Cincinnati, known as the "Queen City of the West," is nestled on the banks of the Ohio River, near the Ohio-Kentucky border. Families will find a wealth of outdoor recreational opportunities in the city's 5,000 acres of parklands and nearby county and state parks.
Attractions
You can view frogfish, sea horses, Japanese spider crabs and a Giant Pacific octopus in a 360-degree, multidimensional aquarium when you visit the Newport Aquarium with its underwater tunnels and see-through floors. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden features 500 animals in 20 exhibits, including the Lemur Lookout, Penguin Walkabout and Komodo dragon exhibit. The Cincinnati Museum Center offers something for every member of the family from the Duke Energy Children's Museum with exhibits that have children climbing, crawling and exploring the world around them, to the simulated limestone cave exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and Science, complete with streams, waterfalls and a live brown bat colony.
Water Fun
Family members, ages 5 years and older, can try wakeboarding, water skiing or kneeboarding without a boat at Wake Nation's half-acre practice pond. More experienced water skiers and wakeboarders can ride the waters of the 10-acre main lake of this cable wake park, open between May and October. At Winton Woods County Park, your family can paddle the waters of the 156-acre Winton Lake, pitch a tent in the county campground or the kids can run through the water being squirted by 18 animal figures at the Parky's Ark wet playground. Local outfitters offer canoeing and kayaking excursions of various lengths on the Little Miami River, a state and national scenic river, from 45-minute quick outings to half-day paddles.
City Parks
Cincinnati Parks maintains 70 neighborhood parks, five regional parks and 34 nature preserves over more than 5,000 acres offering family-friendly, outdoor recreational opportunities. Climb the treehouse, fly a kite in the open fields or hike the 14 miles of trails at the 1,459-acre Mount Airy Forest. At Eden Park's Krohn Conservatory, you can visit a desert display, a rainforest display with exotic plants and a waterfall, view more than 3,500 plant species from around the world and in the springtime, attend the Butterfly Show. The Trailside Nature Center in 90-acre Burnet Woods Park features a children's museum, disc golf course and fishing lake, and is home to the Wolff Planetarium, where you and your family can sit under the dome to view the stars.
Biking
Three segments of the planned Ohio River Trail have been completed and offer paved pathways for biking: a half-mile path through T.M. Berry International Friendship Park, a one-mile paved pathway stretching from Corbin Street to Kellogg Avenue and a one-mile-plus section that is part of the six-and-a-half-mile Lunken Bike Path. With the help of the Cincinnati Bike Route Guide, you can pedal the downtown core along miles of preferred bike routes to view the city sights, including Fountain Square. The Hamilton County Park District offers four bike and blade trails, including paved pathways at Winton Woods, Francis Recreacres and Sharon Woods, and the nine-mile Shaker Trace Trail in the Miami Whitewater Forest.
State Parks
East Fork State Park is located in Bethel, Ohio, 25 miles southeast of Cincinnati. Here, your family can enjoy sunning and swimming on 1,200-foot beach on East Fork Lake; go fishing for bluegill, crappie and bass; or hike one of the park's 10 trails. You can go camping at Harrison State Park, 20 miles west of Cincinnati, take advantage of the day-use areas of the park offering boat and bike rentals, or hike the three-and-a-half-mile trail that circles Harrison Lake. Kentucky's Big Bone Lick State Park, located 30 miles southwest of Cincinnati, has a museum center, which features fossils of prehistoric animals and a 1,000-lb. mastodon skull. On a walk along the three and a half miles of hiking trails around the lake and Outdoor Museum area, you'll see a live buffalo herd.
Member Comments