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Miller Park

A small neighbourhood green with a very large story behind its name — the Miller family farm was the land King and Ben Thompson bought in 1913 to build Upper Arlington on.

Where
Canterbury
Time needed
30-45 min visit
Tickets
Free
Free entry
Free at all hours; no ticketing of any kind
Quiet neighbourhood green space with mature trees at Miller Park, Upper Arlington Quiet neighbourhood green space with mature trees at Miller Park, Upper Arlington

What to expect at Miller Park

Miller Park is a modest neighbourhood green in the middle-western part of Upper Arlington, the sort of park that exists for the four streets around it rather than for visitors. Grass, mature shade trees, a play area, benches and a path or two: that is the inventory, and it takes ten minutes to see all of it. What earns it a place on any serious list of Upper Arlington sights is the name. The land that became this city was farmland belonging to the Miller family, bought in 1913 by the brothers King and Ben Thompson, who platted it as a planned residential district they marketed as the Country Club District. Almost every street you drive along in the older half of Upper Arlington sits on that purchase. The park keeps the farm name alive in a city that otherwise looks entirely twentieth century.

The visit is a stroll. You arrive on foot or leave a car at the kerb, walk in past the trees, and follow the mown ground round. There is play equipment for young children, benches for the adults watching them, and enough open grass for a ball or a picnic blanket. The tree cover is the best thing about it: these are older specimens, the kind that were either kept from the farm hedgerows or planted early in the development, and they throw proper shade in July when the exposed newer parks do not. In autumn the leaf colour along the boundary is as good as anywhere in the city. There are no restrooms, no cafe, no visitor information and no formal trail; the whole point is that it is small and unfussy.

Plan it as a fifteen to forty-five minute stop, best folded into a walk of the older Upper Arlington streets rather than driven to as a destination. Come in the morning or the early evening, when neighbourhood dogs and children are out and the park has some life. Autumn, from late September into the third week of October, is the season to prefer, both for colour and for the walking weather. There is nothing to book and nothing to skip, because there is nothing you could skip and still have a visit. Bring water in summer, since there is no reliable drinking fountain. If you are walking with children, note that the play equipment suits toddlers to about eight, above which they will find it thin.

Getting here is easiest on foot if you are already in Upper Arlington. From Tremont Center, walk or drive west and north through the residential grid; it is roughly a mile and a quarter, twenty to twenty-five minutes at a walking pace through pleasant streets, or four to five minutes by car. There is no dedicated lot, so you use legal kerbside parking on the surrounding roads and keep driveways clear. From downtown Columbus, take SR-315 north to the Lane Avenue or Henderson Road exit and head west, twelve to sixteen minutes depending on the exit. Public transport does not serve these streets: COTA runs on the arterials, with a local fare of $2.00 and a day pass at $4.50, and you would still walk the best part of a mile. Cycling is the pleasant option.

Nothing here costs money. There is no admission, no parking charge, no rental facility and nothing to buy on site, which makes it one of the cheapest half-hours in the city. If you want anything at all, you will get it at Tremont Center or Kingsdale, four to seven minutes away by car, where a coffee runs about $3 to $5 and a supermarket sandwich lunch about $8 to $12. That contrast is worth naming for anyone planning a week here: Upper Arlington accommodation typically costs around $110 to $180 a night in the nearby hotel corridors, and the city's compensation is a dense network of free, well-kept public green space of which this is a minor but characteristic example.

Timing is simple because the park is never busy in any meaningful sense. Weekday mornings you may be alone; after school and until dusk, local children use the play area; weekends bring family groups with picnic blankets. Seasonally, April and May give fresh leaf and birdsong, June to August give deep shade that makes this one of the more comfortable small parks at midday, late September to late October gives colour, and the winter months strip it to bare branches and empty grass, which some people prefer. There is no closed day and no gate, only the dusk closure that applies to all Upper Arlington parks, and no snow clearance in winter. Heavy rain leaves parts of the grass soft for a day or two.

It suits walkers, dog owners, parents of small children and anyone doing an architecture wander through the older streets who wants somewhere to sit halfway. Wheelchair users should note the approaches are kerbside and the interior is largely grass, so it is usable but not a smooth circuit. It is fine for a half-hour gap and useless in the rain, since there is no shelter of any kind. Teenagers, sports players and anyone wanting facilities should go to Northam Park instead, five minutes away, where the courts, pool and library are. Nature seekers should head for Fancyburg Park or Smith Nature Park to the north-west.

The best use of Miller Park is as one stop on a longer neighbourhood walk. The Old Arlington historic streets, with their 1920s Tudor, Colonial and Craftsman houses, spread south and east of here; Northam Park with its library and playground is a few minutes away; Tremont Center's shops and the historic Mallway storefronts sit under a mile east. Griggs Reservoir Park and the river are eight minutes west by car. The honest caveat is scale and expectation: this is a small green space with modest equipment and no attractions in it, and any visitor who drives across Columbus expecting a park worth the journey will feel short-changed. Go because you are already walking these streets, and because the name is a footnote to how the whole city came to exist.

Plan your visit TicketsFree Free entryFree at all hours; no ticketing of any kind Time needed30-45 min visit WhereCanterbury Opening hours Daily dawn to dusk Playground: same hours No staffed facilities on site Hotels near Miller Park

Questions about Miller Park

How much does it cost to visit Miller Park?

Nothing at all. There is no admission, no gate and no parking charge, because there is no lot; you use free kerbside space on the residential streets. Nothing is sold on site, so a visit can genuinely cost zero dollars. If you want coffee or lunch afterwards, Tremont Center and Kingsdale are four to seven minutes away by car, where a coffee runs roughly $3 to $5 and a light lunch $8 to $12.

Are there free entry hours or days?

Every hour is free, every day of the year, from dawn until dusk. Upper Arlington does not ticket its neighbourhood parks and there is no booth, staff member or reservation system here at all. Unlike the larger city parks, Miller Park has no bookable shelter, so there is no scenario in which any part of it is closed off to a paying group. Free is simply how the park works.

How long should I spend here?

Thirty to forty-five minutes at most, and fifteen is enough if you are only passing through. The park is small: a slow circuit of the grass and a sit under the trees fills half an hour, and children at the play equipment might stretch it to an hour. It is best treated as a stop within a longer walk through the older Upper Arlington streets, which turns it into part of a satisfying ninety-minute outing.

Is it ever closed?

No closed day exists. Like all Upper Arlington city parks it operates dawn to dusk year-round, holidays included, and there are no staffed facilities to shut. The practical limits are weather: grass stays soft for a day or two after heavy rain, paths are not treated for snow or ice in winter, and storm damage occasionally leaves branches down until city crews clear them. There are no restrooms at any time of year.

Do I need to book anything?

No, and there is nothing to book. Miller Park has no reservable shelter, no permitted athletic fields and no programmes, so you simply walk in. If your plan is a group picnic or a party, choose Thompson Park, Northam Park or Sunny 95 Park instead, all of which have bookable shelters through Upper Arlington Parks and Recreation at roughly $50 to $150 depending on day and residency.

What is the nearest stop or parking?

There is no car park; use legal kerbside parking on the surrounding residential streets and leave driveways clear. No COTA bus enters these roads, the services running instead on the arterials such as West Fifth Avenue, with a $2.00 local fare and $4.50 day pass and a walk of close to a mile. From Tremont Center it is four to five minutes by car or twenty to twenty-five minutes on foot; from downtown Columbus, twelve to sixteen minutes via SR-315.

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