It's a beautiful weekend to enjoy your parks! Photo via Metro Parks by Jim McCormac.

While Central Ohio offers little in the way of topographical variety, it does have a healthy dose of parks and greenspaces spread throughout the multi-county region. This year, when our readers and contributors were surveyed about their favorite parks for relaxation and recreation, they picked a metro park for the first time over a city-run park when selecting the Scioto Audubon.

Prior to its opening in 2009, the Whittier Peninsula located just southwest of Downtown Columbus, was home to the city’s impound lot. Thousands of rusty cars have been relocated and replaced with the 120-acre Scioto Audubon Metro Park that now features wetlands and educational facilities, hiking and biking trails along the arched riverfront, a boat-launch ramp, a climbing wall structure, volleyball courts, a dog park, an obstacle course and more. To boot, the park features an impressive skyline view, placing outdoor activities adjacent to the city’s center.

For more information, visit www.metroparks.net.

The Top 10 Columbus Parks of 2016:

Flashback — Best Local Park of 2015: Goodale Park

Flashback — Best Local Park of 2014: Goodale Park

Note: Our “Best of 2016″ lists are published as the combined results of our annual Reader Nomination Survey and Editor’s Choice picks.