Clintonville
Ravines, roses and a four-mile strip of independent shops north of campus — cheap, leafy, and desperately short of actual hotel rooms.
Tree-lined North High Street shopfronts and ravine houses in Clintonville, Columbus
Why people stay in Clintonville
Clintonville runs north from the campus edge at Arcadia Avenue up to Morse Road, a long ribbon of North High Street with deep wooded ravines dropping east and the Olentangy River holding the western edge. It is a Columbus neighbourhood, not part of Upper Arlington, though it is only about four miles northeast of Tremont Center and feels related — same 1920s brick and clapboard, same enormous trees, similar school-district obsession. What Clintonville has that Upper Arlington does not is a walkable independent commercial strip that goes on for miles without a single mall.
The evening rhythm here is early. At nine on a Wednesday the strip is half asleep: Studio 35 has a film running, Crest has people on the patio, the rest of High Street is dark shopfronts and one late pharmacy. Weekends push things to eleven, no further. This is a neighbourhood of people who get up to run the Olentangy Trail at seven, and the streets show it. If you want a bar district, you are in the wrong place by two miles — the Short North is fifteen minutes south down the same road.
The honest problem with recommending Clintonville is lodging. There are almost no hotels here. The market is short-term rentals in carriage houses and basement flats, plus a couple of budget properties out toward Morse Road that are cheap for good reason. Anyone insisting on a branded hotel should book at the campus edge or in Worthington and drive ten minutes. Anyone happy in a rented apartment gets one of the best-value bases in greater Columbus at $79 to $130 a night, in a neighbourhood where you can walk to breakfast.
It suits families, runners, cyclists, and people visiting Ohio State who do not want to sleep inside the campus noise. It suits anyone using Upper Arlington by day, since the drive across on North Broadway or Henderson Road takes ten to twelve minutes. Skip it if you need a lift, a concierge, a pool, or a nightlife walk home. And skip the far north end above Morse Road entirely — it is a different, uglier commercial corridor with none of the charm and the same prices.
The sweet spot is between Weber Road and North Broadway, one or two streets off High — try the blocks around Indianola Avenue, Como Avenue, or the ravine streets near Glen Echo. You get shops in walking distance, quiet at night, and enough street parking to matter. Expect $79 to $110 midweek and $120 to $150 at weekends for a whole apartment; football Saturdays push everything up because Ohio State is only two miles south. Avoid rentals directly on North High between Arcadia and Weber, where bus and truck noise runs from 5.30am, and avoid anything advertised as Clintonville that is actually north of Morse Road or east of I-71 — that is a twenty-minute drive from the good part and a completely different neighbourhood.
Things to do in Clintonville
Inside Whetstone Park at 3923 North High Street. Thirteen acres, over 11,000 roses, plus herb and perennial gardens and a bandstand used for free summer concerts. Entry is free, gates open dawn to dark, and mid-June is the week the whole thing goes off at once. Parking on site is free too.
Three-oh-five-five Indianola Avenue, running since 1938 and now a cinema-and-taproom hybrid with around 40 beers on tap. Tickets sit around $10 to $12 and you can carry a pint into the auditorium. They do cult reruns midweek and sell out for anything with a following, so buy ahead online.
Thirty-six hundred Indianola Avenue. An independent grocer with a serious butcher counter, a cheese case worth the detour and good prepared food — the practical answer if you have rented a flat with a kitchen. Open daily; go before 6pm on Sunday when the counters start closing down.
Access from Cliffside Drive off Indianola, at the southern edge of Clintonville. A steep wooded gorge with a creek, stone steps and a footbridge, ten minutes end to end and entirely hidden from the street above. It is the clearest demonstration of why this neighbourhood is laid out the way it is.
Pick it up at Northmoor Park off Olentangy Boulevard, west of High. Paved, flat and car-free, it runs south past Ohio State into downtown or north to Worthington — roughly 12 miles of continuous riverside path. Early morning is when the neighbourhood actually uses it.
The Clintonville Farmers Market sets up on North High Street on Saturday mornings from late April into autumn, roughly 9am to noon. Ohio produce, bread, eggs and a lot of dogs. Go before 10.30am; the good stalls sell out and the parking around High and Dunedin fills up fast.
What to see
Hotels near Clintonville
No hotels are listed in Clintonville yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Getting around Clintonville
COTA Route 2 is the spine here, running North High Street every 10 to 15 minutes: Ohio State in about 10 minutes, the Short North in 15 to 20, downtown in 25 to 30. From the airport, take a rideshare — roughly 20 minutes and $28 to $35 — because the transit connection involves a downtown change and is not worth it with luggage. Inside Clintonville the strip is long: High Street from Arcadia to Morse is over three miles, so pick your section and walk that, or use the bus between them. Upper Arlington is 10 to 12 minutes west on North Broadway or Henderson Road, and street parking almost everywhere is free.
Questions about Clintonville
Barely. The neighbourhood is dominated by short-term rentals in houses and carriage houses, with only a handful of budget motels near the northern edge. If you want a chain hotel with a front desk and a pool, book near Ohio State to the south or in Worthington to the north and drive ten minutes in. If you are happy in a rented flat, this is one of the better-value bases in the city.
Yes, if you plan the traffic. Campus is two to three miles south and Route 2 runs straight down High Street, but that road becomes a car park for two hours either side of kick-off. Locals park at home and take the bus or walk from the north campus edge. Expect rental prices to double on home-game weekends and expect minimum-stay rules.
About four miles, 10 to 12 minutes by car via North Broadway or Henderson Road outside rush hour. There is no quick direct bus, so this pairing needs a car. Plenty of visitors sleep in a Clintonville rental and spend their days around Tremont Center, the Park of Roses and the Upper Arlington parks without ever going downtown.
Mid-June, for the Park of Roses at full bloom and the farmers market in full swing, with long evenings on the Olentangy Trail. Late September and October are a close second for the ravine colour. January and February are cheap — often $79 a night — but the strip is dark by seven and the ravine paths ice over.
