Return to Surf Cincinnati

It's been ten years since Surf Cincinnati was abandoned and over five years since most of it was demolished, it was time to go back.

- Ticket booth at the entrance of the "Fun City" section of the park.

I have a playlist of music on my phone entitled: "Songs You'd Hear While Walking Through a Waterpark." It features stuff like Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy" and Steve Winwood's "Higher Love," songs I remember hearing at Surf Cincinnati when it was open and songs I heard constantly when I worked in an amusement park. Then there's tracks like "Love You Want" by the Wailing Souls - songs that sound like they'd be the perfect thing to hear over a late 90's intercom at the snack bar by the lazy river. 

- Arcade building.

I miss Surf Cincinnati in both of its identities: when it was open and when it was abandoned. I visited a lot as a kid, explored it as a photographer and even played abandoned mini golf there once.

- Mini golf greens.

It's been a decade since the place closed down and about five years since most of it was demolished. The slides, wave pool and lazy river have all been demolished and replaced with a nearby church. The "dry" side once known as "Fun City" still exists in the weeds behind a wilting fence.

There's on old ticket booth, still marking one of the park's entrances. It looks like something from a "classic" amusement park that had its heyday near the turn of the century - but Surf, Surf existed from the 80's and partially into the new millennium. It was a different breed of amusement park, from a different era and it's a different breed of history and abandonment.

Hidden in the brush behind industrial warehouses and a church, it's still interesting to think of the people who spent their summers visiting and those who spent their summers working.

At one point, someone manned that ticket booth.

- Bumper boat entrance.

- Bumper Boat pool.

- Go kart track.

- "Vintage" Surf Cincinnati shirt reproduced in the modern day by local Cincy Shirts.

Check out all the posts regarding Surf Cincinnati.

Over the years, several of QC/D's urban exploration stories have focused on abandoned amusement parks: View all of the stories