Hoover Dam Recreation Park

A great park! This place is huge, and there is plenty to see and do. The section right by the dam was very popular on my recent visit; with tons of folks out using the infamous dam stairs for training, kite flying with the wind, and accessing the multipurpose trail that runs through the area. It wasn’t just humans enjoying the park either; many dogs were out, looking like they were also enjoying themselves.
We also stopped in at the Hoover Mudflats and Boardwalk. The boardwalk has been repaired and looked great. It’s obviously a popular fishing spot, and it also provides a nice place to watch birds (although there was a really rude goose sitting on top of one of the osprey nests on our visit. Obnoxious bird). The views out onto the reservoir were beautiful, and it was very peaceful during our visit.
Our last stop on this visit was to Mud Hen Marsh, a wetland preserve area. It has a short trail out to a bird blind, which looks out onto the wetlands and pond areas. There are a lot of nice resources, including signage and books, inside of the bird blind to help with animal/​bird identification. It’s a beautiful, peaceful area; well worth a stop.
Each of the areas has its own parking area — and the one near the mudflats and boardwalk is a very neat conservation one, with signage about how it works.
Great place to visit!

This is such an easy place to burn calories from running the stairs, walking, jogging, to playing fisbee golf.
Walking over the damn is quite calming, and a beautiful sight

Heaven on earth. This place is awesome for walks, disc golf, working out (running the stairs will be one of the most intense workouts you will ever do), sledding, picnics and more. Great place to just sit back and relax.

This is a real fun place to take pictures at and there are ample opportunities to do so. I definitely plan on coming back.

Went Saturday for the first time this year. The water level is finally high again and the park is coming back to life after a brutal winter. I shot a video from the air. It can be seen here:

Love this place!
Great place to walk, run, ride bikes, bird watch, picnic, play frisbee golf, hike, climb the stairs, fish, boat, etc.
Come alone or with the family. The view from the dam is incredible. Lots of beautiful birds (cranes, terns). I love walking here in the mornings. The other visitors are friendly but respect that you’re working out and can’t really chat. Its a nice neighborhood and feels very safe. The Sunbury Rd. side is paved and has lots of places to rest and enjoy the view. The College Dr. side is more woodsy. When I finish walking I feel like I’m «treating myself» with a trip across the dam bridge. The breeze is incredible and for a second you can fool yourself that it’s the pier at the beach!
Also, the road on the College Dr. side is a little dangerous. There are blind spots here and there and nooooobody drives the speed limit. More like 10+ miles over.
Be careful!

Great boating, fishing, exercising and area in general. Love kayaking here & watching the sailboats!

So absolutely beautiful. With the weather getting cooler and football on today the park was empty but a gorgeous time to go. The leaves changing colors was the topper to the day. The playground is small but worth it since you’re right on the water. Couldnt ask for a better spot.

I grew up in Columbus and even played Frisbee golf here, but never actually saw the dam until today. This place is so beautiful — the water, the wildlife, the vegetation, and the dam itself are all simply amazing. If you’re looking for a great place to take a mid-​day walk, or get some exercise on the dam steps and adjacent trails, this is the perfect place for you!

This place was packed! It was one of those glorious summer evenings where the sun is setting, it’s hot but not too hot and you don’t want to sit inside. We walked the length of the dam and marveled at the amount of water that was flowing. All the rain from the past few weeks have the water level up pretty high.
And we did the stairs. Hoo boy! Those things will whip you in shape. I should not have done ‘em in flip-​flops but you live, you learn. There were a bunch of people fishing and more than half of them caught fish. It made me want to go fishing again. The disc golf course looks pretty fun, I’ve never played it and this course looks pretty hard for the novice. Maybe I’ll carry the water bottles for some of my more skilled friends.
I think we’ll be back early and often. This is a beautiful place to take a walk or have a picnic… or catch some fish… or just watch the sun set.

I absolutely love everything about Hoover. I love the fact that I live about 10 minutes away. They have great disc golf for those who can play (I personally can’t!!) and a few great nature trails that go up and down some hills. I personally LOVE to kayak here! Typically the twin bridges up off of Sunbury Road is best as there seems to be less boat traffic and lots of inlets to explore! I try and head up here at least 3 – 4 days a week. The «dam stairs». totally agree. On off kayak days I will spend an hour going up and down them… On Sunday afternoons, I highly recommend parking down near the Smothers Road entrance. The Hoover Sailing Club has sail boat races in the afternoon and it’s so serene to watch them.

I went here for the first time today, and, boy, is this place a central Ohio gem.
We came here for the disc golf and were not disappointed. The course is excellent. And although it was crowded, we didn’t feel rushed as we played the first nine holes. The course did feel pretty challenging, so this might not be best for beginners (which we are).
After walking up the dam stairs, you are treated to an excellent view of the reservoir. Then, we walked to the nature trail and hiked through the woods. The trail was well maintained, and you can go all the way down to the water, if you like.
I will definitely come back to see what else this park has to offer.

I really should get here more often. What a great place to exercise! It has hills and the notorious «dam stairs,» but it’s not hard to remain on a relatively flat path if you want to.
More than anything, though, it’s just a nice place to relax and watch the world go by. You’ll see all kinds of interesting people, pets, wildlife, etc. It’s a great (free) place to kill time. And even if you do nothing, you won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time.
I saw that a previous review mentioned swimming. For the record, you are NOT allowed to swim in Hoover Reservoir. There are, however, bike paths, 27 holes of disc golf, a soccer field, a play ground, and probably some other things I’m forgetting.
It’s super easy to get to and, again, totally free. Get there!

My house is across the street from Hoover Dam and I could not be happier with the park. NOTE: There are two different entrances to Hoover. The first entrance is off of Sunbury Rd and the other is off of Central College (Rd by BP station).
There are a variety of great things about Hoover Dam including a childrens play area, bike path, observation decks, 27 disc golf course and more. I will explain what at the Sunbury Rd entrance and then the Central College entrance you can walk NOT DRIVE across the dam to get to where the Central College entrance leads cars. There are lots of picnic tables on both sides and on the Central College side there are some grills ready for charcoal.
On the Sunbury Rd entrance, to the immediate left is the bike trail that leads all across Westerville if you know the map of the trail. Down to the left, there is a swing set and playground perfect for kids. There is a peninsula that many people fish on as well as in the Summer launch boats (no high powered boats). If you go to the immediate right of the entrance, the road will lead you to a parking lot at the bottom. To the left are stairs leading up to the middle of the dam. This is a great set of stairs to do exercises on. To the right of the parking lot are soccer fields as well as some great fishing areas. For the fishing areas, follow the tree line to the left of the soccer fields and you will find some openings. In this fishing area its crucial to wade out into the water.
On the Central College entrance is my favorite entrance by far. If you take a right at the stop sign, it leads to the disc golf course. I love to disc/​frisbee golf and this course is one of the top courses in the world. The PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) holds less than 10 National Tour events a year and Hoover Dams course called The Brent Hambrick Memorial is one of the National tour stops every year in the Summer. This course has 27 holes, but some are taken out aka holes 10 – 14 to reseed to make this world class courses upkeep pristine. I could go on and on about how their is great elevation change and long bombers, but I have a review on
on the course itself.
ALSO on the Central College entrance to the left their is a parking lot and a place leading down to some more great fishing spots. If you go straight at the stop sign instead of left, it leads to another set of stairs up the dam. If you take a right at the stop sign, and keep going till it dead ends, you will see a wonderful walking path. This walking path has beautiful views of the Dam and is wonderful to bring pets and kids on.
This place is a great place to be for all ages hands down my favorite place to be.

Great place to go Disc Golfing. The disc golf course is long and challenging. They have 27 holes for your playing pleasure. Except for the rest of this year, they have closed down 10 – 14 to let the grass grow in around the holes, which i am not sure what this means since they are in the woods. But the course is a pleasure to play and very wide open. It is a hard place to lose a disc.
Park by the dam and you have a nice walk across the dam with nice views on each side. I really enjoyed the walk. They also have tables to eat on with nice port a johns. they have the roomie ones where one could change clothes without stressing about dropping something in bad spot. On a nice September day, the place was pretty busy with joggers, golfers, walkers, and bikers.

Great place to take a stroll or get a workout. The stairs are a pain in the butt (in a good way). Lots of different paths to take. Every time I’ve been people are courteous and friendly. I love the trails, lots of uphill climbing. Only downside is having to watch out for wild frisbees from the frisbee golf courses.

Frolf! This park is one of the absolute best things about Westerville.
You’ve got families taking walks, people biking, hiking, fishing and playing frisbee golf.
There are a lot of little hidden walking paths that will take you out to the water.

Home of «Those DAM Stairs.»
No where else in this city will you find another set stairs quite like those at Hoover Dam. If you’re in training — or just lookin to burn off that gallon of ice cream you devoured last night — look no further.
Besides the Dam Stairs, Hoover is a mecca for activity. It’s a great place to bring your bike and hit the roads for a ride; jump in the water for a swim; row-​row-​row your boat; catch a game of frisbee golf; or just tromp the trails for a walk or run. Awesome scenery, and an overall awesome place to take in rec activities of all kinds.

I recently went here in search of a rare tern that found its way to the reservoir. This was pretty awesome since this bird generally does not move south of Canada during winter.
While I was hiking around I met some other birders but also plenty of families and exercise enthusiasts walking around the water. This is a pretty popular place all year round and is a local favorite for fishing, boating, and kayaking.
I just wish I lived closer.

You know how the original London Bridge was moved to Havasu City, Arizona? Well, the Hoover Dam is in Columbus, Ohio. Yes, that’s the name of it but no, it’s not the one everyone knows in Las Vegas. First time I went there when I was in high school and living in the Dayton area, I returned from spring break and told everyone I went to the Hoover Dam … only I didn’t tell them immediately that it was in Ohio.
In 1955 Hoover Reservoir was created to supply drinking water for Columbus. The park is good for kids and I’m sure more than just I have made that joke before. In the winter there’s sledding although there are warning signs that say it’s dangerous, but it doesn’t seem to scare anybody off. Sadly, there’s no swimming allowed. Nevertheless, there are tons of things to do at this place. It’s a great place for families because of picnicking tables, playgrounds, hiking trails like the Five Oaks Trail, and campgrounds like Tree Haven and Berkshire. At least one point on the northern end (in Delaware County) has a boardwalk trail that goes out over the lake. Fishing is big for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, white and black crappie, channel catfish, white bass, carp, buffalo sucker, and longnose gar; also because of a 10 horsepower outboard motor limit. Boating is another common activity. During the warm months when crossing over the many road bridges you can see lots of sailboats, pontoons and speedboats zipping and lounging around the lake.