Blake Walsh

20 Best Things to Do in Grove City, OH

  • Published 2023/02/14

Ohio takes pride in Grove City, immediately to the south of Columbus, the state capital.

Just 14 minutes from downtown Columbus, Grove City was established in 1852.

Spreading out for over 46 square miles, the city emerged out of a wilderness area on the western bank of the Scioto River.

Grove City’s founders named their village for the groves of trees they spared during the initial clearing for their farming settlement.

The development of Grove City picked up steam in 1849 with the construction of the historic turnpike linking Columbus and Harrisburg.

As a stopping post between these two cities, Grove City carved its points of interest that today’s visitors can enjoy.

Check them out on this list of the best things to do in Grove City.

Enjoy the Outdoors at Scioto Grove Metro Park

Spring day at Scioto Grove Metro Park

ceolmhar.photography / Shutterstock.com

This park on Jackson Pike spreads over 620 acres, nestled amid mature forests along the Scioto River.

It offers scenic bluffs overlooking the river, accessible via the three-mile REI River Trail.

Welcome sign of Scioto Grove Metro Park

dankeck, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The park also provides several viewing decks, a kids’ play area, and two picnic grounds with tables, grills, and shelters.

The Scioto Grove Metro Park is a favorite destination for kayakers, canoeists, and anglers.

Park visitors also enjoy the park’s riverfront of about four miles, viewing waterfowl and other wildlife.

A wooden bench near the waters of Scioto Grove Metro Park

dankeck, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Visit the Grove City Museum

This museum is in the Grove City Welcome Center on Park Street.

It is a cooperative effort of the city and the Southwest Franklin County Historical Society.

The museum holds thousands of displays and artifacts showcased on rotation, so there’s something new to see here on each visit.

A 1912 Model T Ford is one of the museum’s centerpieces.

The automobile remains road-worthy since it gets driven around downtown during the Arts in the Alley Parade in September.

Other curiosities in the museum include vintage record players, dial and crank telephones, an old bank vault, early kitchen utensils, an antique icebox, crock pots, and a working loom.

The museum also displays items about Grove City’s horse racing history, period clothing, and souvenirs on the city’s police and fire operations.

Explore the Gardens at Gantz

These unique gardens are one of the features of Gantz Park on Home Road, one of the 20 Grove City area parks.

Three gardening styles are featured in these gardens called the Garden of Yesterday, the Garden of Today, and the Garden of Tomorrow.

The gardens provide an outstanding presentation of horticulture throughout time, but they also complement their neighboring historic farmhouse with a renovated vintage barn.

On a visit to Gantz Park, you can explore its labyrinth built in 2010 with an herbal grove of Sweet Bay Magnolia, American Beech, and Sassafras weaving around it.

You can also enjoy the picks at the Gardens at Gantz’s herb and perennial plant sale.

Pick a Rod or a Bat at Fryer Park

Spreading over 110 acres off Orders Road, this park boasts eight softball diamonds plus a lake open to fishing.

Even without a license, you can fish in this lake as long as it is catch-and-release fishing.

Fryer Park also features a lush woodland area for birdwatching and a one-mile recreational trail for biking or walking.

Other park attractions include a splash pad, a sledding hill, and a space-themed inclusive playground.

In summer, the park hosts Fryer Flicks on the Hill, featuring family-friendly outdoor movie screenings.

Step Back in Time at Century Village

Take a glimpse of how life was in Grover City during the mid-1800s with a visit to the Century Village Historic Park.

This turn-of-the-century village is on Orders Road and occupies the northwestern side of Fryer Park.

The village features a log cabin, a one-room schoolhouse, and a barn displaying antique tools, including a working blacksmith forge.

The Southwestern Franklin County Historical Society project, the Century Village Historic Park, hosts the Old Time Harvest Day and Heritage Days.

Entrance and parking to this historic village are free, while you need to pay for guided tours.

It is open to the public from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. during the summer months.

Paddle on the Big Darby Creek

Winter view of Big Darby Creek

arthurgphotography / Shutterstock.com

Rent a canoe or kayak at Trapper John’s Canoe Livery on London-Groveport Road for a paddling trip on the Big Darby Creek.

This waterway stretches along a scenic 84-mile stretch and is an important tributary to the Lower Scioto River.

You can choose from different paddling trips on this creek, including a moonlight sortie.

Scenic view of Big Darby Creek

Analogue Kid at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Trapper John’s Canoe offers well-maintained, top-of-the-line equipment designed explicitly for Darby Creek.

This outfitter offers 15-foot to 17-foot canoes, decked kayaks, paddles, and personal floating devices.

Trapper John’s can also provide paddling instructions and transportation to and from the canoe livery.

View of Big Darby Creek

Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Enjoy the Water at the Big Splash

This family-oriented municipal aquatic facility is on Southwest Boulevard and is open seasonally.

Its features include two aquatic climbing walls, interactive water toys, two drop slides, a six-lane lap pool, and a sizeable zero-depth entrance pool.

The Big Splash Family Aquatics Center also provides an entertainment stage and a concession stand.

Other features of the center include green space, geometric shade structures, and a deck area where visitors can spread lounge chairs to relax.

This facility is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and closed when the South-Western City School District is in session.

Shoot Paintballs at LVL UP Sports

This paintball mega-park is off Harrisburg Pike, a spillover attraction from Columbus.

LVL UP Sports Paintball Park boasts multiple playing fields bannered by themed scenario fields spreading over 250,000 square feet.

Besides this gigantic layout, the park also flaunts six acres of woodsball heaven plus a pristine X-Ball field on artificial grass.

The park’s players have access to an onsite pro-shop stocked with premium rental gear, including high-quality paintballs and low-impact paintball equipment.

LVL UP Sports Paintball Park welcomes players on weekends for walk-on open play and can accommodate paintball events or parties.

Play Disc Golf on a Church Campus

Grover City established its community disc golf course at the Grove City Church of the Nazarene campus on Hoover Road in 2014.

An 18-hole beginner-friendly layout, this course plays a par 55 over 4,147 feet, with its tees on grass.

The holes range from 180 to 297 feet long, set along the perimeter of the church grounds and the athletic fields of the Grove City Christian School.

Its shorter approaches make this layout a fun course but offer great exercise for players’ driving and midrange skills.

The course is free to use and open for public play from dawn to dusk, with parking available near the church.

Test the Ramps of Grove City Skate Park

This skate park is on Hoover Road, featuring an 11,000-square-foot undulating course.

Grove City built this 4-acre facility in 2006, and its design includes areas suited for the novice skater.

It also features rails, ramps, bowls, and boxes which are testing grounds for those already skilled in skating’s tight, quick transitions.

The bowls in the Grove City Skate Park were built 3 to 18 feet high, presenting prospects of thrilling rounds for skaters and scooter riders.

The complementary amenities to this skate park include shaded structures, bleachers, drinking fountains, portable restrooms, and parking spaces.

Line up a Shot at Putt-N-Play Family Fun Center

Bring the whole family to this fun center on Thistlewood Drive for bonding opportunities starting with its mini-golf course.

The center enjoys a goofy layout with 18 holes and exciting water features.

The mini-golf course is also accessible to strollers and wheelchairs, with handicap putters likewise available.

Outside of the Putt-N-Play Family Fun Center’s flagship mini-golf course, more fun awaits at the facility’s fully automated outdoor soccer cages.

Another option outdoors comes in the fun center’s softball and fully automated baseball pitch.

In this pitch’s batting cages, you can adjust the softball speed to 30-60 mph and 40-70 mph for baseball.

The fun center also provides an arcade, concessions, party rooms, special events, and featured promotions.

Get Airborne at the Bounce Club

A healthy mix of fun and fitness awaits you at this one-of-a-kind trampoline park on Gateway Circle.

The Bounce Club offers open jump times and exciting rounds at its foam pit.

A former cheerleader and gymnast runs the club, drawing visitors for fitness classes, gymnastics lessons, and dodge ball.

The Bounce Club likewise features DJ Nights and accommodates birthday parties and other special events.

Visit Circle S Farms

While so close to the city, you can capture the countryside vibe on this farm on London-Groveport Road.

Circle S Farms allows you not only to relish fresh fruits and vegetables but also to tour and take pictures of its scenic spread.

One of the best times to visit this farm is between early July and mid-August, when its sunflower field is in full bloom.

An autumn visit is an exciting prospect, with Circle S Farms holding its Fall Fun Days.

You can enjoy picking pumpkins, traversing corn mazes, and going on hayrides during this event, among other fun activities.

The Grove City Farmer’s Market also takes place on this farm every Saturday from July 10 to September 11.

Drink Champagne at Plum Run Winery

This wine tasting room is on Broadway at the Grover City’s Historic Town Center, showcasing the only working vineyard in Franklin County.

This three-acre vineyard, located south of the city, grows 16 grape varieties from which the Plum Rum Winery draws its delightful flights.

The favorite wine flights in this urban winery include the red wine Merlot Reserve, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Franc.

You can also try Plum Run Winery’s house-crafted cocktails, Pink Panther, Royal Flight, and Midsommar.

Pair any of these with the winery’s servings of simple cheese, seared salmon, or steak, and your Grover City visit can be enjoyable indeed.

Pick Golf Tees: Pinnacle or Hickory Hills

Grover City offers two exciting private golf courses, with your choices being the Pinnacle Golf Club or its counterpart, the Hickory Hills Golf Club.

Opened in 2006, the Pinnacle golf course spreads on breathtaking vistas between Jackson Pike and Buckeye Parkway, with both roads also opening access to the layout.

The course features 18 holes for a par 72 play over 7,455 yards from its longest tees.

The beauty and challenge of this course manifest in the rippling waters of the stream Republican Run and shimmering lakes cutting through 16 out of its 18 holes.

Visiting golfers also gladly tackle the course’s phalanx of elevation changes amid a sycamore tree forest.

Chasing pars and birdies promises similar excitement at Hickory Hills Golf Club on Georgesville-Wrightsville Road.

Established in 1979, this club’s course grew out of 181 acres of open meadows and a magnificently matured woodland.

The golf course plays at par 71 over rolling terrain interspersed with five lakes and several meandering streams.

This tree-lined layout provides seven tee box placements for a choice of play ranging from 4,635 yards to 6,889 yards.

Hickory Hills Golf Club also provides a driving range toward six target greens and a short-game practice area with bunkers and a putting green.

Keep in Touch with Arts at Creative Clinic Center

You’ve come to the perfect place if you can draw a perfect line with a ruler or are at ease with a paintbrush.

All skill levels are welcome at the Creative Clinic Center, which offers painting classes.

The studio is intended to be an artistic sanctuary where you may express yourself creatively without fear of criticism and hang out with people who share your interests.

They provide cheerful, entertaining sessions led by warm, qualified art instructors!

Painting lessons, youth and teen programs, adult “sip-n-create,” artistic courses, and special events are just a few classes for practically every age group.

Making art boosts self-esteem, facilitates emotional expression, sharpens analytical and creative thinking, and relaxes and diverts the mind from daily thoughts.

Grab a Drink at Hop Yard 62

Since February 2015, Hop Yard 62, a craft beer pub, has become a highlight in Grove City’s downtown area.

Hop Yard 62 embraces serving people who share their enthusiasm for craft beer.

Drop by and sample the 24 rotating craft beer taps, more than 70 Bourbons or whiskeys, wonderful wines, and fresh mead variations.

They make an effort to carry six to eight different beers from Columbus and Ohio breweries.

They are the nearest growler fill station to Columbus’s central business district if you enjoy drinking growlers.

Don’t pass up their wine tastings, live entertainment, tap takeovers, and other events.

Attend a Session at Burn Within Yoga

Locally owned and operated yoga studio Burn Within Yoga strongly emphasizes welcoming clients and creating a sense of community.

The owners established the studio to provide fully available yoga and fitness.

Group courses may not always meet your specific needs.

Still, their private sessions give you concentrated time to discuss your goals and enable you to notice faster progress with hands-on adjustments and streamlined posture alignments.

Yoga therapy modifies the yoga practice to meet the requirements of those with particular or enduring health issues.

At Burn Within Yoga, yoga therapists demonstrate to customers how to change and alter poses to meet the unique needs of their bodies.

It guarantees that you receive all of the advantages of each stance.

Walk your Pets at Breck Community Park

William Foster Breck, who founded Grove City, is honored with the name Breck Community Park.

Dog enthusiasts go to the park due to its designated off-leash dog play areas for both large and small dogs.

Additionally, it has off-street parking, a pet bowl-equipped water fountain, walking and bike trails, and a retention pond.

There are four fenced-in sections at Breck Community Park where owners can let their dogs run free.

Dogs averaging 35 pounds or more are allowed in two sites, each around three acres.

For dogs weighing less than 35 pounds, there are two more spaces totaling roughly 1.5 acres.

Chill Out at Plank’s on Broadway

Since it initially operated as a hotel-saloon in 1854, Plank’s on Broadway has been located in Grove City’s oldest continuously operating business.

Ever since, over 5 million beers have been poured, and the neighborhood bar now offers an alluring food menu.

Explore a wide range of cuisine, including pizza, steak, seafood, sandwiches, and live music on weekends.

Plank’s is a committed part of the Grove City, Ohio, community and has long supported several fundraising events and neighborhood sports teams.

It carries on a two-century-old third-generation family restaurant history with outposts in other locations.

Final Thoughts

Grove City, though small, draws visitors seeking a full range of life and leisure activities.

This city not only flaunts a walkable historic city center but also takes pride in the abundance of outdoor attractions.

Grover City offers plenty of points of interest and things to do that you shouldn’t miss.

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