Olentangy Indian Caverns Mini
Golf
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Olentangy Indian
Caverns
1779 Home Rd.
Delaware, OH 43015
(740) 548-7917
Cost: $4.00
Par: No par listed
2020 Ratings Original 2011 Ratings
Difficulty: 6 Difficulty: 6
Creativity: 7 Creativity: 7
Atmosphere: 7 Atmosphere: 6
2020 Update
This mini-golf course is part of a larger tourist attraction, which includes the caverns themselves, a gift shop, gem mining sluice, playground and picnic facilities, a "Treasure Hunt Maze" and a new, upgraded petting zoo. The outdoor maze is made of simple, unadorned walls, but admission includes 3 tokens to redeem at gumball- style machines hidden inside the maze, which vend gift store standards such as polished stones, arrowheads, and squished pennies. The new petting zoo replaces the old "Frontierland," which had been damaged in a storm. (The one remnant of the Frontierland is a bark covered barn, mislabeled as an "Iroquois Longhouse.") The petting zoo is large and well appointed, with a wide variety of animals, (not just goats that some zoos have) with a slide, small climbing wall, swings, and plenty of room for kids and critters to run about. While these improvements are welcome, the actual mini-golf course remains much the same as described in a previous review. Thankfully, the cringe-inducing "U-Puttum" name has been removed, though the decor of cigar store style Indians, wagon wheels and totem poles remain. The holes themselves are pleasant, if fairly simple, and while the foliage surrounding the course is nice, and provides welcome shade, the resulting leaf litter and gravel from the roughs need to be cleared from the greens more frequently. Finally, concerns expressed in a previous review regarding the survival of the attraction regarding zoning, neighbors and financing have been resolved in the positive. The course, and the attraction as a whole are now on solid footing and should be around for the foreseeable future.
Original 2011 Review
The mini-golf course is part of the larger Olentangy Indian
Caverns tourist attraction, which includes the caverns themselves, a small
museum, a gift shop, picnic facilities and a small "Frontierland."
The course itself is pleasant, though simple, and there is not much variation
to the play of the holes. The greens are well worn and need to be
replaced, and on the day I visited the greens were littered with leaves and
twigs from the trees and shrubbery that provide shade and beauty to the course.
In keeping with the "Indian" theme, several of the holes have
sculptures as obstacles, such as Indians of the cigar store variety, a wagon
wheel, or a small totem pole.
The attraction as a whole, which has been open since the 1930s, has seen better
days, and is in need of improvement. However, as the surrounding area has
become developed, the neighbors have fought to prevent any improvement that
would bring more noise and traffic to the area. Noise complaints from the
neighbors shut down the gunfight reenactments at Frontierland, and forced the
dismantling of a new pole barn. The petting zoo has recently closed as well,
and the owners have put the property up for sale.
Should one be in the area, (and it is only ten minutes from the excellent
Columbus Zoo) it is definitely worth a stop to see a bit of (admittedly
somewhat tacky) roadside Americana, before it is shut down. I will post
an update at the start of next season as to the status of the course.
Reviewed by: Delano Lopez
Reviewed in: 2011 & 2020
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