Note: I originally wrote this post in 2019 for my old blog. I have edited and updated it for posting here.
As a born-and-raised Michigander, I have been conditioned to dislike Ohio, though the rivalry between the two states has mostly been inconsequential to me. The University of Michigan and Ohio State University have a huge football rivalry which was something I never cared about, and being mostly surrounded by the Great Lakes, it seemed to me a no-brainer that Michigan would have more and better places to visit than Ohio. When I was younger, the only times I ever crossed the border into Ohio were to visit relatives in Pennsylvania, and I would try to nap through the Ohio landscape because there wasn’t much to see.
Then while I was in university my mother moved to a suburb of Columbus, and for about a year before moving to Japan, I actually lived with her there to try to save up some money. She recently moved back to Michigan, thankfully. But during my time in Ohio I did explore the state a bit and was able to find some quite interesting and beautiful places. I’ll admit that, after these adventures, I became more inclined to pick on Indiana as the boring state instead of Ohio.
Columbus
Whenever I think of the biggest cities in the Midwest, my mind immediately goes to Chicago and Detroit. Columbus, however, actually outranks Detroit population-wise, and is the 14th most populous city in the US. Of course, Ohio’s capital does not have the cultural significance of or capture the imagination like Chicago and Detroit, but it still has its charms. Based on my own short adventures into the city, there are few specific places in Columbus that are truly special.
One such place is Topiary Park, a garden that recreates Georges Seurat’s famous painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” through topiary sculptures. The idea for such a park was conceived when the wife of Columbus sculptor James T. Mason asked her husband to create a topiary sculpture for their backyard. The scale of the project exceeded what could feasibly fit in their backyard, so they pitched the idea to the city and the park opened in 1992.
Another special place is The Book Loft, a massive bookstore located in German Village, which itself is a beautiful area of Columbus to take a stroll. The bookstore, which contains 32 rooms full of books, is housed in a pre-Civil War building that was once home to general stores, a saloon, and a nickelodeon cinema. Nowadays, any bookworm who visits will want to curl up in a nook and live there. Even one of my friends who doesn’t read all that much said he could spend several days there just looking around.
Another of my favorite places in Columbus is the North Market, a big warehouse-like building containing dozens of small businesses and restaurants. The North Market itself was established in 1876, though the current building is much newer. Inside you can go to bakeries, cafes, fishmongers, delis, and get any kind of cuisine you want: Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Polish, Italian, and Belgian, to name a few that I can specifically remember.
A bit outside of Columbus, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is definitely a great place to go during the warmer months. The zoo is home to more than 7,000 animals and 800 different species, and is considered one of the best zoos in the US. It’s also a great place to visit at Christmastime because of Wildlights. Every year from mid-November to the beginning of January, the zoo puts on a spectacular light display that makes walking around in the December cold for an hour worth it to see it.
Hocking Hills State Park
Hocking Hills is a state park in southern Ohio, about an hour and a half from Columbus by car. Its Ohio.gov page states that the park “has received national and international acclaim as a top park to visit,” and I can see why. Hocking Hills has beautiful waterfalls, cliffs, lakes, and gorges, and is covered in forest. Even though it was sweltering and then thundered and rained (refreshing, really), during my hike through the park, I loved spending a day there. I bet it’s gorgeous in the fall, too.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Perhaps Ohio’s most beautiful place is also its only National Park, Cuyahoga Valley. The park occupies the landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland. Its proximity to these cities, unusual for a national park, makes it quite easy to access. It was designated a National Park in 2000, and is the only National Park in the US to have formerly been a national recreation area. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is 50.9 square miles of spectacular forests, waterfalls, meadows, wetlands, and rock formations, and my friend who comes from a town nearby said that it is definitely the best Ohio has to offer.
Ohio is not a popular place for passing travelers, and if that’s you, feel free to skip it. But if you, like I did, happen to find yourself in Ohio and have the urge to explore, here are a few suggestions that will make your time there worthwhile.
