Tom and I recently explored Blacklick Woods Metro Park in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. We get into a “sitting around the house” rut when we we are home. To combat this, and keep up our spirit of adventure, Tom finds and suggests things we can do in the area. We wanted to hand off some souvenirs that we brought back for my brother’s family, so we decided to go to Blacklick Woods afterward. Steve and his family live in Bexley, which isn’t far from Reynoldsburg.
After a wonderful visit with Steve, Kathy and their girls, we headed for Blacklick Woods Metro Park. We wanted to check out their new canopy walk, which opened May 17. The canopy walk is a first for the Metro Parks and it has been a big hit. The large wooden structure reminds me of a sturdy roller coaster with a boardwalk on the top.
The canopy walk winds through the trees on a loop of one-eighth of a mile. The boardwalk stands 40 feet above the forest floor and the buttonbush swamp below. A stairway with 72 steps leads up to the canopy walk. There is also an elevator which makes the canopy walk accessible to anyone. An observation platform stands on top of the elevator tower, 55 feet in the air, providing still higher visual perspectives on the surrounding forest and park land.
The canopy walk has an extensive play area. There is a sturdy rope bridge, which had a long line of people waiting to cross on the day we were there. Another feature is a climbing wall inside the elevator tower and a rope hammock in the center of the area. The canopy walk itself is just 1/8 of a mile. It is a short loop, but gives you time to enjoy the trees around you and admire the structure.
The canopy walk had too many people on it for Tom and I to enjoy it for long. Instead, we took a couple of the trails in the park and enjoyed being away from most of the people. We looped the Buttonbush Trail with the Maple Loop Trail for a short hike. We also checked out the nature center on the Buttonbush Trail.
In addition, Blacklick Woods Metro Park has shelters to rent, picnic tables, and several playgrounds. The park is enclosed on three sides by the Blacklick Creek Greenway Trail, a 16-mile multi-use trail which connects to other Metro Parks in the area. Blacklick Woods was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974. It received the designation because it is an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, old-growth beech-maple and swamp forest communities of the type that once covered the flat till plain of central Ohio.
It was fun to walk in the tree canopy at Blacklick Woods Metro Park. We also enjoyed the short hike we took on the trails. The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks are one of the best things about the Columbus area.