Franklin Park

Franklin Park is a wonderful, peaceful green space. I’ll list some of its best features: rolling hills, meandering lakes, plenty of benches, a playground, a community garden, winding paths, and namely — the beautiful conservatory building.
Franklin Park doesn’t reach five stars because it feels under-​utilized. Many parts of the park feel too empty, and lack either more trees or other features. The extra wide main path feels more automotive than pedestrian.
Despite those shortcomings, this is still an above-​average park. There is a good deal of inherent beauty here. The old two and three story homes that border the park create the perfect sense of enclosure, although I’d like to see some taller buildings on the Broad Street side to help mitigate the openness the wide road creates.
This is one of my top 5 favorite parks in Columbus. Go check it out!

One of my favorite parks in Columbus because of the different options. The other day I found a new spot for my 3 year old to love. We walked over to the small brook and waterfall area. She took her shoes off and walked on the rocks while I sat and relaxed. There are some nice place to let her get her feet wet without getting her whole person soaked. We spent over an hour just hanging by the water.
This park has places to ride bikes, get a good walk in, and relax without anyone close by. I also like the nice public restrooms one can use inside the conservatory instead of the usual park restrooms. Their playground isn’t too bad either but I wished they had clear signs pointing the way as I walked the wrong way looking for it. I guess I should have looked at a map near the conservatory. They also have food trucks and farmer’s markets on Wednesday afternoons.

Just plain gorgeous. Gorgeous!
Twice a month, Sunday Drumz (an African drums facilitated group) meets here rain or shine. Under the giant white gazebo, you can see everything! The Conservatory. Japanese gardens. Raised vegetable beds. Sculptures.
Several festivals are held within this park throughout the year. Summer programs for local kids take up the summer days. This urban park the perfect answer for events and city happenings, or just a stroll on a sunny afternoon day!

This 58-​achre plot once held fairs, Ohio State and others, before the city grew around it. Lately it is known for the Franklin Conservatory – a separate experience – and for Ameriflora ’92, the 100-​million dollar screw-​up that once colored its pastures with emblazoned peddles. I find it an average park that is a bit too large for a inner city pleasure-​art type, though it has corners of greatness.
Behind the conservatory are maze-​row hedges and white gazebos – picnicking is the pastime for Franklin residence here. A small rock garden is imbedded in shrubbery and loops into itself a stony path. Behind is a classical amphitheater that fills the northern horizons with Greco-​Roman columns and earth-​molded seating. I am not sure if this is used much, though it is well maintained. A while wood covered colonnade whines in this area near brick round-​a-​bouts and scattered benches.
Styles of the orient are present in abundance. Bridges and other ornamental fixtures of Far Eastern flavorings reflex the Asian festivities here yearly. A sign celebrating the sacrifice of Asians in the American Civil War is found. Down the road a bit is another marker and memoir of the Civil War – the spot where General Sherman during a speech made his famous quote, «War is Hell.»
The walkway here is wide, more road than relaxing park stroll; It feels like your car has broken down and you’re walking a highway for gas. There is little out here beyond the conservatory but ankle high grass, until you reach the duck pond. A remnant of Ameriflora, the pond pools in several segments connected with a stream. It curves around and leads to a man-​made waterfall. The waterfall is pure beauty and a nice getaway for area residence. I came to Ameriflora from out of town on a High School class trip, I do not remember it.
It is a nice park. It is just too spacy and empty for a art-​park in my opinion.

Franklin Park Conservatory has something for everyone. They’re always events for young children, and even for the elder it is very easy to navigate around the outdoors and also the indoors of the conservatory. There is a lot of beautiful scenery among the park, pets are welcome outdoors. In addition they have very nice water features and areas that you are welcome to ride your bike.

Columbus and its’ army of parks, they are a force to be reckoned with. There are so many and each has its’ own super power. Franklin Park possesses the power of serenity.
Partnered with the Franklin Conservatory, this place has beautiful picture settings and inspires a calm, leisurely mood. The conservatory (reviewed separately) has a charge to get in but the grounds are free.
There is a paved trail with bridges overlooking a couple of ponds, offering a fun place to feed the geese. The trail can be biked or walked. Picnic tables are scattered everywhere. Tucked away on one side is an amphitheater while opposite it is another bridge setting. In between is a botanical garden and a community garden. You will also come across a gazebo hall and an enormous metal sculpture.
Franklin Park is worth a visit. Have a picnic. Take a stroll. You will smile.

Oh the conservatory is awesome!

Went last night for the Bruce Munro Light exhibit. Very cool. Made for a nice break from the dinner +/​-​movie rut my wife and I have been locked in for the past few months. We’ll definitely come back in the daytime once spring has fully sprung.

What a lovely park! The focus of it is the Franklin Park Conservatory, but upon visiting a few conservatories, I’ve realized that few are worth the price they charge, so I just walked around the free park instead. It’s full of ponds, little waterfalls, gardens, and shaded benches to hide away in. I thoroughly enjoyed my leisurely stroll as a way to end my weekend in the great city of Columbus.

Love, love, love. I live one mile from here, so the park is ideal for walking my dog to the park, around it and back home. It’s well maintained, manicured, trash receptacles are aplenty, and the paths are kept free of debris and nonsense. The playground is cute, the community garden is great, and the pavilion is clean and rentable.
You get the occasional random group of local kids being stupid in the park, but FP security is present in the area, so no worries here. I am a big fan :)

My husband proposed to me here, so it’s pretty special to me. :-) We sat right by the Cascades (Had NO clue that was there!!!) and he did the whole get down on one knee thing to propose.
The Cascades are tucked away in a corner, but are truly beautiful in the spring. We did our engagement photos in the park in the winter, and even without leaves and greenery, our photos still look beautiful. I get comments like «WHERE were you? Was that Columbus?»
I will often run through here, as we live in Bexley and it’s not far away at all.

i enjoy taking my dog here for a nice walk. park is rarely crowded, the grounds are kept up, and he enjoys chasing down the numerous geese that take over the park in the summer.

The park is part of the Franklin Park Conservatory but is nice enough to stand alone. You can spend hours just roaming through the gardens and forget that you are only seconds away from downtown.

Simply put, this park is BEAUTIFUL! Very well manicured and very beautiful flowers. I really want to return to explore the trails a bit more, but I got a good look at the duck pond and that is quite neat. It also so has a bench by the duck pond and when the sun is setting, I’m sure that’s a great place to sit.
They also have a very neat modern art sculpture in the middle, which, when you look through the spires to a pristine Columbus blue sky is quite entrancing. Check this park out!

Columbus’s largest city park sprawls across 90 beautiful acres on the city’s east side near Bexley. The grounds are impeccably landscaped and include a special Japanese garden, duck pond and fishing pond. There are also tennis and basketball courts, as well as all purpose trails which meander along into the neighboring parks.
Also located within the park are the Franklin Park Conservatory and David Youth Center. This is one of the more attractive and well-​maintained green spaces in Columbus. It is owned by the city and is home to plenty of annual events, including the Asian Festival during Memorial Day weekend.