Ault Park Cincinnati

Ault Park Cincinnati Ault Park adds to its attractions with a splendid Pavilion, lookout point and beautiful gardens. until 9:00 P.M.
(609)

The Cascade fountain is on a timer and runs usually from about 10:00A.M. The fountain is also shut down every two weeks for maintenance. The park is free and open to the public but the Pavilion area may be closed off due to special events or private rentals. Pavilion rentals are handled by Premier Parks - (513) 221-2610
[email protected]

Concours d’Elegance
06/14/2026

Concours d’Elegance

06/12/2026

June is in full swing, and temperatures are looking more forgiving than last weekend. It's time to get out and explore the city.

We're just a week away from our first monthly Summer Music Fest date!Join us next Thursday, June 18th from 6 pm - 10 pm ...
06/12/2026

We're just a week away from our first monthly Summer Music Fest date!

Join us next Thursday, June 18th from 6 pm - 10 pm for fantastic live music at Ault Park’s June Summer Music Festival – a Cincinnati tradition for over 30 years. The band is The Menus. Admission is FREE.

Local favorite food, craft beer/margaritas/wine/hard seltzer and water will be available for purchase. We will be providing inflatables & games, and volunteer organizations will have kids’ crafts and activities from 6-8pm.

Proceeds from food and alcohol sales benefit our beautiful Ault Park.

Food Tucks for this event include: Sweet & Meats BBQ, Kabobske, & Graeter’s

Thank you to our Summer Music Festival sponsors - The Cincy Parks Foundation, Strauss and Troy Attorneys at Law,Trilogy Fitness Systems, Wimberg landscaping, Nixco Plumbing, JonLe Heating & Cooling, Flip & Sheila Cohen, Stifel, and Cobbs Car Care Center

Turtle along the Forest Loop today: this is the seventh that I’ve seen in the park in 2026; they’ve all been along diffe...
06/09/2026

Turtle along the Forest Loop today: this is the seventh that I’ve seen in the park in 2026; they’ve all been along different trails and given their 1-5 acre territory, I suspect they may all be different

Eastern American Platterful Mushroom, along the Forest Loop
06/06/2026

Eastern American Platterful Mushroom, along the Forest Loop

Today we’re looking at Sugar maples, or Acer saccharum, a tree that played an important role in the history of the Cinci...
06/06/2026

Today we’re looking at Sugar maples, or Acer saccharum, a tree that played an important role in the history of the Cincinnati area long before Ault Park existed.

Native American History

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples living in what is now Ohio—including Shawnee, Miami, and other tribes—used sugar maples as a vital source of food. In late winter, when stored food supplies were running low, they tapped sugar maples and boiled the sap into maple sugar. Maple sugar was easier to transport and store than syrup and provided an important source of calories at a critical time of year.

Early Settlement Around Cincinnati

When European settlers arrived in southwest Ohio in the late 1700s and early 1800s, they found extensive hardwood forests dominated by oaks, beeches, tulip trees, and sugar maples. Settlers quickly adopted maple sugaring techniques from Native Americans because imported cane sugar was expensive and difficult to obtain on the frontier. Maple sugar became one of the first locally produced sweeteners in Ohio.

Building Cincinnati

Sugar maple wood is extremely hard and durable. It was used for furniture, flooring, tool handles, wagon parts, and agricultural equipment. As Cincinnati grew from a frontier town into a major river city, sugar maple timber contributed to local construction and manufacturing. The tree was valued both for its wood and for its annual sap harvest.

The Landscape Around Ault Park

Before Ault Park was established in 1920, the surrounding hills of the Little Miami River valley were covered with mature hardwood forests. Sugar maples were part of these forests and helped create the rich soils that supported farming and later the beautiful wooded areas preserved in the park today. Their presence is one reason the park’s woodlands display such spectacular fall color every year.

A Fun Connection

If you had stood on the ridge where Ault Park sits around 1800, you likely would have seen local families tapping sugar maples each spring. The “sugar camp” was a common sight throughout Ohio, and maple sugar production was an annual community activity that helped families transition from winter into spring.

So while visitors today mostly notice sugar maples for their brilliant orange and red autumn leaves, historically they were a source of food, income, building materials, and survival for both Native Americans and the earliest settlers of the Cincinnati area.

06/03/2026

Along the brook along the Valley Trail

05/31/2026

Soapbox derby in the park today

Address

5090 Observatory Cir
Cincinnati, OH
45208

Opening Hours

Monday 6am - 10pm
Tuesday 6am - 10pm
Wednesday 6am - 10pm
Thursday 6am - 10pm
Friday 6am - 10pm
Saturday 6am - 10pm
Sunday 6am - 10pm

Telephone

+15132212610

Website

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