This Black Friday #OptOutside and Opt to Act!

A few years ago, REI created a movement by shutting its doors on Black Friday and asking its members to Opt Outside. This year they've decided to make a difference with Opt to Act, a nationwide clean up challenge.

On November 29th at 10 am, join the Friends of Metro Parks, Hashtag 59, One80Out Supply, Cliff Original, JustMe5K, 52HikeChallenge & REI as we Opt Outside and Opt to Act at Scioto Audubon Metro Park.

We will meet at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, then head out to clean up a 3 mile stretch of the Scioto Greenway Trail. All are invited to join. We'll have some fun with coffee, donuts, raffles & giveaways from our hosts. We hope that  you will Opt Outside with us, but if you can’t, check out one of these other cool #OptOutside hikes hosted by the Metro Parks!

Hike All The Trails: Blacklick Woods: 6 miles: 9:00 AM

Opt Outside Hike: Battelle Darby Creek, Cedar Ridge: 4 miles: 11:00 AM

Opt Outside Hike: Clear Creek, Creekside Meadows: 4 miles: 10:00 AM

Inniswood Campfire Celebration

Inniswood Metro Gardens is a 123 acre park featuring woodland boardwalks, streams, and beautifully manicured landscapes. The many areas of Inniswood showcase different types of gardening and collections of plants, including a rock and crevice garden, a cutting garden, and an herb garden. Plants are switched out and strategically planted so something is always in bloom at Inniswood!

This Inniswood Metro Gardens is one of a kind in our park district, making it the perfect place for the Friends of Metro Parks to host their first gala-type fundraiser, the Inniswood Campfire Celebration! Special Metro Parks experiences were auctioned off at our silent auction, as well as other items donated from local businesses.  Live music by Whirlybirds, catered hors d'oeuvres from Together & Company, gourmet s’mores and apple cider mimosas rounded out the night and made this event extra special for everyone.

And when the sun went down, the lights went on! The inniswood staff spent weeks lighting up the herb and rock garden just for this event! Guests were given exclusive access to the park after dark with the chance to explore it in a whole different kind of light. It was truly magical!

Special thanks to our sponsor, Scotts Miracle-Gro, for helping us make this event so great!  

Check out the gallery to see what you missed! We hope to see you next year

Scioto Fest: Part 2

September 13 - 15

Scioto Audubon Metro Park has a fascinating history. The land that used to be the impound lot was turned from blighted brownfield to an amazing urban Metro Park with help from the City of Columbus and Ohio Audubon. The park features wetlands, fields and river banks, creating an oasis where wildlife and birds are abundant. In addition to the natural habitat created by the conversion to a park, there are also many exciting recreational features for visitors including bocce and volleyball courts, an obstacle course, a dog park, and a rock climbing wall, all watched over by the water tower viewing deck, a remnant of the industrial landscape that used to dominate the space.

For a few years now, Scioto Audubon Metro Parks has held a Rock Climbing festival. This year, the festival has evolved into Scioto Fest, a celebration of the park featuring rock climbing, camping, music, and a very special treat from our friends at Land Grant.  

Day one of Scioto Fest featured some casual climbing and slack lining, gourmet s’mores with REI and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse on the big screen after dark. This was also the first chance to taste the new beer from Land Grant, “Outpost Rustic Lager.”

The Outpost Lager wasn’t just any old beer though! This brew was crafted specifically for Scioto Fest, featuring our iconic water tower right on the label. Even more exciting, this beer was made with honey harvested right from the Metro Parks beehives! Many of these beehives were purchased through the Tad Jeffrey Memorial Grants that the Friends award the parks each year.  This beer was light and refreshing, and paired perfectly with the toasty weekend we had to celebrate Scioto Fest!

Day two of Scioto Fest started with a “Rise and Climb” and breakfast provided by REI for those who camped out overnight. Hikes were led by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center and DJ George Brazil provided tunes for the Learn The Ropes program at the climbing wall. The rest of the evening included live music from Hebdo, Brother Hill, and Steven Fox and the Whiskey Sneaks as visitors climbed, danced, enjoyed Land Grant beers, food from our food trucks, and watched the sunset over the city skyline. 

Scioto Fest was a lot of fun for us! We hope anyone who came out had a great time! If you have photos, please send them our way to friends@metroparks.net

Sciotofest Part 1: Yappy Hour

September 12, 2019

Yappy Hour is back again! This time as part of the first-ever Sciotofest! 

We started the four-day festival with our favorite fundraiser, featuring food, dogs, and beer in the park! Food was provided by our favorite food truck, Explorers Club, and we served up Seventh Son beer along with cans of our new Metro Parks beer by Land Grant, Outpost Rustic Lager!

If you are interested in becoming a vendor in our next Yappy Hour, please contact Melissa at friends@metroparks.net!

Anyway, here’s some dogs and humans having a great time! See you next year!

2nd Annual Nature Classic Golf Tournament

On July 19, 2019 The Friends of Metro Parks held their second annual Nature Classic Golf tournament at Blacklick Woods Metro Park. This fundraiser brought in over $5000 to help support the Friends of Metro Parks nonprofit organization. These funds help us to further our mission to enhance public use and enjoyment of our parks, seek out public support, and advocate for our parks for the current and future generations. 

Special thanks to our sponsors…

Yappy Hour: Walnut Woods

Yappy Hour is one of our very favorite yearly events. An event with beer, food, and dogs? What can be better?! Our first ever Yappy Hour was at Scioto Audubon Metro Park, and last year we decided to expand to some of our other parks. This year, we are kicking off the summer at Walnut Woods.  

The purpose of Yappy Hour (besides having a GREAT time) is to introduce dog owners to some of the awesome resources that are offered at the Metro Parks. Dog parks are a great way for mans best friend to get out and get some exercise, leading to happy, healthy dogs. Not only that, but it gives dog owners a chance to let their dogs run off leash in a safe environment.

Walnut Woods features two areas, one for big dogs, and one for small! The big dog area features a swimming hole where your pups can take a dip and splash around on hot summer days. Both dog parks offer plenty of shade and lots of open space to run.  Both of these areas are fenced in so that the dogs are safely contained.

As always, we invited a food truck and a local brewery to help us out with Yappy Hour. Seventh Son has been our tried-and-true favorite brewery for Yappy Hour, and provided us with some tasty beers to help really start off the summer right. The Explorers Club also came by to provide some great food for the evening! Both of our vendors have always been excellent additions to our favorite yearly fundraiser!

Catch us on September 12 at Scioto Audubon for our next Yappy Hour, kicking off Sciotofest!

Spring Friends Only Hike: Shafer Property

It was a warm spring afternoon and the Friends of Metro Parks gathered in an empty lot off of Cambria Lane. We snacked and fueled up for what was promised to be an exciting off-trail hike through one of the newest properties obtained by Metro Parks in Blendon Township. Last April, we took a hike through the same property, but with it being later in the year, we were all excited to see what spring would bring to the space.  

Our Naturalist and guide for the afternoon, Bruce, gathered us around, told us to stay close and explained that the land we were about to hike through was a little muddy due to all of the rain we had recently, and that there were no real trails throughout the property. We would be stopping at the eagles nest, and also stopping along the way to talk about some of the other cool things that were popping up over the springtime.  

Photo: A. Jackson

So we set off! This time around, as we entered the wooded area of the property, we were immediately shaded by the fresh leaves sprouting from the tips of branches high above us. One of the interesting characteristics of this new land are the huge mature oak trees that create so much shade that the understory is mostly clear of invasive plants such as the Japanese Honeysuckle. 

Photo: J. Bethea

This spring, pockets of sunlight hitting the ground allowed small patches of wildflowers to bloom, and the weather was perfect for finding all sorts of unique fungi sprouting up at the bases of trees, along the tops of downed logs, and hiding out in the damp recesses of the forest floor, the vibrant orange and red splotches peeping out from the mud and moss.

Photo: J. Bethea

One month made a world of difference in the scenery of the property. On our last hike, it was cold, grey, and most trees were still completely barren, really allowing you to focus on the hills, creeks, and all of the vast open space between the trees. One month later and the entire property was engulfed in bright green leaves, the beginnings and ends of early spring wildflowers, and evidence of people exploring and hiking throughout the land after a year of Metro Parks ownership.

We stopped along a ridge and looked out at the Big Walnut Creek, stopped to see the eagles nest, and then headed back through the fresh spring growth. We lost our trail for a while, popping out in a driveway down the street while trying to find our cars, but quickly turned ourselves around and trudged back through to familiar scenery. If we didn’t get lost at least once, it wouldn’t have been an adventure!

Earth Week in the Metro Parks

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 as a way to support environmental protection in the US. Now, after 39 years, Earth Day is celebrated worldwide with events coordinated to focus on fixing environmental issues across 194 different countries. 

On April 13th, the Friends of Metro Parks coordinated a cleanup at Scioto Grove Metro Park.  We started at the canoe access point and worked our way down the REI river trail, removing plastic bags, cans, bottles, a toolbox, styrofoam, a piece of a swingset, and a small plastic bike, in addition to a lot of other litter from the banks along the river. When it rains, or when snow melts, the trash from all over Columbus is washed down the river and ends up at Scioto Grove Metro Park. Many thanks to those who came to help clean up this trail!

The Friends of Metro Parks were also lucky enough to host an event on April 26th at Highbanks Metro Park with the help from a corporate group looking to do their part! The volunteers donned work gloves and braved the drizzly cold to help prepare the park for spring by weeding and mulching the beds at the Northern and Mansion shelter houses. Volunteers were also instrumental in a honeysuckle and garlic mustard removal project that filled two Metro Parks trucks and cleared the under story of all the invasive plants.

We are very thankful for these volunteers and hope to continue a partnership with them in the future. Many hands make light work, and these sorts of projects save the park employees a lot of time that they can instead spend on making our parks amazing! 

If you are interested in coordinating a cleanup or a project, reach out to friends@metroparks.net to set up details and help out the parks for Earth Day!

Friends Only Hike: Chestnut Ridge

March 16th, 2019

The Friends of Metro Parks were met with bright blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and the first taste of spring for a Friends Only hike at Chestnut Ridge Metro Park. Naturalist Greg Wittman gave a quick overview of the “end of winter” hike we were about to embark on, and 32 Friends took off up the ridge.  

One of the most exciting parts of a Friends of Metro Parks membership is the access to some exclusive opportunities. Chestnut Ridge is open to the public every day, but it’s not every day that there is a guided hike with a naturalist to provide insight into the history and ecology of the park, and it’s not every day that you get access to some of the parks lesser-known features.

The Friends filed down, off-trail, to an old sandstone quarry, that normally remains unnoticed from the regular trails vantage point. Greg Wittman, the Naturalist guiding our hike, called attention to the iron deposits within the sandstone, and told us about the time when he followed the path of a bobcat into the quarry, through thorns and over rocks and to eventually find more evidence that a big animal had definitely been in the area recently.

We scrambled out of the quarry, one by one, and continued up the hill to the “concrete henge” of Chestnut Ridge, where a water tower used to sit back when the land was used as an apple orchard.

Onward up the hill, we came to a clearing where the farmhouse stood, but all that was left was a brick foundation and traces of the life that was once lived there. Looking out over the fresh sprouts of what would soon be daffodils was that iconic “Chestnut Ridge” picture. Beautiful, even at the very end of winter, with the promise of spring just a few weeks away.

We ended this hike at the docks overlooking the pond, invigorated by the crisp end-of-winter air, warmed by the spring sunshine, and excited for what the Friends have in store for the rest of the year.  

Winter Hike Story: Kristin Marks

The gray and dull skies of January and February in Ohio were hardly felt when the Metro Parks winter hikes began. Bundling up, putting on two pair of socks, and waiting in line for soup to warm the bones was something to look forward to each weekend. This year was especially eventful with hikes during snow, rain, and ice. There were even warm days where a coat was not needed!

The Columbus community gathered to celebrate fitness and nature - many with their dogs, and babies begin pulled in sleds or in backpacks. Each person has their favorite park, whether it be because of location, wildlife, or the trails themselves. The Sharon Woods hike was just beautiful this year. Snow started falling shortly after the start time, creating a magical winter wonderland for hikers of all ages.

Not all hikers were able to make the weekend dates, like me and my trail buddy. We are determined to get a walking stick, though, and will be making up the parks we missed during March. We will be chasing down the rangers for our hole punches!

If you have not attended a hike during the Metro Parks Winter Hike Series, make 2020 your year. Seriously, get out in the fresh air even if it is cold and snowy. This is your reason to be outside during the cold months, besides shoveling the driveway. Fresh air and physical activity is vital to health: both emotional and physical. Plus, it is a great activity to get family and friends together.