This is a great little enclosed area for kayaking! Its nice open spaces and calm waters are great for beginners like me to get their bearings.

My whole family loves Prairie Oaks. The kids love taking our dog to the dog beach and I like taking my kayak out on the lake. There are great spots for fishing and trails for walking.

Loved the Darby lakes section of Prairie Oaks Metro Park. Nice paths and kayaking. There is a nice dog swimming beach here too.

Beautiful lakes! Cleanest water Ive been on anywhere around here. We paddled our kayaks there and you can see at least 6 ft down.

I love bringing my kayak here. Nice and quiet and the park rangers are friendly and know the area very well. The three mile creek runs through the park and is also kayak accessible down the road. Great place to fish too! I come here at least twice a week always a great time

There needs to be more access around the lakes for fishing. Way too many trees, shrubs, and other obstacles preventing good a good time! Especially when there are a lot of people at the park when we need to be social distancing!!

Beautiful, quiet, peaceful metro park with easy access to the lake for fishing & kayaking. Theres also a really nice area to bring pets!

I am so glad we moved a few minutes away from here! Nice, quiet, clean park. The dog area is clean too. I have brought my fur-kid here to play many times, to walk the paths and I went kayaking for the first time this past weekend.

Great place for beginners to learn paddle board. Metro parks is awesome.

My beautiful escape and occasional fishin hole......This is also part of Prairie Oaks Metro park.

It is a very nice clean Park. I really like the swimming area for the dogs

Amazing place for picnic relaxing fun fishing and kayak

The facility is beautiful, however, the ponds are really full of weeds, muck and yuck. Lots of vegetation

Very nice place to go. And the fishing is pretty darn good.

Clean and nice scenery with trails.. but not so great for fishing

Very peaceful. Sitting watching the turtles

You can walk for hours, so many trailsMy yorkie loves it too

It is a very nice place to spend fishing with friends and family

Early morning quiet, perfect weather for kayaking

Most definitely one of my favorite places to go to

Great place to kayak or bring the hound........or both.

Excellent pond for dogs to swim. Went to a Doodle Romp here on a hot Saturday morning and it was a lot of fun. The water was surprisingly clear and mud free despite the dogs jumping off the dock and splashing around. Star reduction because although they have nice metro park bathrooms, there is no water source for hand washing, refilling water bottles, or rinsing your dog after a swim. Also a lack of trashcans.

Wonderful natural resource in the area. Great walking trails, a lake that can be fished and canoed/kayaked on, and good facilities. They also run occasional programs by the park rangers.

This is my favorite place in the world, no doubt in my mind. Its so peaceful here, and the lake scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Plenty of trails that lead out to the rest of Prairie Oaks Metro Park for all the hiking you might ever want to do. Good lakes for fishing, or just sitting out in a boat. A small dog park right by the water, and two picnic shelters for any get-togethers. But for me, its all about the natural beauty this park has (more than most) and how peaceful it is, feeling so removed from the city. Dont believe me? I highly recommend you see this place for yourself.

My dog, Huckleberry, and I love going to parks! Prairie Oaks/Darby Bend Lake is our favorite place to hike and Huck loves cooling off in the lake and playing with other dogs! Best Metro Park in our opinion! Something to do for everyone!

Needs brush cleared but good lake

Love this place. Love to fish it, kayaking here is a blast also. Plenty of wildlife to look at and that is only the areas around the water Im speaking of. There is even more opportunity along the paths that go away from the ponds/lakes.

Great place for a family walk

Nice park but given to the dogs.Its kind of gangerous to bring family to the park because dog lovers bring their friends and there are too many of them.I also think its not a good idea to fish at the lake since its contaminated by so many swimming dogs.Cant we built something separate for dogs to play and swim

Very fun and clean place

This is a great place that you can Kayak. The water is clean. Take your kids to fish and have fun.

One of the best Metro Parks around! They are all impressive .

This lake was clean for the most part. I did pick up some fishing line and dispose of it. Caught a few blue gills with my son. We saw a snake and some turtles. The dog park looked nice. Only thing I didnt like was there was no playground for kids.

My first time visiting this park and was able to do a little fishing. I really enjoyed myself here and cant wait to visit again.

I cant say enough about this local nature treasure great fishing, hiking and dog park a must place to visit.

Really cool and the nature is beautiful and plenty of fishing spots, great for photos

I absolutely love this park! They host the WagFest every year and have an awesome dog park!

Beautiful and fun to kayak

Very family friendly, also a smaller pond for the littles to fish in ...good times n great memories

Nice place to enjoy the outdoors , just wish dog people would be more respectful and pick up after Fido , and keep them leashed regardless of how much of a good boy or or girl they think their dog is .

Many many ponds and lakes. Look up wacky rig on YouTube. This technique will catch fish.

This place is so peaceful did a lot of walking and a little fishing fun place

Peaceful. Back to nature.

Great spot to take the dog or go fishing, lots of trail to hike and multiple lakes, including a handicapped and youth only fishing pond.

Great as long as people can control their dogs.Could use a few more dog waste receptacles.

I love it here! Great place to bring family, great dog beach, good hiking, canoeing and fishing.

Best park in Columbus area hands down. Such a hidden gem.

Awesome place for fishing, walking and pets

Great for walking

One of the nicest parks in central Ohio.

Beautiful area particularly around sunrise and sunset.

Participate in the Metro Park Winter Hike Series, you wont be disappointed! The sights youll see!

This is one of the better parks to go to in the central Ohio area. The trails arent exactly difficult but they do provide a lot of walking if you want to walk fairly far like a couple miles or whatever. They offer a gravel Trail its pretty easy however there is some nature trails also connected to the park as well so its nice to have the option. The main attraction of the park is the huge Lakes they have. Im not much of a kayaker but it is kind of cool just for the scenery aspect of it and my dog likes the dog swimming area. I will say I stop taking her there simply because she was trying to drink and getting water in her mouth and she was getting sick from it. For a dog she has a pretty weak stomach so Im not going to deduct points for that.

Well kept, plenty of space for everyone.

Amazing dog park!

Great to spend a little family time

Nice place to fish or do walking or things like that.

Good trails and dog beach.

Great hour for a hike. Others fishing. Maggie(Dachshund) loved it!!!!

Beautiful trails, 3 beautiful lakes with a pond with big fishes in them, dog beach, benches so much great things the Wildlife officers are really cool. Love coming here.

We took the grandchildren fishing everyone had a ball

Took my dog, not allowed in with him though.

Love the Columbus Metro Parks

So beautiful

Fishing fun lol

Beautiful atmosphere

Awesome

Good place

I like that place

Look no no

This is nice but overpopulated.

Great fishing for the family