Now that you’ve got your car safely stored in your off campus parking spot in Columbus or Athens, you can start planning ways to get out of town for weekend road trips. But where will you go?
While we’ve got plenty of answers to that question, part of it depends on you. Where do you want to go? Do you have a place to stay? Can you make the trip in under three hours or so? Any longer drive than that, and you’ll be spending too much of your precious weekend road trip in the car.
Having good friends in your destination community, of course, is the ideal situation. If they’ve made it clear that they’d welcome your company for the weekend, you and a friend or two who are coming along should be good to go.
On the other hand, if you’re not sure you’ll be welcome or forget to tell your friends or acquaintances who live at your destination, then be prepared for some awkward moments when you arrive and/or a very short stay.
Without further ado, here’s some great road trip destinations when you get tired of your off-campus housing in Columbus or Athens.
Visit Another College Town
One of the time-honored great road-trip destinations is other college towns or cities within plausible driving distance for the weekend. If you live in a student apartment in Columbus, drive down to Athens. Or if you’re living in an Athens rental, drive up to Columbus. Of if you live in either place, take a road trip to Kent, Oxford/Miami, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Cleveland or Toledo. Or maybe you can drive to any of the dozen or so towns in Ohio that host smaller private colleges.
One word of warning. College kids on road trips tend to (of course) have a road-trip mentality. Having left their schoolwork behind at their rental house or apartment, they want to party. Sometimes they want to celebrate harder than their hosts or local police feel comfortable with. That’s the reason why the weekend arrest rolls in college towns often contain an outsize number of students from other college towns. So be careful out there and don’t embarrass these friends who have been kind enough to host you for the weekend.
State Parks
Ohio has many state parks for you to enjoy, with some of them very easy drives. College students in both Athens and Columbus have Hocking Hills State Park within an easy 45-minute drive. You can camp or perhaps rent a cottage for the weekend. Unfortunately, many rental outfits in the Hocking Hills don’t rent to people who are under 21; they also discourage non-family groups. Other great state parks in Ohio include (but are not limited to) Mohican, Salt Fork, Shawnee, and three located close to Athens – Burr Oak, Lake Hope and Strouds Run state parks.
Cool Cities and Towns
We’d like to say that Ohio is packed with interesting city and town destinations. Alas, we can’t say that without acknowledging that the Buckeye State is certainly no Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon or California when it comes to funky and/or interesting communities to visit. That’s not to say that Ohio is bereft of cool towns, however.
Some that are worthwhile to visit on a road trip, either because of culture, geography, nightlife or history, include Marietta (history and geography), any of the big cities (nightlife, culture), Pomeroy (history, geography, nightlife), Sandusky (the lake and Cedar Point), Yellow Springs (history, culture, nightlife), Logan (geography), Chillicothe (history and geography) and, and, and… Well, we’re sure there’s more; we just can’t think of what they are!
Plus, some very interesting cities, with ample nightlife and culture, can be found in nearby states within an easy few hours drive. These include Pittsburgh, Lexington, Louisville, Morgantown, Detroit, Indianapolis, and if you’re willing to drive a little farther, Chicago or Toronto.
Sporting Events
One of the best excuses for a road trip is going to see a ball game. This usually means a big-city destination, since you’re not likely to find a big-time professional sports team in Lima or Ironton. But otherwise, Ohio is a great place for pro sports, with NFL and Major League teams in Cincinnati and Columbus, an NBA team in Cleveland, soccer in Columbus and Cincinnati, hockey in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, and minor league teams for baseball and other sports scattered in cities, big and small, across Ohio.
Most of the venues sell beer, which of course makes them worthy destinations for a weekend road trip.
If you’d rather go farther afield for your sporting events, perhaps because of a preference for certain out-of-state teams, Indianapolis and its NFL team isn’t that far from the Ohio border, nor is Pittsburgh, with its variety of pro sports from which to choose.
If you’re a college student in Athens, you also have the option of driving to see the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus. That’s a hell of a weekend excursion, what with tailgating, the game and post-game parties. Just be mindful of not overdoing it.
There’s plenty of other road trip options for adventurous college students in Athens or Columbus. Your only limitation is your lack of imagination!