Whetstone Park of Roses

This park is a beautiful place for people who appreciates nature. They have all types of beautiful roses and flowers. They are well-​maintained by donors. The park is open all year round, and it is peak season in the spring and summer.
It is a family-​oriented park. You will see people walking their dogs as well.

Beautiful park year around but especially so in the summer. Like so many others have said, the roses and other plants are simply gorgeous! It’s fantastic for photography, running your dog, and even small private weddings. It is truly a feast for the eyes when all the roses are in bloom! Come and don’t forget your camera… you won’t be disappointed.

Very pretty. Love taking pictures here. Saw some people doing some Tai Chi and it was just very nice and peaceful, can’t wait til Ohio is in bloom again so i can go back!

I love the park! Beautiful and pet-​friendly! Be mindful of bikers. Fun for picnics, stealthy day-​drinking, or spying on outdoor weddings. Check out the photographers by the roses!

Beatiful setting for a wedding or wedding reception — at the Shelter House at the entrance to the Park of Roses. We had our wedding reception there and it was a perfect setting for kids and adults alike to enjoy the outdoors while we were taking photos. The rent price is reasonable but you need to call 12 months in advance to reserve the shelter house

I love this park. Even when the roses aren’t in bloom it is still beautiful! Pleasant for walking, recreational activities, and even picnics.

An awesome experience for those looking for a nice, free, well maintained courts, here you will have 11 courts on perfect conditions.
A must place to hit some tennis balls and also enjoy the park of roses.
Free parking and you also have a CML (library) on your side…

This place is pretty cool! It is connected to a huge park with 2 playgrounds as well and a pretty big pond for fishing, there is also a nice overlook at the rose garden, very nice landscaping I must say and a pretty place to walk.

A truly humongous park when all the flowers are in bloom and you are trying to see them all. I’ve spent a lot of good time here and been able to take lots of fun pictures. Highly recommended!

Rose gardens, gazebos, great places to sit and relax and picnic. There’s even a trail in the woods, great for dogs and kids. Fountains, a library close by, softball fields, soccer fields. This place is perfect. My favorite park.

Love coming here for my walks! There can be quite a number of people on the trails but I’ve never had any problems and people are polite and leave you alone to do your own thing. I’ve been here for a wedding, which was gorgeous & seeing all the flowers/​roses in bloom is just a thing of beauty.

Being at Park of Roses is like being in a far off land. A land where there is no city, no hustle and bustle, no rush.
Park of Roses is a wonderful park full of plant life. It offers more than just roses and if you go now you’ll be awed by all the pops of color the spring time has to offer.
I love bringing my dogs here to run and play. Besides eating I truly believe Park of Roses is their favorite activity.
Also, there is a ravine below Park of Roses and you can totally get lost in there. It runs a long a little creek and there’s all these different trails that go in and out. I take my dogs down there on the warmer days so they can run in and out of the little creek bed.
Do yourself a favor… Take a book, take a picnic, take a lover, take a blanket, take a dog and just hang out at Park of Roses for awhile. You won’t be disappointed.
The end.

Every once in a blue moon a film company will come to Columbus; the usual shot is of the Statehouse, sometimes Ohio State, and rarely a steady-​cam panorama driving up High Street. But the producers are missing the best movie settings in town; of the number of them I can think, Whetsone Park of Roses is at the top.
I am in a movie every time I visit this place at full bloom. The sheer beauty of the roses, the blood reds, the flatted and sharp pinks, the violets and dark purples, the yellow and crème whites, the oranges can easily set an overactive imagination into overdrive. The sweet scent of the flowers can send me over-​the-​top. I imagine I’m in some neo-​noir, meeting the femme fatale to reveal that I’ve been played, or waiting for some elicit lover who here to break it off, or meeting on a white bench a fellow spy – double crossed – a Donald Sutherland character who last cold words echoes the central conceit of the film.
Such inspiration is not only caused by the three section of roses, containing 400 types and 1,100 plants, and the connect herb garden, but also by the nicely designed landscaping. Well maintained sidewalks, benches, gazebo, a metal tower for a birds-​eye view, and rustic wood work on the perimeter are well designed. To the South is a outdoor theatre, and the park is abutted by a stream there. The center piece in the main section, is the fountain.
Volunteers trained in the arts of gardening care for the place, making this somewhat nationally known spot an example of community pride as well. Walking through the park you can find painters at work. The day I visited I was serenaded by a guitarist at work; sounding much like Patti Smith, her strumming and singing gave the place a more cinematic air.
This stimulating spectacle won’t be for long though, many roses are preannuals and will only be at bloom a short time, though the 13-​acre landscape features hybrids that can bloom multiple times. Even so, I think POR is under utilized. Even when not in bloom, it is a good place to destress, lose anxiety, and relax.
The rest of Whetstone is a spacious athletic park good for group sports or leagues.

Picture a gorgeous park filled with rose beds of every color imaginable. And there you have Whetstone Rose Park at its peak!
Bryant was kind enough to show me this stunning display with the hopes that the roses would (finally) be in bloom. And my oh my were they! I was pretty awestruck by the meticulous maintenance of the countless number of rose beds — each with the unique name of the rose and sweet dedication. The walking paths and open spaces accent the lovely flowers, making it a perfect space for events, pictures, or just frolicking!
Beyond the free sniffs and loveliness, I absolutely adored some of the rose breed/​names: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Rosie O’Donell, Peace & Love, and so many more. Make sure you take the time to enjoy the gorgeous views and the free smells.

The roses are blooming! The roses are blooming!
Before today, I had been to the park three times since spring started, and each trip was a fail. Okay, so there’s never really a «fail» at this park — even without roses, it’s still lovely. But when the roses *are* blooming… it’s magical.
And today was totally magical.
Whetstone has a lot of activities happening, but I go for the roses. There are hundreds of different varieties, and it feels like a secret garden. Whether you’re going for a date, a picnic, a wedding, or just some alone time — the Park of Roses is the perfect backdrop.
The only thing is – all the roses aren’t concurrently blooming for long. There’s a very short window, but trust me – it’s worth it.
Pro tip: Take your bike with you because there are amazing trails circling the park!

I first discovered this park when Clintonville was having a music festival, a couple of weeks after I moved to Columbus. It was like… if the Queen of Hearts was an actual person — this would be her rose garden — and she would be okay with them not being all red! There are so many colors — more types of roses than I could have ever imagined existed. They are displayed so beautifully too!
This is a great place to come for pictures. The setting will make you look like a pro — no doubt! Gazebos, benches and fountains are scattered everywhere. There are tennis courts here, Olentangy bike trail, a playground, etc… it’s really hard for me to see past the main attraction of this park though.
The Park of Roses was my «first kiss» of Columbus Parks. Ever since, I have been on a mission to explore every park in and around Columbus. All the parks I have been to so far have been simply amazing. The coolest thing is that each park has something different, something unique to set it apart from the rest. For Whetstone, it’s the roses.

So, this is another gem of a park in Columbus. We’re really spoiled around here.
Unfortunately, when we were there the roses weren’t in full bloom yet. The cold, long winter was harsh on some of these plants and the rest were just getting ready to bloom. But, this park is beautiful even without the blooms. A formal design means you can wander in and out of lines of rose bushes. I recommend climbing the little viewing tower, it gives you a great view of the park.
And, as someone who will be planning a wedding soon, I might just have to look into a ceremony here. If the timing is right, it would be a stunning wedding locale!

The roses are blooming!
We went around 7 on a Friday. The park was packed! There were families, couples, and even a wedding happening.
We saw such gorgeous flowers. They smell as good as they look! It’s unbelievable that this park is free. And with it being in such close proximity, we’ll definitely be returning soon!

An absolute gem here in Columbus. This winter has been awful, but yesterday was nice enough to take a quick walk around the WPoR. I’ve been here multiple times, and I keep discovering new things. Yesterday, it was the small duck pond that you can walk around.
There’s plenty of trails to hike and bike, and lots of kids around playing or practicing their various sports.

4^th of July fireworks held here annually.
I’ve taken the dog here for walks and he likes to smell new things.
My employer has rented the Shelter House a few times for company picnics. We’ve used the nearby field for volleyball and kickball complete with spectators.