Walk Columbus from German Village to the Short North
Columbus is flat, young and growing, with a long main street and a historic brick neighbourhood at its heart. FOG starts the map dark and clears only what you walk, and the High Street corridor makes a clear line to start from.
High Street and its districts
High Street runs north to south through the city. From downtown it heads north through the Short North, an arts district of galleries and restaurants marked by lit arches across the street, and on to the huge Ohio State University campus.
South of downtown, German Village is a nineteenth century neighbourhood of brick houses and brick streets, with Schiller Park at its centre and a famous bookstore that runs through a maze of rooms. The Brewery District sits next to it.
The river
The Scioto Mile is a riverfront of parks, fountains and paths along the Scioto River downtown. From there, the Olentangy Trail follows that river north past the university, and other trails go south and west.
A good long walk: German Village, the Brewery District, the Scioto Mile, through downtown and up High Street through the Short North to the campus. It is a long line with a broad block at the south end.
What to expect
Columbus is very flat, which makes for easy long walks. Summers are warm and humid and winters grey and cold.
The city covers a big area and keeps growing, so the percentage will rise steadily rather than fast. German Village is small and dense enough to finish properly in a couple of visits.
Bring the walks you already did
An empty map is a slow start in a city you already know. FOG Unlimited imports Google Timeline exports and GPX files, so years of past walks in Columbus clear straight onto the map, and you open the app to a real picture with obvious dark gaps in it. It is one purchase, never a subscription.
From then on FOG records by itself, with the app closed, and the trail never leaves the phone. No account, no ads, no tracking. The logbook writes a page for every month and year you were out, with the new ground and the new places you set foot in.
Questions people actually ask
Where is German Village?
Just south of downtown Columbus, a historic district of brick houses and streets.
Is Columbus walkable?
Downtown, the Short North, German Village and the university area are, and they are joined by High Street and the river trails.
Is my location uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no account and no cloud. The map is stored only on your phone, and you can export a GPX backup yourself.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
free to explore · one purchase unlocks everything · never a subscription