Ault Park
5090 Observatory Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45208
Traveling to the east side of the city is essentially the same as traveling to an entirely different state for me. I’ve never been familiar with the east side. I was born and raised a bit North of city center, lived in Colerain at one point in my life, as well as Westwood and now I’m north in the ‘burbs of Hamilton. But the east side? That’s foreign territory to me.
But there is so much to discover on that side of town!
Ault Park is a beautifully landscaped park that hosts a multitude of weddings and special events. It truly is an amazing “strolling park” where you have something beautiful to see with each twist and turn of the path. With that being said – they also have a very nice playground that does not feel like an after-thought.
Play Structure
A big kid and toddler play structure are next to each other without any sort of separation between the two. This makes it easy to keep an eye on both structures, but also makes it very easy for the small kids to have an expedition on the big structure and the older kids to overwhelm the smaller structure.
The toddler structure features two slides, steps for easy access, and several “steering wheels” scattered throughout the tiny structure.
The big kid structure has steps and ladders for climbing, a bridge, and three slides of various heights and designs.
PLENTY OF SHADE and lots of beautiful mature trees to add a lovely ambiance to a park day.
Mulch ground cover with cushion pads at the base of the bigger slides.
Swings
Two sets of swings. One set, closer to the big kid structure, has only big kid swings. The second swing set, closer to the toddler structure, has several baby swings and big kid swings.
Accessibility
Not an accessible structure. No accessible swings.
Safety
The only division between the road through the park + this playground is land + a small stone wall for a portion of it. The traffic on the road is very slow moving.
The big kid structure is quite tall and may be intimidating for unsteady walkers.
Parking
In typical city fashion, parking was kind of strange here. There are not any parking lots near the playground. You are able to park along the park road or there is a parking lot approximately five minutes from the playground. We parked in the parking lot and enjoyed the stroll. But it’s quite a stroll for little legs if you do not have a stroller with quite a steep uphill climb.
Picnic
Beautiful park for a picnic. Several picnic tables near the playground with charcoal grills in addition to picnic tables throughout the beautiful landscape of this park.
Potty Training
This park would be PERFECT for potty-training toddlers. The restroom is directly next to the playground. At the time of this review – a beautiful Spring day in early April – the restroom is still “closed for the season”. I was thankful that my son has the bladder capacity of a grown man and that my daughter is still in diapers…
Walking/Scenery
This park was made for walking. So many beautifully landscaped gardens, unique architecture and paved paths for strollers. There are also several hiking trails, all of which are under one mile in length, and perfect for the entire family.
Unique to this park – something I have not witnessed in many parks – were how many people were painting! I saw half a dozen people scattered throughout the park with full painting set-ups. It was something unique for my son to see and he had quite a few questions!
In short, this park is a beautiful Eastside treasure. Would I suggest driving the distance that I did to spend a morning of play here regularly? Probably not.
But it’s definitely worth at least one visit to see the beauty of the grounds and enjoy some simple, shaded play and a picnic lunch.
