page_title: Scioto Audubon Metro Park
section_title: Attributes
hierarchical_section_title: Scioto Audubon Metro Park / Attributes
caption_attribution_description: Español: Scioto Audubon Metro Park
context_page_description: Scioto Audubon Metro Park is a public park and nature preserve in Columbus, Ohio. The park is managed by the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks and is part of the Scioto Mile network of parks and trails around Downtown Columbus. The park features numerous trails, wetlands, rock climbing, volleyball and bocce courts, and numerous other amenities. At the western edge is the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, considered the first nature center built in close proximity to a downtown area.
  The site was formerly industrial, and required extensive remediation. Planning began in 2003, and the park opened in 2009 with 94 acres, later expanded to 120 acres.
context_section_description: Scioto Audubon Metro Park is located on Columbus's Whittier Peninsula. It borders the Brewery District to the east, Interstate 71 and the Scioto River to the north and west, and downtown to the northeast, and it is partially isolated by railroad tracks. The park is a 10-minute walk from downtown, and gives views of the city skyline. It was designed by MKSK, an urban planning and landscape architecture company that has made many Columbus-area works, including the Scioto Mile.
  Specific features include a central activity area, with a climbing wall, water tower with two observation platforms, and three sand volleyball courts. The park also has a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) dog park, an obstacle course with nine stations, and seven small wetlands of about 5 acres (2.0 ha) total. Nearby are recreation fields, a sledding hill, butterfly garden, bocce courts, a park office and visitor center, a boat ramp, fishing docks, and a maintenance area. The park includes multiple restrooms, picnic tables, grills, and parking lots. The nearby Greenlawn Avenue dam widens the river into a slack water lake, attractive to migrating birds. Thousands of birds utilize the area during spring migrations, including over 200 species. The park is an Important Bird Area, named by Audubon and BirdLife International. The Columbus Rotary Obstacle Course has an 8-foot wall, cargo rope climb, balance beams, monkey bars, a tunnel crawl, and a belly crawl. The park features four trails: the Hermit Thrush Trail has 0.125 miles through forest, the Columbus Rotary Running Track is 0.5 miles, and the Wetland Trail is 0.4 miles. The longest is the Scioto Greenway Trail, which runs through the park for about 2 miles. It also connects north to the Olentangy Trail, which runs 14 miles to Worthington.
  The Metro Park climbing wall is 35 ft (11 m) high, made of fiberglass, with three towers and two arches. The 6,100 sq ft (570 m²) structure is considered the largest free outdoor climbing wall in the United States. The wall can handle up to 20 climbers at a time, and can be used for used for bouldering as well as lead and top-rope climbing. Although access to the wall is free, climbers are required to bring their own gear.
  The butterfly garden, planted in 2016, has seven raised mounds and a wide variety of plants aimed to attract 40 different butterfly species, as well as bees, wasps, and beetles. The plants include shrubs, annuals, grass, milkweed and perennials. The garden is considered the largest butterfly garden in the Metro Parks system.
  Scioto Audubon Metro Park operates year-round, with varying hours in different seasons. 2014 attendance was over 800,000, beyond the park attendance expected by the Metro Parks director.
caption: Water tower and observation platforms
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