my dog with me. Many of the Metro Parks, though you can take your furry friend, do not allow pets on many of the trails. And if they do, it's a boring paved trail. Not at Prairie Oaks! This place loves dogs! Pets are allowed on basically every trail- and some are gravel, some are beautiful dirt paths, all through the woods and around the ponds and through the prairies- simply gorgeous!! There is even an off-leash area where your pup can hop in the water and splash around! I've always though this park to be too much of a drive, so I hadn't gone until now. But it's only ten miles outside the West Outerbelt, and only about a mile off the freeway- very convenient, and you feel like you're much farther away from the city than you are. I can't wait to go back. Maybe I'll go today!

This seems to be called both Beechwold Park and Beechwold Nature Preserve in the Columbus city…read moresites and new nature preserve booklet, in which it is featured. This is a really lovely little area nestled within a neighborhood. There is plentiful street parking. You can stroll along the trail along the top of the ravine, or head down into the stream and walk around down there. On our recent visit, it was a bit snowy/icy, so we kept to the top trail to enjoy the lovely, quiet woods with its large trees and look down at the stream. We'd love to go back and head down into the ravine sometime. There's also a neat rustic bridge at one end of the park (easy to find since it is conveniently located on a road named for it - Rustic Bridge Road). The trails are not long, so this is more of a cute neighborhood park to enjoy as opposed a place to go for a long hike/run.

Beechwold Park is a cute little ravine in the middle of Old Beechwold. However, walking around the…read moreneighborhood will be a more interesting trip than walking down the ravine and out the other side - that would take less than 2 minutes. If you're looking for a park to play, or walk a pet, this isn't it, but if you want a jumping off point for a nice neighborhood stroll, I think it's a decent option.

This park can be found hidden beneath the streets of Clintonville residents, down in the ravine,…read morewhere water flows and wildlife takes over. I would have never known this was here if a friend didn't live nearby and tell me all about it. On my visit I accessed the park by traveling down some steep stairs and crossing a little bridge that gets you across the small creek that runs through. I quickly discovered a handful of miniature trails that sprawl out from the center of the park and into the little crevasses of the neighborhood bordering the area. I noticed a good number of other park goers, several super happy pups, and unfortunately a ton of trash. This is obviously what caused me to dock a star from my rating, such a bummer. Clean up after yourself people, there was seriously trash everywhere. My favorite part about this park is the tunnel with the giant birds painted across it. The acoustics once you're inside are major and during my visit there was a young man playing a flute. The sound carried so beautifully, it made my day. My second favorite part was spotting an owl high up in a tree. Owls are definitely my spirit animal, so cool! I'll definitely be back to this park. Fingers crossed it's cleaned up a bit.

Glen Echo is a fun ravine to explore, nestled amongst the streets of Clintonville. You can walk…read morethere if you're in the area, or use street parking. There are a few different ways to enter the park - pay attention to signage indicating private property areas and to when some entrances are closed (i.e. during the winter, the steps may be closed if ice is a concern). There's a main path running through the park, next to which are various signs explaining the history and nature of the area, which runs into the tunnel with the beautiful bird paintings, which is, unfortunately, showing its age these days. Other paths branch off, allowing you to explore the nearby woods, and you can also go down what used to be an old street and enjoy that too. It's a nice place to explore near the city!

As others have mentioned, this is a smaller park, but it is a nice way to enjoy a bit of greenspace…read moreand history near the Ohio State campus. It is located down in the Iuka Ravine. There is a very nice picnic area with tables and trash cans available, and a small path through the woods. You can extend the walk nearby, strolling down the historic brick roads and looking at the neat bridges that span the Iuka ravine. It's a nice spot to check out if you're already enjoying the area.

This lovely park is nestled right next to OSU campus and I enjoy this little green park to do some…read morebird watching or sketching when its warm. There are tons of trees and beautiful shaded areas to sit and relax. It's cool to walk through day or night. I see tons of students using it. Crochet art, some cool vandalism under the bridges as well as a myriad of birds watching you. They must be use to us! A ton of the homes feature bird feeders so I guess they have a good reason to stick around. So peaceful and so chill. It's amazing.

As usual, this is mainly for the playground. But the park is nice, with lots of open, pleasant…read moregreen space, a huge shelter, ball fields and courts, plenty of parking, etc. The playground is great. Several areas, for all ages. One of those dance game machines, a toddler area, swings, areas for bigger kids, etc. It was a barely-warm late fall day so we couldn't stay long, but we will definitely be back.

Had a great experience today at Hannah Park with my 2 year old cousin. Only complaint is that the…read moreplayground set is a little too old for her but I really liked the variety of items. I have been to Hannah Park before and I really enjoy the tennis courts and they have a community garden. You should definitely check out this park if you're in the area

The Presidential Oak Grove, which is technically Hanby Park, is a small park located in Westerville…read morebehind the Westerville Public Library. Parking for the park is either on the street, or you can try to find a spot in a parking lot which is accessible from Walnut Street. While the park is small, it crams quite a bit into a very small footprint. The park contains a pretty awesome playground. Some of the play sets are pretty futuristic and have some really awesome designs. This was nothing like I had growing up. We had that crazy, squeaky merry go round that you would spin as fast as possible to see who flew off first, or threw up, and the half dome jungle gym which for some reason was always placed over a concrete slab. This park has a fort, some awesome swings, and a great fountain feature you turn on with the palm of your hand. In addition to the play ground, this park has an ingeniously designed shelter, throwing back to a train depot, and the bricks are laid out to look like a pair of railroad tracks. There are also water fountains and a bathrooms on the read of this shelter, along with several plaques giving you historical tidbits. This small park is also a launch point for portions of the Erie to Ohio trail which pass through Westerville, namely Towers trail, which has several branches, including one that leads to the nearby Hoover Reservoir. Most notably, and the namesake, are a grove of oak trees, 8 of which have a plaque in honor of each of the United States Presidents which came from Ohio. An additional oak tree has a plaque which states "Who will be next?"

I think this is a pretty cool park. They built it just a few years ago so it's pretty new, or at…read moreleast parts of it are new. There's history about an old train station that used to be there. There's a bunch of picnic tables under an awning and also some picnic tables out in the sunshine. There's a park with a climbing wall type structure that looks pretty cool. I'm almost 30 so there's no way I've gotten the courage to climb it yet. Maybe one day. Lol There's a few different jungle gym pieces and quite a few swings. Also a handicap swing which is so neat and inclusive. There's a little water park for the kids in the summertime and large swing benches along the water park which are fun to sit on in any weather. It's very relaxing there and we sometimes take books or snacks and sit in the grassy patch to enjoy watching life go by on nice sunny days. There's a Dairy Queen right down the road from here so sometimes we walk there first and bring treats back to enjoy in the park. Our pup likes the kids size peanut butter sundae best. There really is a lot jampacked in a small area here but this is a pretty neat park to have close to home. If I had kids I could definitely see myself spending a day here. Kids seem to love the water park that shoots water out of the ground. I mean, how could they not love that?! Lol I love it and I'm an adult! There is plenty of parking on the street in the neighborhood and also right behind the library. There's so much parking behind the library.