Hike Ohio: Quarry Trails Metro Park

The Columbus metropolitan area population continues to increase. Websites peg the current population at 1,687,000, and every year the area consistently adds another percentage or two of growth to that total. Because people like parks, it’s nice to know that the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is working to meet the hiking, biking, and walking path demand of all of those new residents. Yesterday, on a beautiful and surprisingly warm morning, we decided to check out Quarry Trails Metro Park, the newest member of the 20-park Metro Park family. The park is being built on the site of an old limestone quarry, and adjacent to the site of a currently working quarry that you can see in the photo above, just west of the Scioto River on the border of Upper Arlington.

Quarry Trail is aptly named, because its quarry past (and quarry present) is evident pretty much everywhere you look. You can see the cliff-like walls of the old quarry operations in the far distance, and large rocks were a constant feature as we walked along. The park’s designers are putting the gradations created by the excavations at the old quarry to good use in other ways, too; there are several mountain bike areas that intrepid cyclists were enjoying as we walked past.

Although Quarry Trails formally opened in 2021, it remains very much a work in progress. The trail signs are temporary, and the grounds are littered with construction equipment. Our visit allowed us to get a sense of what the park’s designers were trying to do, and the plans obviously are ambitious. The configuration of the 220-acre park property is unusual, as the park is surrounded not only by the current quarry operations but also by residential neighborhoods. The park property consists of three larger areas connected at narrow points by a trail, and the park designers have worked to make use of every square inch of space.

We followed the connection trail down to a small lake created by the old quarry operations, where there are swinging benches and large rocks that were irresistible leaping-off points for the kids who were there. You can see one of the residential neighborhoods on the east side of the lake in the photo below, and a nice boardwalk area running along the lake’s edge. There were lots of people out and around, and I would guess that many of them came from the surrounding neighborhoods. I expect they are happy to have a scene like this in their backyards.

Parks are important to communities, and are worth the investment and effort. Quarry Trails was made possible because Columbus voters have historically supported funding for parks and recreation. This year, Issue 15–one of a series of bond issues on the ballot–would provide $200 million in funding for parks and recreation activities, including renovation, replacement, and new park and greenway development. I’ll be voting yes on that issue so that new parks like Quarry Trails can continue to come on line and make Columbus an even better place to live.

Green Spaces (VI)

When the Scioto Mile project was first announced years ago, there was a lot of skepticism about whether focusing on Columbus’ sluggish river area could ever produce benefits. I was admittedly one of the skeptics. Now that the project has been completed and had a few years to develop, I’ve become a believer. I think the Scioto Mile has become a really great addition to the roster of Columbus green spaces.

The Scioto Mile is physically different from the traditional downtown Columbus green spaces, like the Statehouse grounds and Goodale Park, because it is a long, sprawling stretch of green that runs along the river rather than being a defined rectangle, which is the configuration of most traditional parks. The length of the park, which runs for more than a mile, gives it a decidedly different vibe than other parks. The uninterrupted walkways that duck under the bridges spanning the river make it a favorite for cyclists, joggers, and walkers, for example. And the extended nature of the park means there is plenty of room for interesting and distinctive spaces. One of my favorites is an area directly behind the federal courthouse that is filled with statues of whimsical creatures positioned along a rolling lawn. Who wouldn’t want to sit down next to a griffin or a unicorn and watch the river roll by?

I’ve got to give credit to the city planners who came up with the Scioto Mile project and then executed on it: it’s definitely had a positive impact on the downtown area and the workers and residents who frequent it.

Green Spaces (V)

Columbus is blessed with two excellent urban parks that bracket the core downtown area. The one to the north is Goodale Park, named for Dr. Lincoln Goodale, who is represented in the statuary bust shown above. Dr. Goodale was a physician, businessman, and civic-minded person who donated the park property to the city of Columbus in 1851 on the condition that it be “forever kept and preserved as a public park.” Fortunately, the city accepted and has kept its word.

Goodale Park is a good example of how a park can become deeply integrated into the surrounding community. It’s the long-time site of Comfest, a convenient watching spot for the Doodah Parade, and an essential feature of the nearby Short North area. It’s also huge, sprawling, and provides plenty of that treasured green space where a person can wander or simply sink down upon the wide green lawns. And it has the best fountain of any Columbus urban park, with its tower of twin elephants spouting water from their trunks into a lake filled with fish and turtles. How can you top that?

Dr. Goodale was a far-sighted person, and generations of Columbus residents owe him a debt of gratitude for giving us a great urban park.

Green Spaces (III)

One of the nicer, and smaller, parks in the downtown Columbus area is located right next to the Grange Insurance headquarters on South High Street. There doesn’t seem to be a sign naming the park, and Google Maps identifies it, simply, as “Grange Insurance South Green.”

That’s actually a pretty apt name for this lush, verdant, quiet, and well-landscaped spot just a few blocks south of the I-70/I-71 highway snarl, where the Grange buildings loom in the background. Most people aren’t aware of it, which is just fine with the locals who like to sit in the shade on one of the benches or take their dogs there for some happy outdoor playtime. In fact, it’s such a popular spot for our canine friends that some German Village residents refer to it as the “Grange Dog Park.”

That’s not quite fair, because the park isn’t only for our pooch pals to enjoy; it’s also a nice stopping point for anyone who is walking down High Street along the border of German Village. It’s not unusual to see visitors to Columbus taking a breather there on one of the benches, looking at a map and deciding where they are going to go next in the German Village/Brewery District area. That’s exactly why parks can play such a notable role in our communities: they send a message about valuing nature and outdoor spaces that resonates with both residents and tourists. I’m pretty sure that any visitor who enjoyed the “Grange Insurance South Green” came away with a more positive view of Columbus than they would have had otherwise.

The Pleasures Of Shade

When you travel through Sicily during the late spring and summer, you realize that two things can really make a difference: a good quality water bottle, and some decent shade.

This park along the beachfront in Mazara del Vallo was a splendid example of the wonders of shade. The park consisted of palm trees, which don’t supply much in the shade category, and some huge, twisty trees that cast plenty of shade and also produced a nifty pattern on the park’s grounds. When you entered the canopy of tree limbs and leaves, you left the realm of blazing sunshine and entered a shadowy world where you could sit on a bench, enjoy a slight breeze, and take a cool, refreshing quaff from your water bottle. The area was so pleasant that one guy we passed on our way to a bench complained that another gentleman had been doIng on the bench for four hours.

A hot day when everything is sun-bleached, shade and water are much appreciated.

Green Spaces

When you live in a downtown space, you inevitably see a lot of steel and concrete. Green spaces are therefore a welcome sight, just to inject a little color variety into the urban landscape. But green spaces also are essential if you hope to encourage people to live downtown, which is an obvious goal of Columbus city planners.

People need green spaces to romp around with their dogs, as a woman in the far distance was doing when I took the picture above, to sit on the grass on a warm, sunny day, eat a carryout or food truck lunch, and just stop for a minute and take in their surroundings. Green spaces can go a long way toward improving the urban dweller’s mood. And, if planning is done well, green spaces also can serve as performance venues, gathering spots, and impressive photo backdrops.

This summer I’m going to be checking out some of the parks and green spaces in the downtown Columbus area. A good starting point is the Columbus Commons, shown above, just south of the Statehouse in the center of downtown. When the Columbus City Center mall failed years ago, city planners could have developed the space into another downtown building. Fortunately, they had the foresight to turn the sprawling property into a park that is bordered by residential and commercial buildings. The wide, deep, and very lush green lawns are beautiful from spring to fall, and they serve as a performance venue for Picnic with the Pops and other concerts, the site for open “workout Wednesday” yoga and exercise groups, and a food truck destination.

Plus–and this is an important point–the vista of the green lawns against the backdrop of the surrounding buildings just looks cool. Columbus Commons is a green space done well.

Morning On The Mile

This morning I took a walk along the Scioto Mile, heading down Gay Street and then turning right and heading north along the river. The path winds past the federal courthouse, under railroads bridges, and by the high-rise condos of the Arena District. You need to be sure to stick to the pavement and not venture onto the lawns, which are Canadian goose dropping zones. When you reach the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers and cross the bridge at that point, you get a nice view of downtown Columbus looking back up the river, as shown below.

Columbus Parks and Recreation has worked hard to try to make the riverfront more accessible and interesting. That effort will become increasingly important as more people move to the downtown area and the development of the long-neglected Franklinton area continues. Having parkland and walking and biking trails is a key part of the urban living experience.

Pocket Parks (Boise Edition)

I’ve written before about pocket parks — those small, quiet enclaves of green trees and grass and shade carved out from cityscapes that can brighten the lives of the people in the surrounding neighborhood — so I’ve got to call out Boise, Idaho for a pretty cool example of the pocket park concept.

The C.W. Moore park is just a few blocks from the core downtown area of Boise.  It’s a beautiful little park, and it’s got some features you don’t see in most parks.  For one thing, it’s got a functioning water wheel in one corner — and what person taking a break from the hurly-burly of life wouldn’t enjoy watching a slowly moving, mesmerizing water wheel and hearing the sound of the rushing water?  The water wheel is an important touchstone for the city’s history, too, because Boise is located in an arid region and water wheels and water systems helped to make Boise green and habitable.

The park also includes other links to Boise history.  Around the park you will see the name stones and date stones of former Boise schools and buildings — you can see part of the Central School name stone in the photo above — as well as a former building entrance arch, a carriage stone, a locally quarried limestone block, columns and streetlights from Boise’s past, and a building turret.  It’s all a pretty cool way of linking the park to Boise’s past in a tangible and interesting way.  Kudos to the Boise Park Department for taking the pocket park concept to the next level.

Pocket Parks

In 1962, a plot of land that was going to be developed into an apartment building was acquired, instead, by the City of Columbus. Covering about half of a city block on Beck Street, the city named the spot Beck Square Park. To the locals who watched the parade of pooches in and out of the park — often without sufficient owner attention to their societal obligations as canine consorts — it was colloquially known as “Dogshit Park.”

Then the City of Columbus teamed up with the volunteers from the German Village Garten Club, and “Dogshit Park” was transformed. Renamed Frank Fetch Park in 1985, after a former president of the German Village Society who had promoted the creation of the park, it is now a beautiful garden and neighborhood gathering spot that is enjoyed by German Village residents — and their dogs, who are more respectful of the grounds than they apparently used to be.

“Pocket parks” like Frank Fetch Park may have a small footprint, but they can have a big impact on the nearby community. I wish the City of Columbus would resurrect its 1962 approach, buy one of the surface lots downtown, and convert it into a small park. The increasing number of people living downtown would surely appreciate a Frank Fetch Park in their midst.

Sunday At The Park (With George)

We took a walk around Goodale Park tonight. It’s a beautiful park with a lovely little pond in the northeast corner, and it was getting a lot of use tonight. I like the view over the pond, with the high rises of north downtown just visible over the treetops.

Parks add so much to a neighborhood!

On The Commons

The old ball game didn’t end well for the Indians, but Russell and I have enjoyed our trip to Boston nevertheless. After leaving Fenway Park we walked around Boston and visited the Boston Commons and the Public Garden, both of which were packed with people. Families, tourists, people leaving work, joggers, people reading on the grass on a sunny day with a delightful breeze — all were drawn to the green space.

It made me realize, again, what value there is to cities in having downtown parkland where people can gather. And a few fountains and monuments don’t hurt, either.

The Value Of A Park

Living near Schiller Park — a sprawling, 150-year-old green space that covers multiple city blocks and is home to mature trees, picnic tables, lots of shade, a duck pond, a rec center, tennis courts, a playground, an outdoor basketball court, and a stage where the Actors Theatre of Columbus performs on summer evenings — has really shown me the value that a park brings to a community.

German Village has a very strong and distinctive neighborhood feel, and Schiller Park is a big part of that.  The park  is constantly in use, from the joggers and dog walkers who circle it in the early morning hours to the mid-day basketball and tennis players and parents pushing their kids ever higher on the swings, to the late afternoon birthday parties on the picnic tables beneath huge shade trees and people reading books on benches or playing fetch with their dogs.  You see the same people over and over, which of course reinforces the feeling of community, and you take pride in this beautiful patch of green that draws people like a magnet.  German Village without Schiller Park wouldn’t really be German Village at all.

In the American neighborhoods built before 1900, parks were of course part of the design — because green space and parkland were traditional in the countries of Europe from which many Americans of that era immigrated.  I’m sure the German immigrants who gave German Village its name never gave a second thought to putting in a large park, because it was just expected and obvious.  

At some point after 1900, though, the builders of suburban communities saw parks as less necessary, whether it was because they figured people would be driving around and not interested in walking to a park, or because they concluded that the acreage of a park could be more profitably devoted to still more houses.  As a result, many suburban communities are seriously park-deprived.  

It’s too bad, because a nice park really makes a difference and brings a lot of value to a neighborhood.

On The Old Commons

Established back in the early 1600s, the Commons remains a popular gathering spot for the people of Boston — and its tourists.  Along with the Boston Public Garden, located right next door, the Commons provides a merry-go-round, a frog pond, a towering memorial to the Bostonians who fought in the War Between the States — and some of the shady, grassy spots that city dwellers crave on a hot summer day.

The Parklet On Our Block

At the west end of our block of Gay Street, next to the intersection with High Street, a kind of wooden module sits on the street adjacent to Cafe Brioso.  It’s pill shaped, and with its unfinished wood it looks like something you might find on a Fourth of July parade float or as the project of a high school wood shop class.  The outward-facing side of the object has a pink-paint-and-green-shrub “PARKT” sign — with the pink letters spelling “art” — and some plants along a ledge at the top.

It’s called a “parklet.”  The sign on the object explains that parklets are intended to “creatively and temporarily transform parking spaces into open public spaces,” where people can sit, relax, rest, and watch the street life go by — and sure enough, the parklet on our block features benches and stools.  The sign adds that parklets are “a new dynamic that will generate more interesting and engaging public spaces for Columbus, Ohio.”  The sign identifies corporate and community sponsors that presumably underwrote the cost of building and moving the parklet and occupying a parking space.

“Parklets” are an interesting idea that, if the results of my Google search are to be believed, started in San Francisco, where they are part of a “pavement to parks” initiative, and have been adopted by some other cities, including Columbus.  The parklet on our block looks as if it has been designed to be picked up, put on a flatbed truck, and moved to a new location where more public seating space is desired.

I’m all for increasing public seating space in our downtown, but I’d like to see Columbus take the next step and acquire some of the surface parking lots that are found downtown and turn them into pocket parks.  A parklet is a nice idea, but an actual park with green trees, shaded walkways and seating, and perhaps a fountain would be even better.

We’ve got some downtown green space — like the Statehouse lawn, Columbus Commons, the Scioto Mile, and the Topiary Gardens — but the section of downtown north of Broad Street is pretty much parkless.  (I don’t count Sensenbrenner Park, which is mostly concrete.)  With more people moving downtown to live, they will be looking for places to jog, work on their yoga poses, or just sit and read a book as the breeze ruffles through the trees above.  Even a small chunk of new green space, like the Ohio Police and Fire Memorial Park at the corner of Third and Town, would be welcome.

At The Ohio Police & Fire Memorial Park

There are lots of parks tucked here and there in downtown Columbus.  One of the least visited ones is the Ohio Police & Fire Memorial Park, located at the corner of South Third and East Town streets.  That’s a shame, because it’s a nice little park, with a small memorial square and statue, lots of shade trees, and blooming shrubs that, come springtime, look like someone draped a bright purple carpet of flowers on the bushes.