Summer in Cincinnati is synonymous with baseball games at Great American Ball Park, sun-soaked days spent at Kings Island and walking on the wild side at the Cincinnati Zoo. And while these age-honored pastimes are a must on your summer must-do list, Cincinnati also has some other less thought-of and off-the-beaten-path adventures waiting for you.

From a wholesome, vintage-style theme park and berry and flower-picking to getting wet and wild on the Ohio River, here are some hidden-gem activities in Greater Cincinnati to help you break the summertime mold.

Have a Wholesome Carnival Day at Stricker’s Grove’s Open-to-the-Public Days 11490 Hamilton Cleves Road, Ross Just outside Hamilton County in Ross lies a tiny amusement park that looks like it popped up from the past. Stricker’s Grove is a family-owned theme park that’s available for rent, but is also open to the public four days of the year: Fourth of July, Family Day (second Sunday in August), Labor Day and Customer Appreciation Day (sometime in October). The amusement park features a variety of vintage-looking rides, including the wooden roller coaster Tornado, a merry-go-round, Tilt A Whirl and a Ferris Wheel. You can also play 18 holes of mini golf, video games in the arcade, skeeball, horseshoes or at the shooting gallery. Photo: Provided by Pamela Stricker
Bike, Hike or Kayak at Miami Whitewater Forest 9001 Mt Hope Road, Crosby Township On the western edge of Hamilton County is a park that is basically a summer camp for all ages. If you love being active and outdoors, Miami Whitewater Forest offers endless opportunities for adventurers. Hit the boathouse to rent a kayak, stand-up paddle board or other watercraft to take out onto the lake. You can also rent a bike there to conquer the nearly 8-mile-long Shaker Trace Outer Loop trail, which takes you through scenic prairies and wetlands and offers great opportunities for wildlife viewing. Or, lace up your boots and meander through forests and across streams on the Badlands, Oakleaf, Tallgrass Prairie or Timberlakes trails. They also sell concessions during the summer, making it a perfect picnic location. Photo: Great Parks
Enjoy a Free Summer Concert We all want to see the show of the summer at the big players like Riverbend, Andrew J Brady and Heritage Bank Arena, but when you crave some tunes in a relaxed atmosphere that you can enjoy from a camp chair, many Cincinnati-area parks and other gathering spaces offer free summer concert series featuring local and regional musicians and bands. Catch a show at Rockin’ the Roebling at The Banks, Wildcard Wednesdays at Factory 52, Music on Mills in Norwood, Concerts in the Park in Delhi or the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s series at Devou and Tower parks, just to name a few. Bring a blanket or chair, some snacks and beverages and enjoy the laid-back vibe. Photo: facebook.com
Put on Your Dancing Shoes for Salsa on the Square 520 Vine St., Downtown Bust out your best moves or learn how to salsa every Thursday night at Fountain Square during the summer. Salsa on the Square is free and features live local and regional Latin bands that specialize in salsa, merengue, cumbia and Latin jazz. There are also large, instructor-led dance classes to help you get the moves down, and Mazunte is there to serve up tacos, tostadas and guacamole. For a refreshing drink after all the dancing, grab a margarita at Fountain Square’s full-service bar. Photo: Ty Wesselkamper
Ohio River Paddlefest Photo: Provided by Paddlefest
Traditional Greek dancing at Panegryi Photo: Provided by Panegyri
Board the Cincinnati Dinner Train for a Culinary Adventure All aboard this vintage train featuring restored ‘50s-era dining cars. The Cincinnati Dinner Train leaves the station every Saturday March-December from the rear parking lot of the Green Sales Company in Roselawn and traverses south to the downtown Cincinnati riverfront before reversing course back north. On board, you’ll receive a four-course dinner with an entree (a choice of prime rib, salmon or chicken in a white wine sauce), along with an appetizer, salad, vegetable, baked potato and dessert. The train has a strict business casual dress code, but travelers are also highly encouraged to dress in their 1940s best. Photo: facebook.com/CincinnatiDinnerTrain
Pick Your Own Berries at Blooms & Berries Farm 9669 OH-48, Loveland Berries taste best when fresh from the garden, and Blooms & Berries Farm offers you the chance to do that without the frustration of growing your own if you lack a green thumb. Throughout the summer, the farm offers U-Pick days where you can purchase a $3 field pass and collect buckets of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, depending on the part of the season and how the crop has responded that year. While the strawberry crop is mostly finished for the year, according to the farm, pickers can still prepare for blueberry and blackberry season, as well as the U-Dig potato season in July. Photo: facebook.com/bloomsandberries
Cincinnati Observatory 3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout Built in 1873, the Cincinnati Observatory is the oldest public observatory in the United States, housing fully-functional 19th century telescopic technology for the public to use. Seated atop Mount Lookout, the original building and the infamous dome added in 1895 are a significant fixture in the city’s history. Known as “The Birthplace of American Astronomy,” the Cincinnati Observatory is a bedrock for astronomical discoveries and advancement. Photo: Brittany Thornton Photo: Brittany Thornton
Wander Through Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum Being alone with nature or art offers some excellent time to reflect and focus on yourself, and Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum offers both those things. The park spans over 300 acres of meadows, lakes and hiking trails and features more than 80 permanent sculptures to view. Also on the grounds is an 1820s pioneer house and an indoor ancient artifacts museum with objects dating back to 1550 B.C. 1763 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton. Photo: facebook.com/Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park
Best Ice Cream Winner: Graeter’s Ice Cream Runners-up: Aglamesis Bro’s, United Dairy Farmers Photo: Jesse Fox
Soar to New Heights at the Swing House 1373 Avon Place, Camp Washington The Swing House is a whole-building art project — a freestanding 1880s three-story brick home in Camp Washington where owner and artist Mark de Jong has removed the interior walls and upper floors and built a swing right in the middle of the opened-up interior. Made from pine he salvaged from third-floor joists, the swing is attached by 30 feet of natural fiber rope to a metal beam on the ceiling. Visit during the monthly open house event every second Saturday of the month from noon-4 p.m. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
Cruise the River in the Cincinnati Cycleboat 4601 Kellogg Ave., East End You’ve heard of a pedal wagon, but how about a pedal boat? Cincinnati Cycleboat is a bar, bike and boat all in one (no actual cycling required if you don’t want to). Holding up to 14 people per boat, Cincinnati Cycleboat allows you to explore the Ohio River and the city of Cincinnati with your closest friends and family. Not only is it a bar on a boat, but your party gets to bring their own drinks, and you pick the music, so make sure you create a killer playlist to capture that summer mood. Photo: Facebook.com/CincyCycleboat
Soak Up Culture at Shakespeare in the Park This summer, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is bringing its popular free Shakespeare in the Park series to public spots across the Tri-State. This summer’s production is Hamlet, the tale of Hamlet, a Danish prince, grappling with his father’s murder and his mother subsequently marrying the murderer — (spoiler alert) Hamlet’s uncle. “This summer, become immersed in the intrigue of Shakespeare’s Hamlet — a riveting blend of passion, ghosts, and royal drama that promises to heat up your summer nights with gripping intensity,” says CSC. The season runs from July 12 to Sept. 1. Photo: facebook.com/cincyshakes
Visit the Bison at Big Bone Lick 3380 Beaver Road, Union If you’re up for a short drive, Big Bone Lick State Park in Union has a collection of easy and moderate trails that pass through the historic site’s woodlands, grasslands, savanna and salt-sulfur springs. Named after the Ice Age megafauna that once occupied the area and its saltwater streams, the park is still home to a collection of giant mammals: bison. The 10 to 15 on view are a link to the Ice Age and an attempt to reestablish a herd of the endangered animals at the park. Photo: Adam Doty
Drink in Cincinnati’s Beer History Along the Brewing Heritage Trail 1801 Race St. or 73 E. McMillan Ave., Over-the-Rhine Once one of the largest brewing boomtowns in 19th-century America, the Queen City was home to major pre-Prohibition beer kingpins and, in recent years, has bolstered an ever-expanding craft brewing scene. Over-the-Rhine’s Brewing Heritage Trail explores, preserves and celebrates the city’s storied past as a beer-producing capital with a series of guided tours and a free walking trail. “Hop on” the trail at either terminus — which stretches about three-fourths of a mile between Findlay Market (1801 Race St.) and Grant Park (73 E. McMillan Ave.) in Over-the-Rhine — and follow embedded medallions in the sidewalk to discover historic buildings, brewing sites, public art and more. A number of guided tours are also available to complement the self-guided trail. Photo: Steve Hampton/Brewing Heritage Trail
Make Waves at Wake Nation 201 Joe Nuxhall Way, Fairfield You surf bro? At Wake Nation Cincinnati, you don’t have to. They offer a cable park, where wakeboarders are pulled by an overhead cable system (no boat required), and an Aqua Park, a.k.a. a floating playground complete with trampolines, which includes the Launch Slide, which is as rad as it sounds. Photo: facebook.com/WakeNationCincinnati
See Antique and Vintage Cars Up Close at Collection21 21 Kenton Lands Road, #4, Erlanger Collection21 is a personal collection of American-made automobiles from the 1900s through the 1980s that’s open for tours on Fridays and Saturdays. The collection is made up of over 200 cars and tours are complimentary, but Collection21 does ask for a $15 donation per person; 100% of those proceeds go to Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky, a nonprofit that provides homeownership opportunities for lower-income residents through their lease-to-own program. Photo: facebook.com/Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (HONK)
Dig Up the Past at Trammel Fossil Park 11935 Tramway Drive, Sharonville Uncover the past at this unique park with literally millions of fossils dating to the Ordovician Period (over 440 million years ago). Trammel Fossil Park is free to enter and you can keep whatever you find – typically a lot of fossilized coral, brachiopods, crinoids and trilobites. There are 10 acres to explore, with the park sectioned off in different formations. There’s not much shade here, as you’re basically digging on the side of an uncovered hill, so make sure you bring plenty of water and sunscreen and a hat for those hot summer days of refining your archaeology skills. Photo: facebook.com/Trammel Fossil Park
Cut Your Own Flowers at Marmalade Lily 9850 Schlottman Road, Loveland Nothing brightens up your home in the summer like a vase full of fresh-cut flowers. During the season, event venue Marmalade Lily allows guests to cut their own flowers straight from the garden on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for just $5 for admission, plus the flowers you cut. You’re given clippers, baskets and water, and a floral specialist can show you which flowers are currently blooming. Individual flowers range in price from $1-$4, and the event is BYOV (bring your own vase). Photo: Flash Dantz/Unsplash
Kick Back at Brookville Lake This small town has a lakefront park only an hour from downtown Cincinnati that offers camping, hiking and boating in addition to a beach that you can kick back and relax on. Brookville also has a fair share of shops, street festivals and historic sites in its downtown area. Photo: Facebook.com/BrookvilleLakecom
Florence Y’alls Star Wars Night 7-10 p.m. July 7 Come on down to this Star Wars-themed FUNdraiser on Friday, July 7. Bring your best Star Wars gear while the Florence Y’alls take on the New York Boulders. Fifty percent of your ticket price supports BAWAC Community Rehabilitation Center’s services and programs to help maximize the vocational potential and quality of life of adult persons with disabilities. Rumor has it that their giveaway for the night will be a lightsaber. Buy tickets at givesmart.com. 7-10 p.m. July 7. Thomas More Stadium, 7950 Freedom Way, Florence, facebook.com. Photo: Provided by Florence Y'alls
Move Your Body at Free Outdoor Workout Classes Looking to change up your workout routine? Want to get a good workout in while enjoying the beautiful summer weather? Parks across Greater Cincinnati are offering plenty of free weekly pop-up programs, ranging from yoga to Zumba, all led by different studios and instructors. Places offering free workout classes include Workout on the Green at Washington Park every Wednesday from 5-7 p.m.; yoga and strength training and toning workouts at Ziegler Park every Tuesday starting at 5 p.m.; and several classes including Zumba, line dancing and yoga at Summit Park throughout the week. Photo: facebook.com/washingtonparkotr
Get a Glimpse of History at the Heritage Village Museum 11500 Lebanon Road, Sharonville This living history museum in Sharon Woods offers a look at life in Southwestern Ohio in the 1800s. It features homes, outbuildings and equipment that were moved to the grounds to be preserved and help tell the story of Ohio’s past, as well as interpreters who can offer stories and facts that will bring the village to life. The museum also offers demonstrations on 19th-century activities like spinning, weaving and carpentry; historical exhibits; and special events like period dinners, historical-themed escape rooms and ghost tours. Photo: facebook.com/HeritageVillageCincinnati
Take a Tour of the American Sign Museum $15 per person Explore a museum featuring over 100 years of signage. This 20,000-square-foot museum has everything from pre-electric signs to beautiful art-deco neon signs to modern plastic-faced signs. 1330 Monmouth Ave., Camp Washington. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
Get Lost in the Pages of a Book at the Cincinnati Library A summer adventure doesn’t have to be IRL; sometimes getting lost in a story can be a great adventure on its own. If you’re looking for some reads to enjoy while you waste away in a lawn chair with a cold drink, you don’t have to look far. The Cincinnati Public Library’s collection of books — both physical and electronic for the Kindle folks — is extensive and diverse, whether you’re looking for a spicy romance, a cozy mystery or a high-flying fantasy. The library has also launched its annual summer reading program for kids and teens that offers fun prizes the more you read. And when you’re done with your book and ready for a real-life adventure, the library also has its Discovery Pass, which offers free admission to some of Cincinnati’s most beloved cultural attractions to library cardholders. Photo: Tom Hermans, Unsplash
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