6 Best Sights in Columbus, Ohio

A well-traveled Native American trail through hardwood forests, meadows, and ravines is now part of the 650-acre Blendon Woods Metro Park. Just one of the parks in the system, it offers four-season fun with cross-country skiing, disk golf, hiking trails, and a nature center. In the waterfowl refuge, you might see 500 or more black ducks on the 11-acre lake on a winter's day.

Affiliated with the school's department of horticulture, the Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Garden is an outdoor laboratory of local and regional trees and plants including wildflowers, prairie plants, and perennials. The calming labyrinth garden, set in a ring of arborvitae evergreens, is modeled after one at Chartres Cathedral in France.

Exhibits, which span from antique dolls to modern collectibles such as GI Joe, bring out the educational, historical, and cultural significance of these toys. The collection, which numbers in the thousands, includes Disney memorabilia, toy trains, and circus items. The museum is about 15 mi southeast of Downtown.

An abolitionist, minister, and composer of numerous songs, Benjamin Russell Hanby is most remembered for his song "Up on the Housetop." About 15 mi north of Downtown in Westerville, the home of Hanby and his family was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Built in 1846 and on the National Register of Historic Places, the house displays furniture and personal family items, including a walnut desk made by Hanby.

Adjacent to the world headquarters of the American Motorcycle Association, about 20 mi east of Downtown, the museum displays the actual machines that Hall of Fame inductees rode and celebrates the accomplishments of the more than 260 men and women recognized by the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, such as Evel Knievel and the founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Co.

Exhibits span all periods of military history, up to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and include all countries in which the United States has been involved. About 10 mi south of Downtown Columbus, the museum serves as the repository for the Ohio Military Hall of Fame. Unique exhibits include a replica of World War I flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker's boyhood home and a M47 tank driven by Arnold Schwarzenegger when he served in the Austrian Army.