Blacklick Woods Metro Park

Unlike most of the other metro parks, Blacklick Woods is very closely surrounded by highways and development. Because of this, the the trails never quite give the feeling of leaving the city. The 4 mile Multipurpose trail is sometimes in sight of–and often within the sound of–route 70, and it occasionally feels like you are going through someone’s backyard. Despite this, the trail is still reasonably enjoyable. It is an easy, wide, mostly flat trail that traverses a lightly wooded area. The trail surface is hard dirt and finely crushed stone, and it makes for a very smooth and comfortable running surface.

There are four additional interconnecting trails in the park: Buttonbush, Maple Loop, Beech, and Walter A. Tucker. These trails are all very short, and they are best thought of as one 2 mile loop. The trails are hard packed double-track, with the occasional short paved section, and they traverse through woods and wooded swamp. One distinctive feature is that the trail is slightly elevated on wooded boardwalks throughout the swampy section. The various trail intersections and spurs look confusing on the park map, but there are trail maps posted at almost every intersection, so it is easy to find your way. While never feeling truly wild, these trails are definitely more scenic and secluded than the Multipurpose trail.

By combining the four smaller trails and the Multipurpose trail, there is enough here for a decent trail run. It’s not a destination park, and those looking for a true wilderness experience will be disappointed, but it’s still worth trying if you are in the area.

Additional Information

• View the Blacklick Woods trail map on the Metro Park’s website.
• View the trail’s location on Google Maps.
• The few short miles of trail open to bikes at Blacklick aren’t worth traveling there for. However, the Blacklick Creek Greenway Trail goes through the edge of the park. I have not yet been on that trail, but look for it to be added soon. View information about that trail on the Columbus Parks and Recreation’s website.