Relax and Enjoy Some Wine at Washington Park Free to sit; concession prices vary Enjoy the many different areas and things to do in Washington Park, including The Porch, an interactive water park and a dog park. The Porch features plenty of areas to sit and relax, and serves a variety of beverages including beer, wine, seltzer and liquor. 1230 Elm St.., Over-the-Rhine Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Cincinnati’s parks — including Washington Park — have helped the Queen City become recognized as one the best in the nation for recreation. Photo: Hailey Bollinger


Cincinnati apparently has one of the “great(est) outdoors” in the entire United States. According to personal-finance website WalletHub, Cincinnati is the No. 4 city in the nation for recreation.

WalletHub’s 2021 list of “Best and Worst Cities for Recreation” puts the Queen City far above the only other Ohio cities on the list. Columbus comes in at No. 46, while Toledo is No. 70.

The only three cities WalletHub ranks above Cincinnati are Orlando, Las Vegas and San Diego, all with considerably warmer climates. Cincinnati even ranks above Honolulu, which managed to nab the No. 6 spot. 

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic making indoor entertaining tricky — especially in 2020 before vaccines became available — Greater Cincinnati’s parks have come in handy as the perfect way to escape cabin fever and engage with friends. And that’s not just happening in green spaces. WalletHub also gives Cincinnati the No. 1 spot for swimming pools per capita and says it’s No. 8 for music venues per capita. Good thing there are so many musical performances coming up soon in Cincinnati.

To compile its 2021 list, WalletHub looked at the quality of parks, weather and the accessibility of recreational facilities in the country’s 100 most populated cities. The data was collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Trust for Public Land, Council for Community and Economic Research and TripAdvisor, among others. Read about all of WalletHub’s best and worst cities for recreation.

Earlier this year, the Trust for Public Land ranked Cincinnati No. 8 in the nation for its parks system. Plus in April, CommercialCafe said that Cincinnati is one of the most walkable cities in the nation.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of activities to enjoy in Cincinnati’s highly ranked city parks, like a performance of the Cincinnati Opera along with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra or a local brewery treasure hunt to support more walking/biking trails. 

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This article appears in Jun 1 – Jul 6, 2021.

Vivian Kolks