Ridden 5/24/2022
Rating: 4 stars
Recommended bike: Hybrid or mountain
Distance: 9.73 miles (including re-riding some sections), elevation 207 feet
The Darby Creek Trail is divided into two sections, the northern one at Prairie Oaks Metro Park, the southern at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park. While there is a long-term goal to unite these segments, there are considerable barriers, most notably I-70 which runs immediately south of the northern section at Prairie Oaks. I had enough time after a Hilliard-area ride to fit in the Prairie Oaks section on the evening of May 24th.
The Prairie Oaks section is about 3.5 miles long, and connects with various hiking trails at the park. Signage indicates where these hiking-only trails branch off, and it's important to pay attention to the signs as it's not always obvious by the surface that a trail is hiking-only, as the Greenway is a gravel trail, like many of them.
The scenery is good, although not necessarily any more so than the longer, better-connected trails in the area. There are several ponds in the area, the namesake prairie, and small forested areas, especially close to the namesake creek, which you'll cross over near the middle of the trail.
The prairie section
When I was riding, on a good-weather weeknight evening, I only saw one other cyclist. Hiking along the trail was more common, as well as fishing from the ponds right near the trail. You'll definitely have to be on the lookout for other users, including potentially horses riding the bridle trail that intersects the Greenway at a couple points. Overall, it makes sense that hiking is more common, as that allows you to explore more trail, and since this Greenway is not connected to any other trails or neighborhoods, you have to haul your bike in; it's not easy to make this part of a longer ride.
Trail conditions were generally good, although there were some small sections where the crushed limestone was not the most even, mostly on hills. I was fine on my hybrid with 28mm tires, but you probably shouldn't take a road bike on this trail.
Overall, this is a good add-on ride if you're already riding somewhere else in the area, and could be easily combined with the southern section at Battelle Darby Creek, the Hilliard-area trails, or the trails going east towards Columbus and west towards London from the southern area of Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park. But you'll need either a vehicle, or to be comfortable with road riding, to get to those other segments.