Picnics, parks and people are the perfect recipe for summertime fun in your Metro Parks

PEG HANLEY
Public Information Manager

Stay cool and enjoy a picnic under the trees with friends in the Buzzard’s Roost Area at Slate Run Metro Park. Photo Mindi McConnell

Cookout and picnic season is in full swing and there’s no better place than your Metro Parks to grill and chill with family and friends. The lush landscapes and scenic views make it a picnic lover’s paradise.

Pack your basket, grab a flying disc and enjoy a day at Blendon Woods. The park features five free, first-come, first-served shelters that are enclosed on three sides with picnic tables and grills and two large free open shelters. After your meal, you can hike one of the many meandering trails through the woods and look for wild turkeys strutting about. The 18-hole, par 63-disc golf course winds through the woods and is the perfect way to burn off those calories from those extra helpings of potato salad.

The tree lined banks along Big Darby Creek are a great place to stop along the way for a leisurely picnic on your float downstream. Photo Ryan Muncey

Nothing says summer like a picnic and peddle outing along one of the greenway trails with friends. The Blacklick Creek Greenway is a scenic 17.8-mile trail that goes from Three Creeks Metro Park in Groveport all the way to Blacklick Woods Metro Park in Reynoldsburg. The trail is mostly paved and follows the scenic Blacklick Creek as it passes by lots of beautiful smaller parks. It’s a great trail to make stops on your ride to enjoy your picnic snacks or just like to rest in the grass for a minute.

Enjoy a relaxed kayaking or canoeing glide down Big Darby Creek or and eat your picnic lunch by the water’s edge. Be sure to keep an eye out for hawks soaring overhead, white-tailed deer drinking from the shore, turtles basking on fallen logs and other animals along the way. Noted for its biological diversity, you’ll probably not see all 100 species of fish that have been found in the Darby creeks, but give it a go.

July is National Picnic Month and your Metro Parks are a great place to enjoy tasty food and have a fun time

 

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