A Pet-Friendly Weekend in Upper Arlington, Ohio

Tree-lined walks, practical hotel choices and honest advice on where dogs are welcome in Columbus's most walkable suburb.

Why Upper Arlington Works for a Weekend With a Dog

Upper Arlington sits directly northwest of downtown Columbus, roughly ten minutes by car across the Scioto River via Lane Avenue or Fifth Avenue. The suburb was laid out in the early twentieth century around Grandview Avenue and Northwest Boulevard, and the result is wide sidewalks, mature oaks and maples, and block after block of detached houses with front lawns. For a dog, that means shade in summer and a lot of grass verge to sniff. It is a calmer base than staying downtown near Nationwide Arena or the Short North, where evening foot traffic and patio noise run late into the night.

The trade-off is that Upper Arlington is residential rather than a tourist district. You will not walk out of your hotel into a row of restaurants. What you get instead is proximity: ten to fifteen minutes to the Ohio State University campus and the Olentangy Trail, about fifteen minutes to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, and twenty minutes to Easton Town Center. Powell and Dublin are twenty to twenty-five minutes west if you want the outer suburbs. Most visitors here drive, and most hotels along Olentangy River Road and Lane Avenue offer free parking, which matters more than it sounds when you are unloading a crate and a water bowl.

Walks That Actually Work

Thompson Park, off Lane Avenue near the Upper Arlington Municipal Services Center, is the local default for a morning loop: paved paths, open lawn and enough space that a leashed dog can walk without constant passing traffic. Northam Park on Northam Road adds tennis courts, a pool in summer and a flat perimeter path that suits older dogs. For something longer, drive ten minutes to the Olentangy Trail, a paved multi-use path that runs along the Olentangy River from Worthington down toward downtown Columbus and connects to the OSU campus. Cyclists use it heavily, so keep the lead short and walk to the right.

The Griggs Reservoir section of the Scioto River, reached via Riverside Drive, is the best water-adjacent walk in the area — roughly a three-mile loop with river views, herons and plenty of parking. Antrim Park off Olentangy River Road has a flat one-mile loop around a small lake that is ideal before breakfast. Skip the busy stretch of Lane Avenue on football Saturdays in autumn; the sidewalks around Ohio State become shoulder-to-shoulder and a nervous dog will not enjoy it. Best months for walking here are May, June, September and October, when humidity drops and the maples along Northwest Boulevard are at their best.

Where to Stay, and What to Ask Before Booking

Pet policies in Upper Arlington and the adjacent Olentangy corridor are set hotel by hotel, not suburb by suburb. Chain properties along Olentangy River Road and near the Lane Avenue and Kenney Road junction commonly accept dogs, often with a per-stay pet fee and a weight limit that may be stated as forty or fifty pounds. Some waive the fee for shorter stays. None of this is uniform, so phone the front desk before you book rather than trusting a filter on a booking site — and ask specifically about the fee, the weight cap, whether the room is on a ground floor, and whether there is grass on site rather than just pavement.

On balance I would book a mid-range chain hotel on Olentangy River Road, a short drive from both Thompson Park and the Olentangy Trail, over anything closer to Lane Avenue. You give up the ability to walk to a coffee shop but gain parking, quieter nights and easier access to the river walks. If you are in town for a concert or a game and want to be closer to the action, Downtown Columbus is fifteen minutes away and worth the trade. Book the ground floor if it is offered — lifts and busy corridors unsettle many dogs — and reserve two to three weeks out for autumn weekends, when Columbus fills up with football traffic.

Eating, Errands and the Practical Bits

Pet-friendly patios exist in Upper Arlington and along Lane Avenue, but they are seasonal. Most open from April through October, and most are fine with a leashed dog at an outdoor table rather than inside. The more reliable bet is to pick up food and eat in a park. Grocery options along Lane Avenue and Kenny Road cover the basics, and there is a pet supply store on Lane Avenue for anything you forgot — bowls, waste bags, a spare lead. Bring a towel: the Griggs Reservoir paths hold moisture after rain, and a wet dog in a hotel room is nobody's idea of a good weekend.

Timing matters more than most people expect. Columbus in July and August regularly sits in the high eighties Fahrenheit, so walk early, before nine, and again after six. Winter is manageable but the salt spread on Upper Arlington pavements in January and February can irritate paws, so rinse them after walks. One thing to skip: the assumption that a suburban hotel will have a fenced exercise area. Many do not, and the nearest off-leash dog parks are a drive away, so plan for leashed walks and confirm the off-leash options in Columbus before you rely on them.

Before you book

What people ask before booking Upper Arlington.