Herbal Trail Overview

Lots of places count oceans, mountains, good museums, neat shops and fine restaurants among their best features. But not many can boast an Herbal Trail. A suburb of Columbus, Gahanna has been the center of Ohio’s herb universe since the 1970s, when state legislators declared it the “Herb Capital of Ohio.” Today, Gahanna is home to the Ohio Herb Education Center, has a marvelous municipal herb garden growing next to city hall, and has even adopted an official herb: rosemary, which symbolizes friendship and remembrance. 

The Herbal Trail is firmly rooted in Gahanna’s abundant and prolific herb gardens, but it also serves as a unique guide to pretty, colorful, tasty and fragrant destinations throughout the town and surrounding countryside. Stops include parks and historic sites, a tea salon and bakery, a chocolatier, several restaurants, a wine bar, a bath and beauty boutique, and a certified organic farm.  Although posters sporting sprigs of rosemary mark the self-guided trail, they can be difficult to notice in shop windows. The best way for visitors to experience the Herbal Trail’s many pleasures is to stop first at the Gahanna Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has maps and plenty of information about the delightfully diverse attractions.