Scenic Rivers of Central Ohio

Reprinted from Buckeye Boater, ODNR Division of Watercraft

A significant component of Ohio’s natural heritage is its system of 14 designated state scenic rivers.

Rivers currently holding the designation in central Ohio are the Olentangy River and Big and Little Darby creeks.

On August 22, 1973, a 22-mile stretch of the Olentangy River, from the Delaware Dam in Delaware County to Wilson Bridge Road in northern Franklin County, became the state’s third designated scenic river.

The relatively high quality of the Olentangy and its wooded banks provides habitat for a variety of breeding birds and other animals. The predominate species of trees that make up the forested streamsides include willow, red and silver maple, sycamore, oak, basswood and cottonwood. Remnant prairie species such as the purple coneflower, threatened prairie false indigo, and the Indian paintbrush also inhabit the slopes and bluffs along the stream.

About 20 miles separate the Olentangy River from central Ohio’s other designated scenic river system, the Big and Little Darby creeks. The creeks were designated together for a combined 82 miles in 1984 (as Ohio’s 10th scenic river) and in 1994 (as a national scenic river). This scenic waterway includes Big Darby Creek from the Champaign-Union county line west of Franklin County downstream to the U.S. Route 40 bridge and from the northern boundary of Battelle-Darby Creek Metropark to the confluence with the Little Darby Creek downstream to the Scioto River. The Little Darby Creek designation extends from the Lafayette-Plain City Road bridge downstream to its confluence with Big Darby Creek.

The Darby State and National Scenic River includes some of the most important natural resources found anywhere in Ohio. Flowing through rich agricultural bottomland in Union, Madison, Franklin and Pickaway counties, the topography of the creek valley ranges from gently rolling in the upper reaches to relatively steep and heavily wooded in the lower portions. Big and Little Darby Creeks also are noted nationally for their tremendous diversity and abundance of both aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals, including five species of fish and eight species of freshwater mollusks that are included on the endangered species list.