Akron to Columbus drive: Distance, road trip stops & time
The best road trip stops on an Akron to Columbus drive are Mansfield, Malabar Farm State Park and Mt Gilead State Park. By car, the distance from Akron to Columbus is 125 miles, with a 1h50m driving time.
Planning an Akron to Columbus road trip itinerary
The drive from Akron to Columbus takes you between two of the biggest cities in Ohio.
Things to do in Akron include Akron Zoo, scavenger hunts and the Akron Children’s Museum.
In Columbus, a three day attractions pass covers most of the top sights. These include the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. For other Columbus experiences, try scavenger hunts, a town tour aboard the Trolley Pub and the Legoland Discovery Center.
Akron to Columbus distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Akron to Columbus is 125 miles. That makes for a driving time of around one hour and 50 minutes. The quickest route heads west along the I-76, then down the I-71.
The best stops to add to an Akron to Columbus road trip itinerary are Mansfield, Malabar State Park and Mt Gilead State Park.
Best attractions between Akron and Columbus: Mansfield
There are several attractions in the small Ohio city of Mansfield. These include the Buckeye Imagination Museum, which provides hands-on, play-based learning for kids, and historic Oak Hill Cottage.
The highlight, however, is the Ohio State Reformatory. This former prison offers several guided tours, including one with a Shawshank Redemption theme. The film was shot here. Other tours go into executions and life behind bars.
Akron to Columbus drive: Malabar Farm State Park
A short detour west of the I-71, Malabar Farm State Park sits amid a glacier-carved landscape of forests and hills. But unlike many state parks, this one isn’t really about the walking trails.
Malabar Farm was a labour of love created by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and conservationist Louis Bromfield. The aim was to showcase a typical farm and agricultural setting, with corn, wheat and oats growing in the hillside fields. You can still see the chickens, goats and cows in the pastures and outbuildings.
Akron to Columbus road trip stops: Mt Gilead State Park
Mt Gilead State Park in Ohio is small but beautiful, with sprawling woodlands dotted by wildflowers.
The landscape is originally glacier-carved, with three ridges of glacier sediment converging in one place.
There’s a camping area in the pine forest, but for the passing roadtripper, the likely highlight is going to be Mount Gilead Lake. There’s a 500-foot public beach here, and it’s a popular swimming spot.
More Akron road trips
Akron to Cincinnati | Akron to Pittsburgh.
More Columbus road trips
Columbus OH to Ann Arbor | Columbus OH to Atlanta | Columbus to Buffalo | Canton OH to Columbus OH | Columbus OH to Chicago | Columbus to Cincinnati | Columbus to Cleveland | Dallas to Columbus | Dayton to Columbus | Columbus to Detroit | Columbus to Indianapolis | Lexington to Columbus | Columbus to Louisville | Nashville to Columbus | Columbus to Philadelphia | Columbus to Pittsburgh | St Louis to Columbus | Toledo to Columbus.