Columbus Trails and Greenways
THE OLENTANGY TRAIL
Worthington Hills and Olentangy Highlands to Spring St/Dublin Rd and connections Downtown

 

The Olentangy Trail / Lower Scioto Trail is the progenitor of the trail system. Parts of it have existed as far back as 1969 and as the various parks and segments were joined over the years, the first long-length riparian trail was created.

The trail is still growing. Recently, a mile-long section reached north, across I-270 to Worthington Hills. Plans are already in place to continue that extension to Highbanks Park.

PARKS

HIGHBANKS METROPARK
WORTHINGTON HILLS
OLENTANGY PARK (WORTHINGTON)
ANTRIM PARK
DELAWANDA PARK (OLENTANGY PRESERVE)
WHETSTONE PARK / PARK OF ROSES
NORTHMOOR PARK
CLINTON - COMO PARK
OLENTANGY WETLANDS PARK (OSU)
TUTTLE PARK
SIDE - BY - SIDE PARK (HARRISON WEST)
CONFLUENCE PARK

OTHER

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

TRAIL UPDATES - OLENTANGY
CURRENT CONSTRUCTION:
1. Whetstone Park: There will be some sewer work in Whetstone Park during the fall and winter months. As of now, there are no plans to close the trail although there may be slowdowns due to ramps over some of the work. More HERE
2. OSU Campus: (CLOSURE/DETOUR) The University has begun trail development in the area between Woody Hayes Dr and the AEP power station. This will involve new trail from the current dead-end under Woody Hayes Dr to the north side of Drake Union. A ramp will connect traffic to the current trail path on the east side of that building. The levee top asphalt path will also be resurfaced but the current grade level crossing of Woody Hayes will be eliminated by this construction.There is a detour posted on the OSU facilities Website. It can also be accessed HERE: The detour has been signed on campus.
3. Milton Ave @ North Broadway: The Clintonville Connector from Northmoor Park south to Clinton-Como is in the process of being revamped with roads repaved and shared-use signing. Principal construction is winding down but work will continue into next spring with "bicycle boxes" and improved crossing signals. More HERE
FUTURE CONSTRUCTION:
1. OSU - Future Plans: The above referenced OSU plan, which can be found here: OSU Bikeways Plan, is a three-part improvement which will likely take several years to complete. This area may have some sort of construction issues for the foreseeable future. Phase I, the continuation from Woody Hayes Drive to Drake Union is underway. Phase II, the stabilization and reconstruction from John Herrick Dr to the Power Station will begin next year. Phase III, which involves the building of new trail along the west side of Drake Union is still under consideration. More information HERE
2. Henderson Road: A planned revamp of the Henderson Rd bridge over the Olentangy River was scheduled for 2008 but has been delayed until 2009. This will involve replacing the current narrow walkway with a wider path and protective roadside barrier. The trail will be closed through this point during construction but a detour route has been determined and will be published when construction starts.
3. Goodale Connector: A agreement between the City of Columbus and ODOT will allow a trail connector to be built accessing the Olentangy Trail at Goodale Ave. Construction to be completed by 2011. More HERE
LONG RANGE PLANS:
- Connection to Highbanks Metropark.
The entire trail in one very large jpg file. Click on the thumbnail to bring up the file in a separate window. For slower connections, right click and click on Save to download to disk.The Olentangy seems like the most popular trail at the moment. This is typical early morning traffic on a late spring Saturday.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Olentangy Trail is, at this time, the mainline of trail use in the city. The section between SR 161 and Northmoor Blvd has stretches that are considered the busiest in the entire state of Ohio. Riding on a pleasant Saturday midday, I can believe it. The trail itself was assembled, section by section, year by year mostly by linking existing parks via rights-of-way and easements. It currently stretches from just north of I-270 at Worthington Hills to Spring St downtown where it links to the Scioto Trail--a distance of about 13 miles. There are only three actual road crossings at this time (Summer '08) - the trail between Northmoor Park and Clinton-Como Park runs on quiet neighborhood streets for about 7/10ths of a mile but does have a signalized crossing at North Broadway; it also currently involves a crossing of Woody Hayes Drive on the OSU campus--though this should be eliminated when OSU renovates its portion of the trail as the underpass is already built though not connected (see the Campus/Harrison West Description and the Trail Detours and Updates pages for further details); and, lastly, users have to cross Spring St (also signalized) to link to the Scioto in order to continue downtown (or go north on the unfinished section.) On the north end, there are plans to extend the trail a few miles further north in the near future to link up with Highbanks Metro Park.

The trail is administered by the CRPD except for a two mile section through Worthington which is maintained by that city parks department. Except for the on-street section, a short stretch through Battelle Park, and parts of the OSU path, it is paved asphalt with a centerline (except in the Worthington part). There are CRPD mileposts at the miles and striped trail marks at the halves. (Again, except in Worthington which has its own trail mileage markers.) The trail numbering starts immediately north of Spring St  with Milepost 1.0 (the numbering merges with the Scioto Trail for Milepost 0.0 to Milepost 1.0) and runs through MP 11.0 just south of SR161. The CRPD section north of Worthington is not currently marked.

There aren't any major hill climbs along the way though there are some shorter challenges. The crossings at SR161, Henderson Rd  and Third Ave involve ramping up and down to road bridge walkways. There is another steeper ramp section on the north end of North Bank Park--but, again, these are only a dozen yards or shorter. The section between the Neil Ave underpass (around MP 2.0) and Spring St, using, as it does, the old abandoned freeway connector has probably the most sustained hills on the whole route but, again, these are fairly short.

IMPRESSIONS

Unlike the trails being built today, the Olentangy Trail was more the product of opportunity and perseverance over a long of time rather than a single project conceived and executed over a shorter period of years. As such, it has a more crazy quilt quality than other trails with distinct sections which gives it a certain charm, particularly when you're just strolling and/or sightseeing. As mentioned, it is a very busy trail particularly during non-winter weekends. Parking can be at a premium in many of the CRPD parks at such times and the types and numbers of users necessitates reduced speeds for cyclists and alertness on the part of all.

The trail is less a whole than the sum of its parts - travelling it is, for me, like visiting a half-dozen different neighborhoods. The quieter park atmosphere of the Worthington Section; the beehive busyness of the area around Antrim Lake, the "big public park" feel of Whetstone (they always close the trail around the 4th of July for the big fireworks show.); the retro feel of Northmoor; the collegiate sensibility to the OSU campus, the open spaces of the trail between Third Ave and Spring and so on.

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10/16/2008