36 hours in Columbus … if you are an active traveler
Columbus is an active city, and dozens of its activities invite travelers. There’s golf at top-rated public courses and tennis at the South’s leading clay courts facility. But active travel means more than golf and tennis. Much of the newest action is aligned with the Chattahoochee River, including whitewater rafting, zip lining and more. For runners, there’s a race every week. Cyclists can ride for a beer or for 100 miles. Walks, hikes and climbs, too. And, for active kids, many playgrounds including two that cost $1 million.
Here are 17 approaches for the active traveler with 36 hours in Columbus.
#1 – Raft the whitewater course that runs along the city’s downtown
The 2.5-mile course is regulated by an upriver dam. During the early part of the day, “low flow” produces Class I-IV rapids. Later in the day, the upriver dam releases more water, producing Class II-V rapids through passages of the river with names like “Cutbait.” Rafting the river at “low flow” is low-risk, all-fun. But take care at “high flow.” Many rafts upend, leaving life-jacketed rafters in the water. One upended rafter died in 2018. Yet, a blind, invalid, retired Army colonel made it through, as have thousands of others, without having to swim for it. Rafting services offered by Whitewater Express, 1000 Bay Avenue. Many ticket packages. Seasonal.
Get maps and directions: Whitewater Express
#2 – See the river flow beneath you at 40 miles per hour
The Blue Heron Adventure, offered by Whitewater Express, is a dual zip line crossing the river from Columbus to Phenix City. Speeds reach 40 miles per hour, according to the company. The starting point is at the intersection of 11th Street and Bay Avenue. On the Phenix City end point, optionally connect with a tree-top aerial course or the zip line returning to Georgia. Seasonal.
Get maps and directions: Whitewater Express
#3 – Miss your gym and want to take a class?
The UP! Factory is a “nothing like your typical gym” fitness center that welcomes travelers for any of its 55 classes offered seven days a week. Sign up online or just drop in for as little as $10 a class. Yoga, workouts, aerial silks and pole. Every level of fitness welcomed, according to instructor Courtney McCuctheon. Housed in a 19th century building on Broadway downtown, but the entrance is in back, on 1st Avenue. On-site child care while you train.
Get maps and directions: UP! Factory
#4 – The ‘starting line’ for visiting runners is a web site
The starting line for visiting runners isn’t a place, but a site. Runners call www.bigdogrunning.com “the hub,” for its comprehensive listing of races and events, and its guide to places where to run. The site is the work of Big Dog Running Company, a retailer with two outlets selling running shoes, apparel and accessories. Some of the races and events are sponsored by Big Dog, but most are sponsored by others, including many charitable runs – everything from a one-mile kids run to a five-day, 260-mile run across Georgia.
Get maps and directions: Big Dog Running Company
#5 – Social rides for cyclists end with a beer, or pedal 100 miles
Columbus is an improving bicycle town in an improving bicycle state. The city is rated “bronze” by The League of American Bicyclists, one of 11 Georgia cities with this rating. The city’s bike shops sponsor a dozen rides a week, free and open to anyone, from a “social ride” that ends with a beer to a 100-mile road run, and lots of options in between. The Tuesday Night Group Ride organized by Ride on Bikes downtown attracts up to 150 riders, according to owner Jason McKenzie. Rentals are free and the variable-length rides ends at participating pubs, cafes and restaurants. The Bike Shop charges $10 for two hours (or $20 for the day) to rent cruisers and fitness bikes at its shop along the Fall Line Trace, a 10.5 mile asphalt trail through midtown that connects to the Riverwalk and Flat Rock Park. Arnold’s Bike Shop, founded in 1976, is the oldest bike shop still in business and the “friendliest,” according to owner Steve Saunders. Its “casual rides,” Saunders says, include a “no drop rule:” Whoever is leading the ride stops frequently so that stragglers catch up. Arnold’s does not rent bikes. And, MidTown Inc. offers a twist: bike routes along historic places.
Get maps and directions: Ride on Bikes, The Bike Shop, Arnold’s Bike Shop, The Bike Pedaler
#6 – Test the city’s skateboarding park and its “good rep”
The designer of the city’s public skateboarding park calls it “a massive 20,000 square foot park with something for any kind of rider.” That seems right to Cutter and Noah, riders from Tallassee, Alabama, who drove an hour to test the park’s “good rep.” They took turns skating both full-size pools and an even bigger flow bowl. Two riders from Phenix City, Jdunn and Casey, also tried some of the street section: a stairs, rail and ledge known as a “hubba.” Kendrick, a college student in Mobile, settled for the less-demanding open areas. The Cuckoo’s Nest downtown sells boards, wheel sets, shoes and apparel, though it’s often closed.
Get maps and directions: Jonathan Hatcher Skateboard Park
#7 – Open-air fitness circuit means no waiting, no fee
The fitness trail at Weracoba Park in midtown provides what experts call “functional training,” that is, exercise that mimics every day activities, such as lifting a bag of cat litter. The trail – a Parcourse FitCircuit by GameTime – is 15 exercises across eight stations at intervals along the one-mile walking trail. Instructions at each station call for stretching, pushups, sit ups, chinning – all of which use the body’s weight as resistance. Unlike a gym, users needn’t wait for a machine – nor pay a fee.
Get maps and directions: Weracoba Park
#8 – Hiking trails, woods and a bit of incline
Walkers gravitate to the level tracks and courses at Weracoba Park in midtown or Cooper Creek Park in east Columbus. Hikers, on the hand, look for trails, woods and a bit of incline. The easiest is the Joann Holt trail at Columbus Botanical Garden in north Columbus. It’s a one-mile loop through growing hardwoods and a modest wetland. At the midpoint, relax on benches at the Sam Wellborn Camellia Garden. Next in seriousness is the nine-mile collection of loop trails in Flat Rock Park. Watch for mountain bikers on the trails, cars on the road. More advanced hiking is 25 miles north in Pine Mountain. The Pine Mountain Trail, founded in 1975 by D. Neal Wickham, is seven loop trails, varied in length and difficulty, all of which are suitable for day hikes, along the 23-mile main trail. Camping, by permit, also available.
Get maps and directions: Weracoba Park, Columbus Botanical Garden, Flat Rock Park, Pine Mountain Trail
#9 – Let a climbing pro introduce you to wall climbing
Most of the customers at Treadstone Climbing Gym, an indoor wall-climbing gym, are children celebrating birthdays or attending summer camp. But slender, fit, people of all ages are among the handful of regulars. New to wall-climbing? A climbing pro will introduce beginners to the sport for $25, including an hour of time, harness and shoes. Harnessed climbers on a rope – known as a “belay” – risk little. The worst to expect from the low-level bouldering wall, where you climb without a rope, is a short drop onto a thick foam pad.
Get maps and directions: Treadstone Climbing Gym
#10 – Off-road biking at a park, on Fort Benning – or the Ghost Town
Off-road cyclists have three options. The most-accessible is Flat Rock Park in east Columbus. Its Flat Rock Trail consists of one large loop with four segments – of different degrees of difficulty – that can be ridden independently. The Fort Benning MTB Trail is 11 miles of hard-packed-dirt surface that is intervals of climbing, flat and downhill sections. A permit is required to enter Fort Benning. Least accessible – and the most challenging – is the Ghost Town trail between Sturkie Creek and Lee Road 194 in nearby Alabama. It’s on private land and entry requires permission. The local chapter of the Southern Off-Road Biking Association offers organized off-road rides most Saturdays and Sundays.
Get maps and directions: Flat Rock Park, Fort Benning, Ghost Town Trail
#11– Disc golf is fun to try, easy to learn – at two courses
Disc golf is, well, golf with discs. Fun to try, easy to learn, players toss plastics discs at a metal “catcher,” placed hundreds of feet from the “tee.” (Headquarters for the sport is Appling, Georgia, near Augusta.) The newest course is the 18-hole River Course along the RiverWalk in Phenix City There is a nine-hole, par-three course at Dinglewood Park in midtown. There is an 18-hole course at Flat Rock Park in east Columbus. A starter-set of three discs – a driver, mid-range disc and putter – can be had for $40 at Whitewater Express in Phenix City. Learn the game at www.edgediscgolf.org. Read course reviews at dg Course Review. Watch for dog leavings, especially at Dinglewood.
Get maps and directions: Dinglewood Park, Flat Rock Park, Whitewater Express in Phenix City
#12 – Accessible playgrounds encourage creativity, competition
Active children, on the road with parents, need time at a playground, the most creative and accessible possible. The newest in Columbus is at Woodruff Riverfront Park downtown, built with $600,000 in private funds, adjacent to an also-new water feature called the Splash Pad. The playground features a group of outdoor musical instruments from “Freenotes Harmony Park,” developed by Grammy winner Richard Cooke. Access is the key at Bridging the Gap Playground, behind the Columbus Public Library. Designed to serve children with disabilities, the playground attracts children of all abilities. One apparatus is a game platform promising “360 degrees of head-spinning, body-twisting, heart-pounding, competitive fun” for singles, pairs or teams. Servant Leadership students at Columbus State University raised $400,000 to fund the playground.
Get maps and directions: Bridging the Gap Playground, Woodruff Riverfront Park
#13 – How about a two-state, loop walk – in less than 60 minutes?
The Riverwalk, opened 23 years ago, is arguably the most important engagement with the Chattahoochee River in a quarter century . Begin on the Georgia side. Park in the city-owned deck at the intersection of 12th Street and Front Avenue. Descend 50 steps down to the Riverwalk. Walk south. This is the Riverwalk at its most elegant: The walkway paved in brick and concrete. Stylish benches. The terraced levee. Trees, shrubs and other plantings. This first section of the Riverwalk was opened in 1992, five hundred years after Columbus arrived in the Americas. (Note the sculpture.) Exit the Riverwalk at the Trade Center. Walk north beneath the railroad bridge, past brick buildings on your right owned by Columbus State University. Turn left onto the Dillingham Street Bridge. Across the bridge, turn right at the plaque marking where Confederate troops torched the bridge. Walk through a parking lot with an amphitheater and a P.O.W. memorial on your right, then enter the Alabama side of the Riverwalk. A plaque noting the spot where six Indians were hanged marks the entry. On this side of the river, the walk is less formal, more natural, with access to the rocks along the river’s shore. Here you’ll see the receiving end of the zip line as well as the 10-stop aerial course. Exit the Riverwalk at 13th Street. Walk beneath the 13th Street Bridge, through the 14th Street Plaza, then on to the Frank Martin Pedestrian Bridge opened in 2013. Halfway across are the best views of the whitewater course. Look north to see how the course sets up from the raft entry point at North Highlands Dam. Look south to see the rapids course on both sides of the river, including the Class V rapid, Cutbait. Exit the bridge to the south, returning to the Riverwalk and your starting point 200 yards away. This two-state, loop walk is less than 60 minutes at a brisk pace. But two or more hours will go if you linger at the points of interest, marvel at the views, rest on the benches.
Get maps and directions: 12th Street and Front Avenue parking deck
#14 – The latest fitness craze, particularly among fit, younger women, is stand-up paddleboard and paddleboard yoga
Instructors at Chattahoochee Outdoor Academy offer classes for beginners to advanced – rental equipment available. The paddleboard course is a two-mile stretch of the Chattahoochee River just below the whitewater course. Paddleboard yoga is taught in the calm pool bordering Wave Shaper Island. Both downtown. Arrange through Whitewater Express, 1000 Bay Avenue. Seasonal.
Get maps and directions: Whitewater Express
#15 – Explore the outdoor adventure game Geocaching while hiking along the Riverwalk
In Columbus, it’s called the Riverwalk Geo Tour, and it follows the precepts of the GPS-based game attracting interest across the world. New to the game? Geocaching is a treasure hunt where players use GPS-devices to track, find and record typically theme-related caches. In this case, it’s 32 containers along a 15-miles stretch of the Riverwalk. Find as few as 10 to win a coin.
Get maps and directions: Visitors Center
#16 – Swim laps, dive – or just play – in an indoor, Olympics-size pool
The Columbus Aquatics Center, open early to late every day of the week, welcomes visitors who pay a daily fee, depending on age. There’s open swim in one part of the pool, lanes for swimming laps in another, and diving in a third. All under the eyes of Red Cross certified life guards.
Get maps and directions: Columbus Aquatic Center
#17 – Look up: Two walks that focus on trees
Trees Inc. has mapped two walks, with guide sheets, that focus on trees. One is in the downtown, the other at Weracoba Park. Both acquaint walkers with two dozen trees characteristic of the region.
Get maps and directions: Weracoba Park, 3rd Avenue and 12th Street
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