Ashland is a small town with seemingly nothing to do. For those that are new here, Ashland may be a strange place because all students knows is the Ashland University campus, but outside the campus is a whole other world. 

Ashland has many hidden gems. Downtown has several great shops that most people do not know about, out on the edge of town are nice parks and the small town offers great places to eat.  

The majority of these off-campus activities are in walking distance as well. 

The most popular outdoor attraction in Ashland is Brookside Park East. The park offers a beautiful picnic area, with picnic tables and charcoal grills throughout the park. The picnic area also has a large pond with a little bridge where visitors can feed the ducks or get a fishing license and go fishing for bass and bluegill. These make for nice quiet places off-campus to relax and study. 

The park also offers a playground, swings, baseball fields and basketball courts, which is a great place to have fun, get exercise and enjoy a new view of Ashland. 

The Brookside Park pool, that is open until September, is a great place to go swimming in the sun while working on getting a tan. 

The ice cream shop at Brookside East sits just across the street from the park and is a great place to enjoy sweets and relax after a fun day at the park.  

Brookside Park West is another relaxing spot in town that every college student needs to know about.  The scenic and quite area also has a large pond with several bridges, a basketball court, playground and an old, rustic barn. This makes for a great place for anyone to get away from campus, relax and have fun on the playground, take photos of the park or enjoy a picnic with friends.

Downtown Perk is one of Downtown Ashland’s best hidden gems. The coffee shop sits in the back of a little gift shop. 

The coffee and the food in Downtown Perk are extremely popular with locals and Ashland University students that have stumbled upon it. The shop is fairly quiet and has a laid-back atmosphere. Take a break in between studying and classes and grab some delicious coffee and check out the gift shop. 

The Ashland County Fair is an event to not miss that takes place from Sept. 20-26 at the fairgrounds on Claremont Avenue. The fair offers something for everyone, whether it be fair food, the rides or games. 

The arts and crafts barns are always popular exhibits to check out, along with the animal barns; horses, cows, rabbits and goats, just to name a few. 

This year, The Charlie Daniel’s Band will be playing Sept.21 at the grandstand. Plus, there are always other bands playing on the side stages. On top of all of this, there are the tractor pulls and the demolition derby to check out at the grandstand too.

Ashland has several great places to get food off-campus. Perhaps what may be the most popular place off-campus to get food is Lotus. Lotus is conveniently located on Claremont Avenue, about five minutes away from campus. 

 “I love going to Lotus, especially for the half price sushi on Tuesday. It is by far the best place to eat in town,” said AU senior Zac Kopp.

Lotus is well known for its Chinese cuisine and very popular on Tuesday’s when the sushi is half priced. Lotus is great for a change in diet and is still affordable for college students. 

Ashland is probably known for three things, the university and Grandpa’s Cheesebarn and Sweeties Jumbo Chocolates. 

Grandpa’s Cheesebarn is a popular place to visit in town, not just for the locals and college students, but is well known to people all over Ohio. 

“Grandpa’s Cheesebarn is probably the most popular place in town and pretty much everyone goes there. It attracts a lot of locals year round, and has great food,” said Ashland local Nick Shreffler. 

Don’t let the name fool you; the Cheesebarn has a lot more to offer than just cheese, even though the cheese is superior. The cheesebarn if full of amazing foods, including ice cream, lunch meat, the best jerky around, popcorn and amazing gifts. 

The best part is that one can sample everything before buying, so one knows what they’re getting and can get what is best for their taste buds. 

Sweeties, which sits next door of the Cheesebarn, is the best around. Taste-test the fudge and fall in love. The sweets are superior and even with the higher price tag are worth it. 

Chocolate is about the best way to de-stress from a heavy course load or a stressful class project.