ALUM CREEK TRAIL OVERVIEW

The Alum Creek Greenway is a work in progress. Currently there is nearly continuous trail from various points in Westerville as far south at the Soccer Park off Sunbury Rd at Easton Way. (About 8 miles depending on your starting point). There is a 5.1 mile hiatus from there to Airport Rd just south of Ohio Dominican University. Starting at that point, the trail runs south through existing and recently completed sections all the way to the Confluence Area in Three Creeks Metropark. (Where it links to the Blacklick Trail which is, itself, being extended over the next few years, across US 33 and eventually to Blacklick Woods Metropark.)

DESCRIPTION

The northern terminus of this section technically ends at the north end of Nelson Park off Nelson Rd just south of the I-670 underpass. The recent completion of the connector to the I-670 trail however has practically extended the Alum Creek Trail north as far as Airport Rd. The section of trail from I-670 north to Airport was built as part of the I-670 trail. For the purposes of this site, I'm going to move it from the I-670 trail to the Alum Creek Trail.

You can reach the northern most end of this section by using a short access trail off Airport Rd just east of Nelson and south of the Ohio Dominican University campus. The trail segment to the north passes under Airport Rd and dead-ends. Eventually, this section of the trail will connect up with the trail to the north which currently dead-ends south of Easton Way, off Sunbury Rd, in the Soccer Park. [This section is in the planning and development stages.] It is possible to get from this point to the Easton end by going a couple of blocks west on Airport Rd and north on Sunbury to the Easton area. (Be careful, the Soccer Park is not open at all times and you can get locked in the parking area. Easier to park in the Easton retail lots and walk over.) The distance is about 5.1 miles and I would not recommend it as Sunbury is a narrow, twisty road with a couple of blind hills and a lot of blind curves and no shoulders and little bail-out space--oh, and constant automobile traffic.

Heading south from Airport Rd, you'll be on the section that was built with the I-670 bike trail. It runs south along the west side of the freeway and crosses 5th avenue via a signalized intersection. Once over, the trail continues south alongside I-670. You'll pick up a noise-abatement wall on the freeway side and the trail will drop a bit and passes Monticello Pkwy before rising up and forking. The left fork goes up sharply and curves west picking up another noise abatement wall on the right side and becoming the I-670 trail. It passes over Nelson Rd with I-670 and continues toward downtown. (See I 670 Bike Trail). The right fork snakes down to Nelson Rd and passes under the freeway via a barrier-protected underpass lane. On the south side, it turns into Nelson Park. It meanders a bit in a wooded section and when it emerges, it splits at the bottom of a rise--the side closer to Nelson Rd is striped but the other path loops around and rejoins the trail at the bottom of the park so it doesn't matter which you take. The trail snakes to the east and onto the concrete walkway at the southern entrance of the park. You go left (east) over a short bridge on Greenway Ave (Columbus side)/Clifton St (Bexley Side) and cross the roadway to the south side (it is a quiet street). On the other (east) side of the Creek, there is a trailhead on the near side. The trail curves around St Charles Prepatory High School (from whom, I am guessing, the easement was granted). The trail will come to Broad Street where there is an underpass and also connectors to the street. Once across, you're in Wolfe Park. You'll shortly come to a point where the trail curves sharply to the right and goes to concrete. It continues south as well as asphalt but take the walkway and re-cross the Creek on the suspension bridge (from 1922) which is quite entertaining as it undulates under you.

On the other side, in Academy Park, turn south and follow the trail through the park. It splits at the south end and the right (west) fork leads to the trailhead at Bryden. There is a newer section which forks to the left which passes around some body shops and comes out next to a Kroger shopping plaza on the north side of Main Street. CRPD has signs directing trail users to utilize a narrow sidewalk going right (west) in front of Kroger gas station, crossing at the Alum Creek Dr traffic light. Carefully mind the cars turning right on red.   On the opposite side, the asphalt trail resume through an older section of park (note the old stone steps!), passed back out to run with Alum Creek Drive through a business easement and follows that road up to a towering overpass ramp to I-70. The trail, however, curves left (east) and into the woods. It drops down a bit and runs through woods and currently ends at the trailhead at Livingston Ave (US 33) near the on ramp to I-70 north. The trail, recently extended, crosses Livingston and connects to Three Creeks Metro Park. See Livingston to Three Creeks

Route distance estimate:

Nelson Rd (north end of Nelson Park) to Livingston Rd Trailhead: 2.7 miles
Nelson Rd to Broad St: 1.1 mile
Broad St to Main St: 0.9 mile
Main St to Livingston Ave: 0.7 mile

IMPRESSIONS

Mostly park running. The parks have broad open fields and are well-maintained. There is parking in all three parks though, on a mild Saturday it was fairly full in Wolfe and Academy parks. The easement sections vary from woods to scholastic fields to industrial and business. As a run, this sections has a real variety of place. The parks and the area around Broad St were busy and humming on the summer weekend that I was there. The recent completion of the section south of Livingston allows for an extended trip. This past summer ('07), I biked from OSU via the proposed Downtown Connector and the I-670 trail and through this section and down to Three Creeks park. It was a very nice ride. Also, the trail skirts the Franklin Conservatory so there is a nice destination factor for recreation runs or rides.

GETTING TO THE I-670 BIKE TRAIL:

The connector has been completed. There is now continuous dedicated trail from the I-670 trail south to the Alum Creek Trail in Nelson Park. (I 670 Bike Trail) The routing is covered on the photo and map pages.

GETTING TO EASTON (THE NEXT COMPLETED SECTION - NORTH)

The recent renovation of Stelzer Rd has created a fairly easy to use detour that only adds about 7/10th of a mile to the distance between the trail at Easton Way and Fifth Avenue at I - 670. More information below.

 BRIDGING THE GAP ON THE ALUM CREEK TRAIL 

For information on the planned trail connection -

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06/23/2008