Blog Culture & sights

2026-08-245 min readThe Awesome stay guide editorial team

Upper Arlington maintains more than 20 parks across 9.8 square miles, and they are the honest reason to stay here — these are the eight worth your time, ranked, with parking, restrooms and the catch on each.

1. Northam Park — the civic heart

Northam Park on Tremont Road is where Upper Arlington gathers. It holds tennis courts, ball diamonds, open lawn, a playground and Tremont Pool, and it shares a corner with the main branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library, which means a rainy hour indoors is thirty seconds away. Parking is free in the library and pool lots and fills only during ball games. On a weekday morning in May it is the single most pleasant free hour in the city.

It is also the site of the Labor Day Arts Festival, held on Labor Day Monday — 7 September in 2026 — when more than two hundred artists set up under the trees and the whole city turns out. Admission is free. Go early: by 11am the surrounding streets are parked solid and the food lines are long. Outside that weekend, the catch at Northam is that it is a busy, programmed park, not a place for solitude. Come for atmosphere, not wilderness.

2. Griggs Reservoir Park — the water

Strung along Riverside Drive on the Scioto River, Griggs Reservoir Park is technically Columbus parkland but it forms Upper Arlington's western edge and is the best landscape within the city's reach. There are boat ramps, picnic shelters under big sycamores, fishing spots, and shaded paths with genuine water views. Kayak and paddleboard rentals operate seasonally in the warmer months — check the concession's 2026 opening dates before driving out with a plan.

This is where to go at 7pm in July when the neighbourhoods are still holding heat. It is also the best autumn drive in the area: Riverside Drive between Fishinger Road and Hayden Run puts colour on both sides from roughly mid to late October. The catch is that the parking pull-offs are small and the shoulder is narrow, so weekend afternoons in June get congested and the road is fast — do not plan on strolling along Riverside Drive itself.

3. Fancyburg Park — the local favourite

Ask an Upper Arlington resident where they walk and Fancyburg, off Wickliffe Road near Fishinger, comes up first. It is a big, mature, tree-heavy park with mown loops, ball fields, a shelter and enough space that you can put distance between yourself and everyone else. Dogs must be leashed and the rule is generally respected. Free parking, and the woodland edges hold birdsong in a way the more manicured parks do not.

It is not spectacular and it will not photograph like a national park, which is exactly why it works: this is the ordinary excellence that makes Upper Arlington worth a week rather than an afternoon. Come with a coffee at 8am. The catch is that the paths turn muddy after the heavy spring rains in March and April, and the parking lot is modest, so a Saturday youth sports fixture will fill it. Check the city's field schedule if you want quiet.

4. Sunny 95 Park and the Amelita Mirolo Barn

Sunny 95 Park pairs open lawn and paths with the Amelita Mirolo Barn, a relocated and rebuilt 19th-century barn that the city rents for weddings and events and that gives this park a landmark the others lack. The setting is deliberately pastoral — long grass edges, a pond, wide sky — and on a clear evening in late September it is the prettiest spot in Upper Arlington that is not on the river.

For visitors the barn is usually a photograph rather than an entry, since it is a rental venue with a booking calendar; check the city's facility listings if you want to see inside. The park itself is fully public. The catch is exposure: there is little mature shade, so a 90-degree July afternoon here is punishing. Come in the two hours before sunset, when the light on the barn does most of the work for you.

5. Thompson Park and 6. Northwest Kiwanis Park

Thompson Park, near the city's centre off Zollinger Road, is the practical one — pool, playground, courts and lawn, all wrapped in the sort of quiet 1950s streets that explain Upper Arlington's reputation. It gets busy with camps and swim lessons in June and July and empties completely by mid-September, which is when it becomes a good place to read on a bench. Free parking, clean restrooms in season.

Northwest Kiwanis Park on Kenny Road is the sleeper for families: a strong playground, big open space, and a creek that children will get into regardless of your plans, so pack a spare pair of socks. Its position on the city's eastern edge makes it the easiest UA park to reach from the Lane Avenue hotels — under five minutes. The catch at both is programming: youth sports own the fields on spring and autumn Saturdays.

7. Smith Nature Park and 8. Miller Park

Smith Nature Park is small, wooded and deliberately undeveloped, and it is the only place inside the city that feels like woodland rather than lawn. A short loop, birdsong, and no facilities to speak of. Fifteen minutes here between other errands is a genuine reset. Do not drive across town for it and do not expect a trailhead sign the size of a state park's — that is the point of the place.

Miller Park, on the city's southern side near Riverside Drive, pairs a modest green with a branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library, which makes it the best pairing of playground and free indoor space in Old Arlington's half of the city. It is a neighbourhood park in the truest sense: no destination attractions, no queues, and residents who will say hello. Both parks are free, both have easy street or lot parking, and neither takes more than half an hour.

How to use the parks as a visitor — and what to skip

Build a day rather than ticking a list. My route: coffee at Tremont Center, an hour at Fancyburg, the architecture walk through Old Arlington's Cambridge Boulevard, lunch from the Market District at Kingsdale eaten at Northam Park, then Griggs Reservoir for the last two hours of light. That is a full, free, genuinely local day that most visitors never think to have because Upper Arlington is not marketed as a destination. Total driving: under eight miles.

Skip the pools unless you have sorted access in advance — Tremont Pool, Devon Pool and Reed Road Water Park are built for residents, and non-resident rules change season to season, so confirm with Upper Arlington Parks and Recreation first. Skip weekend mornings from April to June if you dislike crowds, when every field hosts youth sport. And do not go looking for a fenced off-leash dog park inside the city, because there is not one.

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