Beautiful and quiet, great all day and close to sundown. I enjoy clearing my head by driving from the city along 42 and 142, with a trail walk along the way at Prarie Oaks.

One of my favorite Metro Parks in all of Ohio! 2 separate entrances to park but are connected through nature trails. The west side entrance has horse trails and picnic areas, while the opposite entrance is to Darby Bend Lakes, a quarry of 3 lakes and the Big Darby River flows right through the park! Excellent for hiking, kayaking, and even a dog beach for dogs to enjoy the water off leash.

This is a beautiful park any time of the year with many small lakes and trails. A great place for evening hikes.

This place is just amazing and a great place to relax. It is full of nature and great environment.

Prairie Oaks Metro Park is one of my favorite of all the Metro Parks. Although I find the entire park amazing, the ponds and lakes are what makes this park stand out to me.

Very nice park not too far from the city! Beautiful trails and fun pond area!

Nice metro park just a short drive west of Columbus. There are a couple different shelter houses. A large playground area for the kids. Ample amount of parking available, as well as restroom facilities. There are trails here as well, but I didn't have time to walk them. I was impressed that they provided paper bags for pet waste.

We came here around 10am on a saturday morning and had the whole lake area #2 to ourselves! Beautiful spot to kayak and the water is pretty clear! Good fishing spot for sure. You aren't able to park at #2 entrance but we just dropped the boats off and parked a short walk away. They even have a fishing dock down by the water access. Will definitely be back!! Perfect spot for a beginner kayaker!!!

Well maintained. Walking paths, horse trails, canoeing, dog beach. Lots of bathrooms which is good if you have kids. Several fishing ponds too. Had a fun day here :)

Nice park to walk with your dog, it has a leash free dog swimming area.

Went for a walk to see if there were any birds during the fall migration. Didn't see much until I got to the levee and then saw about 15 different species. It was very cool and suprising. There were groups like cedar waxwings and flycatchers and warblers mixed in together.

Excellent place, very clean and with marked natural areas. Very kind attention from the park rangers. I was able to walk and observe beautiful birds

This Park has Lakes, a river, Woods and prairie to hike. There is some good elevation Change. The day we hike there were many wet and muddy area. If it has rained in a couple days, you May want to postpone your hike. We parked at the Whispering Oaks Picnic Area. Plenty of parking. There is a picnic shelter, other picnic tables scattered about and clean restrooms. There are no trash cans so you need to take your trash when you leave the park.

It is a nice place. A bit too much freeway noise, and pretty muddy off the Darby Creek Greenway.

Very beautiful park. Not one trash can in site. Not even the picnic table areas. We collected a grocery bag full of garbage, mostly fisherman waste and cigarette butts. And especially at the bridge where 26 butts were picked up. The dog swimming area is littered with bags of dog poo on the beach and the grass areas. The only reciprocal within the area is filled completely up with trash and pet waste overflowing onto the ground piling up around the post. Please provide trash cans in this area. A couple cigarette butt reciprocals would be very nice as well.

Beautiful park. Great for walking, hiking, cross country practice, kayaking, etc. Lots of parking.

I stopped in to kinda check it out for some fishing!... I will definitely come back in the fall.

If you and your furend haven't had the opportunity to attend WAG Fest you totally need to consider the fun and activities to keep yourself and your dog(s) entertained!

Great place to bring the kids!

They have a dock and a beautiful beach that's as close to sand as you'll get in Ohio. You can jump the dogs off the dock and the whole park is pretty dog friendly. They took the dock out really early in the year somewhere around the fall solstice, it was nice while it lasted for the summer, the fall temps stayed up for a bit. Atleast the beach was still open!

Fantastic metro park. Has something to do for your outdoorsy family even your 4 legged kids.

This place is our go-to for a nice weekend stroll with the dog, and occasional kayaking. It’s consistently clean. My only wish is that some trash cans were placed discretely along the walking trails so dog waste could be more quickly disposed of

Needs trash cans!! If your having a cookout our picnic bring trash bags

We love taking our dog here for a nice swim - very quiet and calm!

Great place for a nice walk and pictures.

Great way to get outdoors for a while. Fishing, kayaking, creeking. Free family fun

Great park with lots to explore! Nice trails and tons of wildlife. 5 deer, tons of frogs, birds and a tiny little snake friend today alone :)

Solid park area. Nice views of the lake and room to walk around or have a picnic. Also a dog beach for the doggos so that's a plus!

Its huge and such a beautiful lake park I can’t stop myself going there all the time… There so much to do its so FUN..! Get ur self for sure! I’m sure you’ll Love it…😉

Nice quiet park. Park has a trail for horse riding. Nice walking trails. They are all pretty easy so most people would be ok getting around. You can take a trail from this park over to the quarries on amity road, which is also a nice park. Prairie oaks is a nice park for kids to play. There is a play area with a slide, swings, and a little rock climbing area. There is ample space for cookouts, parties. They have 2 big shelter houses with picnic tables. And grills. The bathrooms are nice as well. Great for bird and butterfly watching. Lots of native grasses and plants. There is also a little marsh land with frogs and salamanders.

Beautiful place to hike or take the kids to the playground. It also has some water to splash in a long the way. This park does not have a beach just a creek. It is one of my favorite places to go. It is clean and has real restrooms.

Amazing park! The trails are easy to follow, and you can really customize how far or long you want to walk. Great for dogs. Awesome sunset views! It's definitely worth the trip. I find it best to park by the dog park area instead of the main, but that's just personal preference.

First time visiting this park. Great place for an easy run or walk. Relatively flat. Some horse/hiking trails that are grass covered. I did 6.5 miles on the crushed stone path and on the hirse trails. Loved it! Will def be back!

This is a real prairie. We go here year round - the grasses are always beautiful. Stay alert since there are horse trails and people trails. Use the people trail unless you are a horse.

My dogs love the dog beach! Water is clean. Walking trails/paths are well groomed. Many grassy areas and picnic tables/covered areas. Plenty of parking. FYI The beach is not fenced in.

Lots of great trails. I took a more challenging one and it was so fun! Some trails are NOT dog friendly. Trails that are are explicitly labeled as to dog friendliness.

One of my most favourite parks. I love it. We've been here so many times, still so much to explore.

Relaxing and beautiful.

Great spot to let the dogs swim, fish, or just relax

Absolutely beautiful scenery unlike anything I see in my daily life in Columbus. Or even the other metro parks

Another great Columbus metropark. Maybe not as spectacular as some of the other parks but the old quarry lakes are beautiful as is the Darby Creek. Worth a visit if you're in central Ohio.

Always nice and upkept. Great long well maintained trails and love the gravel and grass options

Great place for a Sunday walk

Enjoyed our outing, it's hard to have a good time with covid lurking around.

Nature at it’s almost best. Better in the spring.

Great place to walk, kayak or just let your dog sniff the sniffs. Dog beach could be bigger.

This is a great place to have small gatherings where you can social distance outside. Generally not over crowded. Just make sure to follow the guidelines during this time. They have a couple pavilions in case of rain or to shelter from the sun. I really enjoy having this park in our area! Also a good place for walks or jogging.

Wonderful open space to walk and take pets! Lots of trails, so even though there were many people there, it was not crowded! Will be going back soon!!!

A nice walk through a lovely forest. Paths are not good for those with walking or balance issues.

Great place to walk. Also has a dog beach.

A beautiful park with some great views and a lovely picnic area. My partner and their family held a socially distanced picnic at the pavilion; the facilities were very nice, and the views were awesome for the area. Be sure to “pack out” and take your trash with you, because there are no trash receptacles here!

Prairie oaks is a beautiful park thats out of the way from some of the busier areas of Central Ohio. There dozens of beautiful winding trails, each of them very unique. There are a few ponds, one of which is a dog park area where you can bring your furry best friend to go for a swim! There are also trails that are horse friendly, so you may see some locals on horse back on your hike. There are multiple entrances to the park and like I said, each looks like a completely different park. There's so much to see all year round at Prairie oaks and I highly recommend it.

Nice park with some decent trails. Not sure why they closed down the restrooms.

Good fishing

Great place to take a walk and have your dogs go for a swim.

Gotta love the fall colors.

What a great park ! Walk ways are wide you can bike or take a horse 🐴 through several sections two or more lakes one that allows dogs to swim in. Darby Creek is beautiful this time of year.

There is plenty of parking and so many paths and trails that even when the place is busy, you'll have stretches of trails all to yourself.

Peaceful, beautiful area to get away from life's stresses.

A lovely park with excellent walking paths and scenery. I love the variety of trees, fields, lakes, and river. Plenty of parking and clean bathrooms.

Over all just a great pet friendly place

As a hiking junkie, I was nervous to move from Athens, Ohio and Hocking Hills to Columbus, but this park is a real gem. It includes a wide variety of paths, and some wonderful prairie hiking, which I had not experienced. This is one of the few places in Columbus where I feel I can really ground myself in the outdoors in any meaningful capacity.

Kayaking and canoe access

The beautiful trails with colorful foliage

Nice park on the west side, lots of shaded trails and water.

Clean and serene

Great trails for running. I ran a couple different loops to get to 10 miles.

Nice quiet place to spend the day.

Its beautiful and it has bathrooms.