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The Scioto Trail is an urban greenway at its best. The 12.3-mile multiuse trail hugs the banks of the Scioto River, connecting several parks and presenting fabulous views of downtown Columbus.
About the Route
The northern endpoint of the route is located along McKinley Ave. From here, the trail heads northeast and then south where it weaves between US 70 and US 670 and along the Scioto River.
As the trail crosses the innerbelt, it also crosses the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy River and splits in two, with trails along both sides of the river. The trail on the northern side of the river continues all the way to the trail's southern end, whereas the trail on the southern bank of the river comes to a point in Dodge Park.
The trail on the northern end of the river passes the Scioto Audobon Park and then crosses Greenlawn Ave. and continues along the south bank of the river as it passes the Lou Berliner Sports Park.
Shortly after reaching the sports complex, the trail reaches its southern terminus at Oh-104.
Connections
Where the trail leaves US-670 and crosses the river to meet McKinley Ave, the Scioto Trail meets the Camp Chase Trail.
As the trail passes the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers, the trail meets the Olentangy Trail.
At North Bank Park, the Scioto Trail meets the Downtown Connector Trail (Columbus).
The Scioto Trail is part of the Ohio to Erie Trail, a trail network that stretches Ohio from the Ohio River to Lake Erie.
The Scioto Trail is part of the Great American Rail Trail, a 3,700-mile route from Washington to Washington D.C.
The Scioto Trail runs between McKinley Ave. at W. Fifth Ave. (Columbus) and OH-104 (Canton).
Parking is available at:
See TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
Not too bad for being down town Columbus. A few spots were we saw some homeless folks. But no one gave any troubles.
I really enjoy the views of downtown along this route but there are a few treacherous spots for roller skaters. I start at Dodge Park and there’s a good hill near Sullivant that looks smooth at the top but halfway down turns to complete shit! So be prepared to eat shit. Things are nice and smooth around Genoa park/COSI. The bridge crossing Souder is only a narrow sidewalk wide so very slow moving if pedestrians are on the bridge ahead of you. There’s another rough patch of bad asphalt along Long Street before you get to North Bank. Battelle is the nicest part of the trail and I cross back over the river at Town st bridge.
Well maintained, easy ride.
Nice trail with plenty of stops and some pumps and water also always getting improved in the heart of the Buckeye state!
I had ridden part of the Scioto Greenway several times as it is a critical link in the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) route. This time, I chose to ride Scioto Greenway Trail to see what the other sections of this trail had to offer.
I chose to start at the center of the trail. I parked at the Boat House Restaurant & Event Center found at Confluence Park. Confluence Park is a peninsula that is formed at the intersection of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. The Boat House has a large parking lot which sits at the intersection of the Scioto Greenway and Olentangy Trails. This makes parking here very convenient for cyclists.
From the Boat House, I chose to ride west first. What I was most curious about in this portion of the trail was what was worth being seen beyond the Hilltop Connector Trail as I had never gone beyond that point when riding the OTET. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much to see. While a good part of the trail west of Confluence Park does follow the Scioto River you don’t see much of the water as the trees and undergrowth only give up small glimpses of the river. The eventually crosses over Dublin Road (US-33) and travels along this road until it reaches West 5th Avenue. If you were to skip a section of the Scioto Greenway, this western section should be the one you drop.
After I peddled back to Confluence Park and then headed east toward downtown Columbus. This section of the trail is absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed the trail views of the Scioto River, the downtown skyscrapers, and the many bridges that crossed the river. The section from Confluence Park to when the trail passes under Interstate 70 is one of my favorite sections of trail from throughout Ohio. It is definitely a parklike setting with well manicured lawns, improved landscaping, picnic areas, and memorial statues. You view all this with a backdrop of downtown’s tall buildings. This section of the Scioto Greenway, on both sides of the river, is definitely worth a trip to check it out.
When you pass under I-70 you enter into Scioto Audubon Metro Park. The 120-acre park provides active recreation activities to the community. Activities such as hiking, biking, jogging, inline skating, kayaking, and fishing can be enjoyed here. I found that this was the busiest area along the route on the Saturday afternoon that I rode the trail. The natural areas of this section were quite a contrast to the commercial west and the manicured downtown areas. When you reach the southeast corner of Scioto Audubon, you find yourself at the boat (kayak/canoe) launch area to Greenlawn Avenue Low Head Reservoir. At first, I thought that I had reached the end of the trail, however, the trail does continue along West Whittier St. up to the Columbus’ Brewery District, a section of German Village. Once you reach Front Street in the Brewery District the trail leads to Greenlawn Avenue and its bridge where the street and trail cross back over the river. Once you come off of the bridge you loop back underneath it, and the trail follows the Scioto again for a little over 1.5 miles while it passes by the athletic fields of Berliner Park. The trail just dead ends right before reaching OH-104. This is probably the most wooded portion of the entire trail.
After backtracking back to the downtown section of the trail, I crossed from the East Bank to the West Bank of the Scioto River. I crossed using the Main Street Bridge which has a raised bike and pedestrian deck separated from the bridge’s traffic deck. On the West Bank of the Scioto River you will pass by and have access to COSI, the Ohio Center of Science and Industry, and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. After passing the Veteran’s Memorial Grove, you will pass under two railroad bridges and OH-315 before you reach North Souder Avenue Bridge where the bike lane will take you back over the Scioto River one more time into Confluence Park and the Boat House Restaurant and Event Center parking lot.
I really enjoyed this trail. There is a lot to see and a wide variety of sights along the way. I would highly recommend checking it out. I’m somewhat curious to find out how well lit the downtown section of the trail is at night because I think that if it is well lit it would be a great place for an evening ride.
I rode the Scioto Greenway Trail as part of my southbound cross-state ride on the Ohio to Erie Trail route during early October. I rode this trail from The North Bank Park Pavilion to the Hilltop Connector Spur (Trail?) where I connected with McKinley Avenue. The Scioto Greenway Trail is similar to the Alum Creek Trail in the fact that it follows the banks of the river it is named for. In my opinion, the Scioto Greenway is not as nice a trail as the Alum Creek Trail. It is not as tree covered as the Alum Creek Trail, but you don't see as much of the river because of the heavy brush between the trail and the river. The trail also tends to rise and fall more than the Alum Creek Trail. It's definitely a bit like a kiddie roller coaster you might find at an amusement park. Riding away from downtown you don't get to see much of the city skyline, either. When I rode the OTET route back in 2013 you were routed from the Olentangy River Trail to the Scioto River Greenway and headed east until you reached Broad Street and then rode out to Battelle Darby Creek Metropark where you would pick up the Camp Chase Trail. Going this way gave you spectacular views of the downtown Columbus skyline and the Scioto River as the brush is better maintained along the river downtown. However, the current route is far safer because it takes you off a busy thoroughfare and the Camp Chase Trail has been extended toward the Scioto Trail. There is a just a short 0.6 mile on-road connection between the trails.
In all fairness to the Scioto Greenway Trail, I probably will need to return and ride the entire length of this trail, especially along the lower part of the river, to see if riding the entire length of the trail would change my feelings about this trail. When looking at the trail map, you can see that the trail in the areas of Uptown, German Village and Brewery Districts run through metroparks. I'm sure that means that the trail in these areas is much more scenic.
I usually start this trail at the Scioto Audubon Park. I park in the small parking area on the left side of Whittier for easier access. There are some beautiful wooded areas that run along the river around the Audubon park, and once you go under the freeway underpass a beautiful view of downtown pops up. Stay on the lower part of the trail and ride clear through downtown along the waterfront and never have to cross a busy street. There are many spurs along the way to stop at some of the downtown parks - but many of them are pretty steep inclines. It’s about 2.5 to 3 miles from the Audubon park to the confluence bridge which offers a nice view and then connects to the Olentangy Trail. Trail can be a bit challenging at times for the novice rider as there are some slight inclines to climb, but not too terrible. I am totally comfortable, as a middle aged female, riding this portion of this trail alone during the day, especially during the week, as there is always a lot of people around. It is busy, but not crowded. I would highly recommend this portion of this trail.
I rode from the W5th Ave beginning to the end. I did one way on the northside and back on the south. It ends (south end point) in the middle of the woods. Kind of strange. No sign no bench it just stops dead. Through the downtown is very nice. Could use better marking as it has lots of cross trails and spurs and it is not easy to tell which way is the main trail. No rough hills all gentle slopes.
This trail has some not so scenic parts from Berliner park to downtown but does go thru the brewery district and Germantown so we detoured for some adventures. But don't go too far into Germantown as it has cobblestone trees.
Once you are downtown it improves greatly as there are lots of things to do and see in downtown with the rivers, overlooks and fountains. There were a few detours on the trail lately and some were well marked and some not so we got turned around a little.
There are some very scenic shots north of town and the trail is short enough to finish it and get back to the Olentangy trail at the Boathouse restaurant.
If you go I highly recommend you supplement it with a ride on the Olentangy trail as well
This is a lovely ride but gets a bit dicey at times. Below the city, if you look up in the trees you will see tents/tarps where homeless ppl live. I haven't had any problems here and will ride by myself (female) during the week, normal business hours as there are plenty of ppl using the trail. Also the Audobon Center has opened so there are many more ppl about. That being said, I would never bike down near Berliner Park alone. It is very wooded and quite pretty but some strange happenings are going on. People meandering about, coming out of the woods, hunkering down in the bushes. I will go with my husband though. He says that the city has torn down some abandoned buildings down there so now maybe it is better.
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