Night Lights and City Clues: Exploring Downtown Columbus by Trolley and Scavenger Hunt

The Scioto River arrives at downtown like a current of invitation, its glassy braid reflecting a skyline of brick, glass and public art. Walk the riverfront at dusk and the city seems to breathe: joggers tapping past, the fountains on the Scioto Mile exhaling sprays that catch the last light, and the lampposts in Bicentennial Park beginning their slow illumination. This is where Columbus’s two best low-stakes adventures begin — one that moves you through town on an electric-assisted trolley with a cooler at your feet, and another that turns the streets into a map of puzzles and histories with only a phone in your hand.