Weird outdoor & roadside things to do in Columbus
Weird outdoor and roadside things to do in Columbus — 6 of them, from Gates of Hell / Blood Bowl, Garden of Constants and The Franklinton Slingshot. Folk-art environments, unexplained monuments and roadside oddities worth pulling over for, all outdoors and mostly free. They spread across Clintonville, OSU Campus, Franklinton, Northwest Columbus and 1 more area, so two or three can make a whole afternoon. 5 of them cost nothing. Every entry is hand-vetted against real sources — not scraped off a top-ten list or averaged out of crowd ratings.
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Gates of Hell / Blood Bowl
A massive, graffiti-covered drainage tunnel beneath North High Street that carries a stream from Glen Echo Park to the Olentangy River. It earned its chilling moniker from urban legends of a skateboarder's death and the eerie, pitch-black darkness that swallows you just past the steel cage entrance.
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Garden of Constants
A whimsical lawn outside OSU's Dreese Laboratories featuring ten giant, colorful ceramic and metal numbers alongside mathematical formulas embedded in the pavement.
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The Franklinton Slingshot
A massive, 20-foot-tall, 6,000-pound steel slingshot sculpture that looks like a giant toy dropped by a mischievous titan along the Scioto River.
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Dragonbrush
A quirky, colorful green dragon sculpture standing on a dental clinic's lawn, proudly guarding a giant toothbrush.
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Sword in the Stone
A real metal sword mysteriously embedded deep inside a large boulder sitting on the front lawn of a local dental office.
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Chief Leatherlips Monument
A massive, 12-foot-tall limestone portrait of Wyandot Chief Leatherlips built directly into a hillside overlooking the Scioto River.
Weird outdoor & roadside things to do in Columbus — FAQ
Which weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Columbus are the strangest?
Ranked by how strange they actually are: Gates of Hell / Blood Bowl, Garden of Constants and The Franklinton Slingshot. Gates of Hell / Blood Bowl — A massive, graffiti-covered drainage tunnel beneath North High Street that carries a stream from Glen Echo Park to the Olentangy River.
Where in Columbus are they?
Across Clintonville, OSU Campus, Franklinton, Northwest Columbus and Dublin. Each listing gives the neighborhood and address so you can cluster a couple into one outing.
Are any of the weird outdoor & roadside oddities in Columbus free?
Yes — 5 are free to visit, including Garden of Constants, The Franklinton Slingshot and Dragonbrush. The rest are mostly low-cost.
Is this a good weird date in Columbus?
That's what the list is built for. Every entry has a specific move rather than a vague recommendation — at Gates of Hell / Blood Bowl, for instance: Grab a coffee at the Tim Hortons at 2754 N High St, then walk down into the ravine behind the parking lot to peer at the massive steel cage 'Gates of Hell' and the sprawling, creepy graffiti murals.
How were these weird outdoor & roadside oddities chosen?
An agentic research system digs for the genuinely obscure — the spots even locals miss — and every one is verified against real sources before it makes the list. We deliberately skip the landmarks already on every Columbus guide.