Columbus offers a variety of reasons to stay: whitewater activities, regional history and nature experiences each provide a different focus. When planning, you can choose whether you’d mainly like to be active, explore exhibitions and cultural offerings, or spend time on trails and in gardens. This makes it easy to choose activities based on your interests without letting any one focus define the trip.
Whitewater and River Trails
RushSouth Whitewater Park is home to the world’s longest urban whitewater course. Guided kayak tours and freestyle kayak lessons are offered there. Two zip lines connect two states, and the park also features a splash pad and an interactive playground. This means several different activities are available at the same named location: kayaking, zip lines, and places to play and splash around. Which of these shapes your stay depends on the kind of activity you’re looking for.
Another way to get outdoors is to explore the Chattahoochee RiverWalk on foot, by bike, on roller skates, or on a scooter. These four ways of getting around give you flexibility in how you experience the RiverWalk. Unlike a guided kayak tour, the focus here is on getting around along the RiverWalk itself; no particular pace or walking time is specified.
Regional History and Performing Arts
The regional history exhibits at the Columbus Museum include more than 14,000 artifacts and objects from the Chattahoochee River Valley. This gives the museum a clear regional history focus. It is complemented by educational programs and art activities for visitors of all ages. If you’re interested in the history of the river valley, you’ll find a different way to explore it here than through outdoor activities.
The Springer Opera House is the State Theatre of Georgia and a National Historic Landmark. The venue offers historic docent-led tours by appointment. If you’d like to plan one of these tours, note the condition: it is offered by appointment. This makes exploring the venue’s history different from a visit you could assume would be possible without arranging it in advance.
Gardens, Nature Trails and Wildlife Watching
The Columbus Botanical Garden covers 36 acres. Visitors can walk along the Joann Holt Walking Trail. The acreage describes the size of the garden; the named Walking Trail is one specific way to explore it on foot. You can distinguish this offering from the animal exhibits and nature programs at Oxbow Meadows.
Oxbow Meadows offers nature trails as well as formal and informal programs about the region’s ecology and natural history. It also features indoor and outdoor exhibits with live reptiles and fish. This means trails, educational offerings and animal exhibits are available as different parts of the Oxbow Meadows experience. Visitors can observe many different bird species at the Audubon Bird Garden. The garden has its own focus on birdwatching, while the programs at Oxbow Meadows cover broader topics in ecology and natural history.
Practical Information
Columbus Airport serves the Columbus, Georgia, and Fort Benning area. Market Days on Broadway may also be useful for planning your stay: local and organically farming farmers sell produce there. Since the seasonal market schedule can change, check the current dates before visiting. This lets you factor in the market without assuming a particular market day.
For the broader travel overview: Muscogee.
