Franklin Park Conservatory shines in USA Today’s “10 most beautiful places” list

Columbus has been making national headlines left and right for its fantastic tourist offerings, but we’re not even close to getting tired of reporting on them!

Most recently, Columbus was the muse of USA Today who included the Children’s Garden at the Franklin Park Conservatory as #5 in its list of the “10 of the most beautiful places we visited in 2018.”

“Like its namesake, Columbus is all about exploring,” wrote USA Today.

The The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Children’s Garden fell after the towns of the Caribbean, but before cliff diving in the U.S. on the list.

This two-acre immersive experience, which opened last spring, includes 16 different garden galleries, hands-on exploration, and the best part: loads of unstructured play.

Just a handful of the unique experiences offered in the Children’s Garden include:

• A hammock and a human-sized birds nest, both perched high above the treetops. 
• Nine different local art installations including a welcoming Celebration Arch stained glass window piece at the Garden entrance.
• A play garden where children can get their hands in the dirt and actually plant raised flower beds and learn how they grow. They can return at the end of summer to harvest their hard work! 
• Sandstone Creek where kids and parents can walk barefoot through the nature exhibit identifying animal tracks and fossils

This special recognition comes after Franklin Park Conservatory announced it set a new attendance record in 2018 due in large part to the Children’s Garden.

“A total of 353,399 guests visited Columbus’ premier botanical garden in 2018 marking a 57% increase in attendance over 2017 which was previously the best year on record,” wrote Franklin Park Conservatory in a release.

Click here to view USA Today’s list of 10 reasons you need to explore Columbus, Ohio.

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