Two of the 22 Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks sit in Hilliard, offering a 6.1-mile rail trail, a dog park with splash pads and a license-free fishing pond. Admission is free.

A comprehensive guide published Sept. 2 by Columbus Navigator writer James Arney profiles every park in the system, including Hilliard's two entries: Heritage Trail and Homestead. With the Labor Day weekend of Sept. 5–7 on the calendar, both parks are worth a closer look.

Heritage Trail: 87 acres, one long trail

Heritage Trail Metro Park, at 7262 Hayden Run Rd., anchors the 6.1-mile Heritage Rail Trail. The paved path starts in Old Hilliard off Main Street and runs north toward Plain City, with a parallel bridle trail for horseback riders. Metro Parks manages a 3.6-mile section north of the park to Cemetery Pike. The City of Hilliard manages the southern stretch.

"Heritage Trail is more of a trailhead than a destination," Arney wrote. "The paved rail trail runs from Old Hilliard toward Plain City with a bridle path alongside, and the park is where you park for it."

The park's 4-acre fenced dog park, managed jointly by Metro Parks and the city, has separate areas for active and less active dogs. Splash and sprinkle water pads keep dogs cool, and the park includes an exercise tunnel and other equipment. The Navigator guide calls summer the best season to visit, when the water pads are running.

A staging area with horse trailer parking serves riders using the bridle trail.

Homestead: covered bridge, fishing and volleyball

Homestead Metro Park, at 4675 Cosgray Rd., covers 44 acres with a quieter feel. A covered bridge, a train station replica and two barns surround a 2.5-acre fishing pond. No fishing license is required, according to Destination Hilliard.

The park also has sand volleyball and basketball courts, play equipment, shelters and an outdoor amphitheater. A three-quarter-mile paved loop trail winds through the grounds and connects to the Heritage Rail Trail.

Trail extension in the works

The city's Community Plan, adopted in April 2023, identifies extending the Heritage Rail Trail south to connect with Quarry Trails Metro Park and downtown Columbus as a top priority. In the city's spring 2025 newsletter, Hilliard Director of Transportation and Mobility Letty Schamp said negotiations with the railroad company were progressing. "I feel confident this is going to happen," Schamp said in the March 2025 newsletter, citing COTA's LinkUS as a new revenue stream for the project.

Planning a visit

Most Metro Parks open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. through September, according to the Columbus Navigator guide, though some close at dark. Starting in October, closing time shifts to 8 p.m. Current hours and program schedules are listed at the Heritage Trail Metro Park page on metroparks.net. Residents can sign up for greenway trail closure alerts by texting "Greenways" to 1-781-728-9542.