Anyone living behind the gates along the Scioto near Fishinger Bridge has spent the past month staring at orange barrels instead of river water. Since August 3, the Ohio Department of Transportation has kept a stretch of Riverside Drive closed just north of Fishinger Road, rerouting the daily commute through Cemetery Road and out to the I-270 ramps in Hilliard. It has been the kind of inconvenience that makes a short drive to Kroger feel like a field trip.
That same short stretch of road, the one currently cordoned off for a culvert repair, is where the calendar turns in October. On the 24th and 25th, Rivers Gate's backyard becomes the finish line for one of the Midwest's oldest fall rowing regattas, with hundreds of boats racing past the same water residents have been detouring around all summer. The barrels come down. The bleachers, in a manner of speaking, go up. It is worth understanding both halves of that story, because they are not separate events. They are the same half-mile of riverbank on two different weeks of the calendar.
Forty-Five Days, One Culvert, One Detour
The city's own notice was specific about the scope: ODOT is replacing a culvert-style bridge near River Park Drive and the storm sewer at the Riverside Drive and Fishinger Road intersection, a project the Columbus Dispatch reported at an estimated construction cost of $2.22 million. The closure runs from Fishinger Road to just north of River Park Drive, and the city's original announcement, which initially implied the closure stretched all the way to State Route 161 in Dublin, was later clarified by an ODOT spokesperson to cover just that shorter segment.
Do the math on the timeline the city gave residents, roughly 45 days from an August 3 start, and it lands around September 17, weather permitting. That is the same phrase Upper Arlington used in its own alert, a hedge worth remembering before anyone pencils in a firm reopening date. If the schedule holds, the detour that has shaped everyone's commute for the back half of summer disappears right as the leaves start to turn, which is a better piece of timing than most road projects manage.
The Same Half-Mile Turns Into a Regatta
Six weeks after the cones are supposed to come down, that stretch of Griggs Reservoir hosts the Blake Haxton Invitational on Saturday, October 24, followed by the Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta on Sunday, October 25. Last fall's race weekend was billed as the 41st annual running of the Speakmon, hosted by the Greater Columbus Rowing Association on a course that curves along the natural bends of the reservoir rather than a straight, artificial lane.
Race organizers describe a partially buoyed course set against what they call a colorful backdrop of peak fall foliage, and regional forecasts for southwest and central Ohio put peak color arriving right around Halloween, which lines up well with the regatta's final weekend. Spectators enter through the Griggs Reservoir Park gate at 2933 Riverside Drive and walk down past the UA/COR Crew boatyard toward the water, the same boatyard that gives Upper Arlington Crew and the Greater Columbus Rowing Association a home on the reservoir every week of the year, not just race weekend.
The Haxton portion of the weekend includes a midday block for adaptive athletes, who race a shortened course lined with spectators along the shore. It is a detail that separates this regatta from a generic fall sports event, and it is the kind of thing you only know if you have watched the race before or talked to someone who rows out of the Griggs boathouse.
One rule that survives every year of the regatta packet: no cowbells, horns, or noisemakers of any kind at the finish line. Cheer with your voice or not at all.
What You Can Actually Do on the Water
Rivers Gate residents who keep a boat at their own dock already know the rules that govern this reservoir, but it is worth stating them plainly for anyone new to the neighborhood or anyone hosting guests this fall. Columbus Recreation and Parks permits skiing and wakeboarding on Griggs Reservoir. Jet skis, tubing, and swimming are not permitted on any Columbus reservoir, Griggs included. That distinction catches visitors off guard more often than residents, since most Ohio lakes allow at least one of those.
The reservoir itself runs roughly six miles from the dam north to Lane Road, covering about 387 surface acres, with depths exceeding 20 feet near the dam and running closer to 10 to 15 feet through most of the rest of the water. The 521-acre park that lines its east bank includes an amphitheater, a boat launch, a playground, several shelterhouses, and a disc golf course below the dam. There is also a Party House available to rent for private gatherings, a useful fact for anyone planning an October event around the regatta weekend rather than trying to book a restaurant table on the busiest weekend of the fall rowing calendar.
The Walking Loop Locals Already Know
The stretch worth walking, whether or not you care about rowing, is the 5.1-mile out and back route through Griggs Reservoir Park, a partially paved path that passes the historic Griggs Dam, completed in 1905 as the city's first major water reservoir. The path stays open year round and runs close enough to the water that Eastern Redbuds and tall Tuliptrees along the bank frame most of the walk, which is a better description of the fall color here than any generic leaf-peeping list will give you.
Duranceau Park sits across from Griggs Reservoir Park near the dam, offering a quieter, more remote view of the same water along with a playground and picnic area, a good option if the regatta crowd on the east bank feels like too much company. Together with Hayden Falls Park a bit further along the corridor, these three spaces form a connected stretch of green space that most people who live behind Rivers Gate's gates already use for a morning walk or an evening with the dog, whether or not they have ever thought about entering a race.
Circle October 24 and 25
For residents thinking about the regatta weekend specifically, a short list of what actually matters if you plan to walk down and watch:
- Parking near the Griggs Reservoir Park entrance fills fast on race mornings, and overflow lots are typically off site, so walking or biking down from home beats driving if you live close enough.
- The hospitality tent, when offered, is catered by Mazah Mediterranean Eatery, a nice reason to skip breakfast before you go.
- Racing runs on a strict no noisemaker policy at the finish line specifically, though cheering along the rest of the shoreline is encouraged.
- Both mornings start early, with course activity typically underway well before most residents would normally be out for a Saturday or Sunday walk.
None of this requires a ticket or a membership. It requires knowing the weekend is coming and knowing which gate to walk through, which is the kind of local knowledge that turns a road you have been avoiding all summer into the best seat in the neighborhood for two days in October.
The detour, the dam, the regatta, and the walking path are not four separate stories about this stretch of the Scioto. They are one story about a half-mile of riverbank that spends most weeks of the year in service to the people who already live along it, and one weekend each fall performing for everyone else.
Cece Miller has spent years working this exact stretch of riverfront, from the private communities along the Scioto to the estates that back up to Griggs Reservoir itself. If you know someone weighing a move to this corridor, or you are simply curious what a property along this water is actually worth this season, reach out to request a Private Market Consultation.
