Gist Park — Attraction in Columbia

This park has soooo many awesome aspects to enjoy with your family, or by yourself on a personal adventure. Stroll along the river and enjoy the scenery, cast your line and see what you can hook, walk under the bridge and make your way to the Edventure museum or check out the Columbia Canal nearby to view the ongoing project to restore the damage from the floods, enjoy a picnic on one of many picnic tables of your choice throughout the park, and for those of you who really like an adventure.. heres a little secret.. there is access to one of Columbia's underground tunnels here.. its well hidden in plain site, but not too difficult to find. In fact, you'll probably walk right in view of the entrance and not realize it. Im going to attach some pics. If you're going to try and venture into the tunnel, make SURE to bring your knee high waterproof boots, a few flashlights (always wanna have a back up to a back up) because once you're deep in the tunnel you cant see your hand in front of your face, and as an extra precaution you could even bring paper and draw a map once you're inside just to make sure you're tracking your location because cell phone reception does not exist down there! And a little bit of advice for everyone, make sure to bring bug spray no matter what time of day, and staying...

I was visiting Columbia and was looking for a downtown trail. Apparently there are a variety of places to park and hit the Riverfront Park trail, but perhaps i selected the off-the-beaten-path one by accident. I parked in the lot off Gist St at around 8am on a weekday, right across the street from some newish brick townhouses. There was one other vehicle there.

Upon entering the trail - which at this entrance is all footbridge, quite nicely designed - almost immediately i saw a lovely little waterfall. As i walked further, i came across a couple of people sleeping on the bridge. I didn't personally feel unsafe, but it was quite unexpected. Then as i went further i noticed some wear and tear on the footbridge, so i veered off to the right to the 4-lane road bridge crossing the massive Broad River. I used that as my "trail" for the morning and just skipped the footbridge on the way back.

I would try Riverfront again, but will find a different place to park, or a different entrance...

This is a great little park. It has swings, zip lines, a large climbing set, and lots of tactile structures. There is one entry with a large seating area that makes it easy to monitor the kids. They also have accommodations for kids with special needs. There are three family bathrooms. There is even a little free library at the entrance. At Christmas they have a mailbox for letters to Santa with paper and pens. It's right by the river front park and it is close to restaurants and shopping. A great place to...