GOhio! Adventures Around Columbus

Early-bird coffee and conversation at Cup O Joe Coffee House!

Before Quarry Trails Metro Park became a dynamic hub for outdoor enthusiasts, it was part of the historic Marble Cliff Quarry, which was once the largest contiguous limestone quarry in the United States. For over a century, workers excavated millions of tons of limestone from this massive site bordering the Scioto River. If you have ever admired the grand architecture of the Ohio Statehouse downtown or cheered from the stands at Ohio Stadium, you have already seen the very stone pulled from this ground. The quarry was an industrial powerhouse that literally laid the foundations for some of Columbus’s most iconic landmarks.

As the 20th century progressed, the intense mining operations began to wind down, leaving behind a scarred, industrial wasteland of deep pits and rugged cliffs. For decades, this massive stretch of land sat largely forgotten and off-limits to the public, hidden just a few miles west of downtown Columbus. However, the leaders at Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks saw immense potential in the abandoned terrain. They recognized a rare opportunity to reclaim a disrupted landscape and transform it into a unique urban oasis. By acquiring a portion of the historic quarry site, the park system set out to fulfill a long-term goal of putting a Metro Park within five miles of every Franklin County resident.

The vision became a reality on November 30, 2021, when Quarry Trails officially opened to the public as Central Ohio's 20th metro park. The opening marked a dramatic shift in how the city approaches green spaces by blending rugged, repurposed industrial elements with modern park design. Instead of erasing the site's mining past, the park preserves the sheer limestone faces and deep water pockets left behind by decades of excavation. Central Ohioans quickly adopted the park, marveling at how a former industrial zone could be so quickly converted into a sanctuary for both wildlife and people.

Among the park's most stunning features is Millikin Falls, a picturesque 25-foot waterfall that cascades over ancient limestone steps into a tranquil pool below. Visitors can walk along the ADA-accessible boardwalks, hike scenic loop trails, or search for prehistoric fossils embedded in the rock walls. The old quarry pits were filled to create pristine lakes like Swan Lake and Turtle Cove, which are now popular spots for catch-and-release fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. The clever engineering repurposed the harsh terrain to give locals access to water sports and dramatic waterfront vistas right in their backyard.

In May 2023, the park cemented its reputation for high adventure by opening the nation’s first urban Via Ferrata. This specialized climbing route allows thrill-seekers to traverse a 160-foot-tall canyon wall using steel rungs, ladders, and a suspension bridge dangling 100 feet in the air. Alongside a single-track mountain bike course, a sledding hill, and an off-leash dog park, Quarry Trails offers an array of specialized recreation rarely found near a major city center. Today, the park stands as a nationally recognized testament to urban renewal, proving that even the most heavily mined landscapes can be given a vibrant second life.

Maps of the Park

Here is the 2025 Map of Quarry Trails.

Here is the 2026 Map of Quarry Trails. Ignoring the new names they've added to some things, you can see they've also added a new leg to the Redback Loop Trail, a new giant hammocks, and some new restrooms.

Summary

For this hike, we'll do a loop of the park. This will be about four miles, which is at the low end of what I typically like to do for a Trails & Ales hike. I generally shoot for around five miles.

However, in my experience, Quarry Trails tends to wear people out faster than other parks, probably because we actually spend so much time walking on pavement or solid gravel, and because of Quarry Trails' elevation changes. So try not to think of this as "only" a four-mile hike. It tests people.

This might be the only place I hike where I rarely wear my hiking shoes.

Where We'll Meet

Quarry Trails has multiple entrances, but none of them are connected internally within the park. So you must drive to the correct one for this event.

We will meet at the Quarry Trails Lake Area, the actual address for which is 2319 Quarry Trails Dr, Hilliard, OH 43026. You can also use the map pin I've provided here. Do not just type "Quarry Trails" into Google Maps and trust it to take you to the correct place; it might not.

We will meet by the new restrooms they've just built here by the playground.

After the Hike

Afterward, we'll head over to Knotty Pine Brewing for drinks and food. Its actual address is 1765 W 3rd Ave, Columbus, OH 43212, and it's about an eight or nine minute drive from where we'll be parked at Quarry Trails. They have a nice covered outdoor porch if weather permits.

The brewery has a small parking lot, but street parking if you need it shouldn't be excruciatingly difficult to find. And, unless they've added parking meters since last I was there, street parking is free.

Please note that there is a business unrelated to the brewery that has its own parking lot right next to the brewery. Unless this business has recently changed its policy, they do not want people using their lot. I don't know if they're open on Saturdays to actually enforce this, but I personally am not interested in being the guinea pig to test their parking restrictions.

We should be at the tavern by 5 if you can't make the hike and just want to meet us for drinks.

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield stands as one of America's most imposing architectural and historical monuments to nineteenth-century penology. While most people across the globe and many right here in Ohio recognize its towering limestone facade as the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary from the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, the true history of the structure is far more complex than its Hollywood legacy. It is a story that spans over a century, shifting from an idealistic nineteenth-century experiment in human rehabilitation to a overcrowded, violent, maximum-security hellscape, and finally to its modern reincarnation as a historic preservation success story.

The Philosophy of the Intermediate Penitentiary

To understand why the reformatory exists, one must look back to the post-Civil War era. During the late 1800s, Ohio’s primary penal institution was the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. It was notoriously brutal, plagued by overcrowding, and mixed first-time teenage offenders with hardened, violent criminals.

In response, social reformers advocated for a new type of institution: the "intermediate penitentiary." The goal was not simply to punish, but to reform. The target demographic was young, first-time offenders aged sixteen to thirty. The theory was that these young men were not yet entirely corrupted by a life of crime and could be saved through discipline, education, religion, and trade registry.

In 1884, the Ohio General Assembly approved the construction of the Intermediate Penitentiary. Mansfield was chosen as the site, largely due to its central location, robust railroad access, and the city's willingness to donate 30 acres of land.

An Architectural Masterpiece of Terror and Grace

To design this grand experiment, the state hired Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield. Scofield believed that the physical architecture of a prison could spiritually elevate and reform the inmates within it. He utilized a blend of three distinct styles: Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Queen Anne.

Scofield intentionally crafted an exterior that resembled a grand, medieval European castle. The soaring towers, arched windows, and intricate brickwork were designed to inspire awe, foster a sense of religious repentance, and subtly remind the inmates of the majestic power of the law.

Construction began with the laying of the cornerstone on November 4, 1886. However, the project was plagued by severe funding shortages and political delays. It took ten years and roughly $1.3 million — an astronomical sum at the time — before the facility was ready to receive its first inmates.

On September 17, 1896, the institution officially opened its doors, re-christened as the Ohio State Reformatory (OSR). The first transfer consisted of 150 young offenders from the Columbus penitentiary. Upon arrival, they were not immediately locked away; instead, they were put to work completing the prison's outer walls and infrastructure.

The Golden Era of Reform (1896–1960s)

For its first few decades, OSR operated largely as its founders intended. The institutional philosophy centered on the Elmira System, which utilized a three-stage grading process.

Upon entry, every inmate was placed in the second grade. Good behavior, academic progress, and diligent work allowed an inmate to promote to the first grade, which carried expanded privileges and paved the way for an early parole. Conversely, bad behavior demoted an inmate to the third grade, stripping them of privileges and adding time to their sentences.

The reformatory functioned as a self-sustaining city. Inmates lived under strict discipline but were given access to a comprehensive high school education and spiritual counseling. More importantly, they were taught viable trade skills. The reformatory featured:

• A fully operational farm that produced food for the facility
• A printing shop
• A shoe factory
• A machine shop
• A tailor shop

By the mid-twentieth century, however, the lofty ideals of the nineteenth-century reformers began to erode under the weight of a changing society and shifting state demographics.

The Descent Into Darkness

By the 1960s, the "reformatory" aspect of OSR was dead in all but name. The state of Ohio faced a massive surge in its prison population, and OSR was forced to transition into a maximum-security facility. The youthful, non-violent offenders the prison was built for were replaced by individuals convicted of violent, serious felonies.

Overcrowding quickly became a catastrophic issue. The prison's cellblocks, designed for single occupancy, began housing two or three men to a cell. The most jarring manifestation of this era is the West Cell Block. Standing six tiers high, it remains the world’s largest free-standing steel cellblock, constructed by the Champion Iron Company of Kenton, Ohio.

As living conditions deteriorated, violence spiked. The prison became a pressure cooker of inmate-on-inmate violence, disease, and psychological despair. The solitary confinement cells — known colloquially as "The Hole" — were dark, damp cages where men were kept in total sensory deprivation for days on end.

The human toll of this era was devastating. Several corrections officers were murdered in the line of duty, including Guard Superintendent Philip Urban in 1926 and Guard John F. Patterson in 1948. In 1932, a prison riot resulted in significant structural damage. By the late 1970s and 1980s, federal courts intervened. Activists and civil rights lawyers filed lawsuits against the state, citing OSR's conditions as "cruel and unusual punishment."

Closure and the Hollywood Resurgence

In 1990, the Council for Human Dignity won its legal battle against the state. The federal court ordered the immediate closure of the Ohio State Reformatory. The remaining inmates were transferred to the newly constructed Richland Correctional Institution, a modern, sterile facility built just behind the historic prison walls.

For a brief window, the abandoned castle in Mansfield faced the wrecking ball. The state intended to demolish the entire complex to clear land. However, fate intervened in the form of Hollywood.

In the summer of 1993, director Frank Darabont utilized the vacant reformatory as the primary filming location for The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The prison’s grim, towering cellblocks, its imposing warden's quarters, and its gothic administrative halls provided the perfect visual canvas for Stephen King's story of hope and endurance. While the movie was a box-office disappointment upon initial release, it grew into a cultural phenomenon.

Preservation and the Modern Era

Following the success of the film, local activists and preservationists formed the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society (MRPS) in 1995. The society bought the property from the state of Ohio for a nominal fee of one dollar, with the condition that they spearhead its restoration and maintain it as a historic site.

Today, the Ohio State Reformatory is one of the most successful historic preservation projects in the Midwest. It operates as a bustling tourist destination, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mansfield every year. Guests can walk through the jaw-dropping cellblocks, tour the warden's offices, and see preserved set pieces from The Shawshank Redemption, including the office window and the tunnel replica.

Beyond its cinematic ties, the facility honors its dark and complex history. It serves as a museum dedicated to the evolution of the Ohio penal system, keeping alive the memory of the reformers who built it, the guards who worked it, and the thousands of inmates who broke rocks, learned trades, or suffered behind its towering limestone walls.

* * *

Summary

For this event, we will do the self-guided tour of the Reformatory.

Tickets and Pricing

Tickets for this tour are $30 and can be purchased either online or at the Reformatory. There is no discount for purchasing online and the tickets never sell out. No reservations are required.

Length of the Tour

The MRPS recommends an hour and a half to do this tour, but we'll be going at our own pace and won't be in any kind of rush.

Where we'll meet

We will meet either at the front desk or just near the main entrance.

Are there a lot of stairs? Is there a lot of walking?

Yes and yes. We could potentially be up and down 20+ flights of stairs on this tour. The building is approximately 250,000 square feet and the standard tour route spans most of it.

Will this be the full tour?

Yes. From Labor Day to mid-November, part of what is on this tour gets converted over to the Reformatory's haunted house. These parts of the prison are closed off and cannot be seen on the self-guided tours during this time.

However, the date of this event is the first date on which the full tour is once again open after the haunted house closes for the season. So you will be able to see everything at the Reformatory that can normally be seen as part of this tour.

What about the weather?

The museums and administrative areas of the building are temperature controlled. The cell blocks and other sections of the prison are not. Please dress accordingly. In the winter, the cell blocks will be freezing cold.

Is the tour indoors?

Yes. The only time you will be outside is walking from your car into the building. They have a full roof and the entire tour route is indoors.

Are we allowed to take pictures?

Yes.

After the Tour

Afterward, we will head over to Mansfield's Phoenix Brewing Company, an exceptionally highly rated brewery. The brewery always has a food truck on Saturdays. My guess is this will be the V&M food truck (which is quite good and I can vouch for their burgers), but it might also be the Grub Brothers truck (which I haven't had but I'd bet is probably also good).

The actual address of the brewery is 131 N Diamond St, Mansfield, OH 44902. It's only about 5 minutes from the Reformatory. If you like spirits, their upstairs Spirit Room has a unique vibe (and large comfy leather seats) and I'll encourage you to check it out while we're there.

Long before it became a haven for central Ohio hikers, the deep valley of Clear Creek Metro Park was carved over millennia by glacial meltwaters and natural erosion. This geologic process left behind dramatic Black Hand sandstone cliffs, rugged gorges, and deep ravines that echo the scenery of the neighboring Hocking Hills. As Columbus expanded through the 20th century, the park system primarily focused on developing regional parks closer to Franklin County like Blacklick Woods or Blendon Woods. The remote Clear Creek Valley in Rockbridge remained largely untouched, existing as a hidden ecological treasure of rare plant colonies, hemlock forests, and nesting warblers. However, this pristine wilderness faced an existential crisis in the late 1960s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a massive public works project.

The federal government drew up plans to dam the valley and transform the entire canyon into a massive recreational reservoir. Realizing that the rising floodwaters would permanently destroy the valley's distinct ecosystem, three visionary private landowners stepped up to defend the land. Known affectionately by park historians as the "Three Bs" of Clear Creek, the Allen F. Beck family, Emily Benua, and Oscar L. Barnebey began strategically coordinating efforts to outmaneuver the federal government. They recognized that the most effective shield against the reservoir was to transfer their land holdings under strict legal protections that a dam project could not easily dissolve.

The first major legal defense fell into place in 1973 when the Beck family of Columbus gifted an initial 1,159 acres to the Columbus Metro Parks board. They attached a strict stipulation requiring that three-quarters of the donated land be formally designated as a protected state nature preserve. Emily Benua reinforced this firewall by leaving her 662-acre estate to the state preserve system in her will, ensuring it would remain a wildlife sanctuary for scientific and aesthetic purposes forever. Meanwhile, Oscar Barnebey’s land, which had hosted a church youth camp since 1928 and later served as an Ohio State University natural resources lab, was eventually acquired by the park system to bridge the properties together. Under the weight of these ironclad environmental restrictions and mounting public advocacy, the federal government officially abandoned the reservoir project.

With the threat of the dam eliminated, Metro Parks spent the next two decades meticulously buying surrounding parcels and drafting a highly specialized master plan. Unlike urban Metro Parks where roughly 20 percent of the footprint is developed for heavy recreation like playgrounds or sports fields, Clear Creek was planned almost entirely for total wilderness conservation. In 1995, Clear Creek Metro Park officially opened its gates to the public with 3,800 acres of protected forest. Local residents quickly embraced the park as a primitive retreat, marveling at local landmarks like "Leaning Lena" -- the massive overhanging rock near the park entrance that is steeped in local folklore.

Since its formal opening, Metro Parks has continued to steadily expand the boundaries of this southern sanctuary through strategic conservation grants and land partnerships. By purchasing adjacent properties like the hemlock-shrouded ravines of Fern Gully from the Arc of Appalachia, the park has grown to encompass over 5,470 total acres. The crown jewel of this expanse remains the Allen F. Beck State Nature Preserve, which blankets over 4,700 acres and stands proudly as the largest dedicated state nature preserve in all of Ohio. Today, lifelong Columbus residents view the park as the ultimate wilderness escape within the system, keeping the visionary legacy of the "Three Bs" alive with every quiet step along the trails.

Map of the Park

Here is a map of Clear Creek.

Summary

For these event, we will hike just under 5 miles on the Creekside Meadows, Fern, and Cemetery Ridge Trails. This is not a hike for beginners -- there are serious inclines here, and there may be leaves on the trails making them slick.

That said, I don't do anything special here beyond wearing my hiking shoes. And if you like Hocking Hills or you've wanted to see Hocking Hills, the advantage of Clear Creek is that it has the same topography as that park, minus all the people: Hocking Hills is always packed, but you usually get Clear Creek to yourself (and it's a half hour closer to Columbus).

Where We'll Meet

We will meet at the Creekside Meadows Picnic Area. This is the first parking area for Clear Creek, and it will be on your left about 2 miles after you've turned onto Clear Creek Rd from U.S. Route 33.

Restrooms? Water Fountains?

There's a latrine where we'll be meeting. But unless you want to drive to the Valley View Picnic Area, there is no running water at Clear Creek (and even Valley View has no sinks or water fountains -- just toilets).

There will be no access to water while we're here, so I would recommend that you bring some of your own, at least for after the hike.

Gas Stations?

There's a Go Mart (and a Subway) at the intersection of Clear Creek Rd and U.S. Route 33, and it's usually reasonably priced. I've stopped here many times on the way to Hocking Hills.

After the Hike

Afterward, we'll head to the highly rated Double Edge Brewing Company in Lancaster for drinks and food. The brewery is about 15-20 minutes away from where we'll be at Clear Creek, but it should be on the way back to Columbus for most of us. Its actual address is 158 W Chestnut St, Lancaster, OH 43130. We should be at the brewery by 4:45 if you can't make the hike and just want to meet us for drinks.

The brewery's food truck is scheduled to be The Pizza Rover.