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Alms Park
Category: Active Life Parks Parks [Edit]
710 Tusculum AveCincinnati, OH 45226
Neighborhood: Columbia-Tusculum
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 6 am - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
13 reviews for Alms Park
13 reviews in English
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Review from Andi B.
5/15/2012 2 Check-ins Here
I hesitate to share that this is one of my favorite parks because I don't want it to become spoiled with too many people!
With one review being all about the great places to use for a photo shoot and Maria also mentioning weddings and photo shoots, I would suggest avoiding this place on a weekend. Unless you're practicing your photo bombing techniques. No, I'm kidding. Really.
It has trails, picnic tables, grills, a playground, wonderful views and a way to find an overall peacefulness you expect to find in a lush, green space. The entrance to the park is great for giving your legs a workout. -
Review from Ben N.
4/23/2012
When one of the prime attributes of a place is that relatively few people seem to know about and visit it, you obviously want to keep it a secret.
Alms Park is one of those places, but here I am publicly singing its praises anyway.
When we first moved to this city a few years back, we immediately become aware of the excellence of Cincinnati's parks. One of the first we knew about was this one, because it was tucked just up the hill from where we then lived in Columbia Tusculum.
Except that it lacks a good water feature--no creeks or lakes or ponds here--Alms Park has got it all: hills, commanding views of both the river and Lunken Airport, nice trails through woods, a picnic area with a big grassy expanse and towering shade trees, nice play area for kids, pretty pavillion and pergola, attractive shade trees (the park is especially beautiful in autumn), a statue of Stephen Foster that makes one of our dogs cry apparently because she thinks it is a paralyzed live man, an ancient stone slide, and on most days, peace and quiet.
A special jewel in a park system crowned with them. -
Review from Christie G.
Cincinnati, OH
1/5/2012 11 photos
Love this venue for wedding receptions and ceremonies (or engagement sessions)! I am a local wedding photographer, so I am at more venues than most. I have shot weddings, receptions, engagement sessions and family portraits at Alms Park. The photos from these events or sessions are always gorgeous!
Alms Park has a lot to offer - so many perfect places for photos. The overlook by the river is one of the best places for a sunset photo in Cincinnati! And the upper floor of the pavilion building makes a great spot for a smaller wedding ceremony. I like that I can go to the second floor and shoot down on receptions, too - great for some creative shots with the fish eye. Just tons of options here!
Another plus is Mt. Adams and Eden Park are nearby. For one wedding, we were able to schedule enough time before the ceremony to do photos in both Mt. Adams and Eden Park - we had a blast! We got some really awesome photos and had a lot of fun doing them. And we still made it back to the ceremony in time. It was nice to have photos done in several locations, so the couple had a lot of variety.
With Alms Park, you have to use one of their caterers - I think most of my couples have used Chef's Choice. The food is good, and the service is always excellent! In summary - I would definitely recommend Alms Park to couples looking for a wedding venue in a great location with some gorgeous outdoor options and lots of pluses. It has to be one of my favorite venues! It has a lot to offer! -
Review from Patricia L.
Cincinnati, OH
12/29/2011
This review is long overdue. Alms is one of my favorite parks in the city, and when we don't want to put too much thought into where to go, it is my family's "old reliable" place to spend the day.
Not too big and not too small, Alms is quaint with great views of the Ohio River, an overlook of Lunken Airport perfect for eying planes, and a simple, well-maintained playground. The park also has a decent amount of picnic tables and is a short, convenient drive from downtown Cincinnati on either Columbia Parkway or Riverside Drive.
Highlights I am especially fond of? As someone with two little kids, clean restrooms and the fun, newly restored concrete slide top my list.
While it lacks some of the amenities that Hamilton County parks offer, as far as city parks go, Alms is about as good as it gets. The only downside? The crowd can get a little pretentious, as the park is a popular gathering spot Hyde Park nannies on play dates. -
Review from Paige M.
9/18/2011
One of Cincinnati's best kept secrets, Alms Park is tucked away in the hills of Columbia Tusculum. Driving up the winding path, we became surrounded by greenery: forests, flowers, and manicured grass. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous.
There's plenty to see and do here, but I especially enjoyed sitting on the bench, watching the planes land and taxi at Lunken Airport. I'm a geek; aviation intrigues me. In addition, the architecture here is amazing. A two-story, Italianate castle sits in the middle of the park, providing a perfect overlook. Another garden area is surrounded by a magnificent, Asian-inspired trellace. Around the bend we discovered even more green space, with picnic tables and nature trails.
Alms Park is all kinds of win. If you're looking for a new adventure, check it out. I can't wait to see how it looks when the leaves change colors! -
Review from Maria G.
Cincinnati, OH
8/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
This park is beautiful. I came with a group of friends to hang out and enjoy ice cream, and I couldn't imagine a more perfect park setting. Lush, green, amazing views of Lunken...
I'm not a hiker (or nature outdoorsy at all) person, so I can't speak to the trails. But for sitting with friends, enjoying a beautiful summer day? Perfection. Picnic tables under shady trees, water fountain, small playground, people walking dogs. I don't know what else you could look for. This place is fantastic.
Only thing to watch out for-because it's so pretty, there are a LOT of weddings/photo shoots/etc on the weekends. Look out, or you may end up in the background of some couple's special photos! -
Review from Alex S.
7/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
What a park! What a view! Hot damn, love it.
I'm not sure what kept me from this park for so long - perhaps, like most of Cincinnati's parks, they're all spread out throughout the city and not the easiest places to get to. This one happens to be in Columbia Tusculum, which, again, isn't on my way to anywhere. However, I will go out of my
way to see this park again.
It's so green. From the moment you drive in, you're surrounded by bright green grass, tress, plants and more. Upkeep on this park is being done and being done well.
I traveled up to the gazebo area, which seems to be the popular part of the park. Giant stone building great for parties (and we saw a wedding being set up for later.) There were fantastic playgrounds, grills for the grilling and lots of picnic tables.
We saw everything happening here - wedding photos in the trees and near the gazebo, bikers, runners, kids playing on the playground, and of course us - as we used one of the picnic tables to create homemade ice cream (sugar, cream and milk in a bag. Tape it all up and put that bag into a bigger bag filled with ice and salt, shake until the ice melts but still freezes everything else. Eat ice cream!)
The best part, though, was the overlook, which stared out onto Lunken Airport. Wow. What a view. We saw tons of planes take off right from the airport and got to watch people work from above. A few hawks were even lazily circling the area, completing the picture.
I'm coming back soon, trip or not. I can't wait to see more of this beautiful park. -
Review from Alison M.
7/24/2011
This isn't a park I would visit time and time again, but I would recommend that everyone visit it at least once. The view of Lunken and the fall foliage are gorgeous.
The hiking trails were not well maintained, nor were they all that interesting. And the main loop of the park is overtaken by wedding activity pretty much every weekend in the summer.
However, bring your camera up here in the fall. The trees are beautiful then. Just be sure to look at a map before you come here. It's a little tricky to find. -
Review from Amy S.
Cincinnati, OH
8/31/2011
We love to come to Alms for picnics and play. My children particularly love the stone slide - I have never seen a slide like this anywhere else! It is built into a hill, so it is very long but safe since the kids are never far from the ground. Perfect for reckless boys.
We come once a month or so and there's always enough activity to be interesting but never enough to be crowded. We've had family portraits taken here quite successfully and I've used as a place for my children to try their hands at landscape painting. Lovely, green and interesting. -
Review from ANN L.
2/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
Great spot for client photo shoots. Today was a little cooler than forecast but still perfect for backdrops in our portrait shoot. The stone rock, pillars, wrought iron, curved entries, and beautiful trees make a better background than any studio canvas faux paint job.
This is also the perfect spot for outdoor weddings and receptions. It gives off an Italian feel. And I'm a lover of everything Italian. For a photographer it has so many many options. It's easy to customize what your client wants with a beautiful versatile place like Alms.
There are two potential problems to consider. 1 The restrooms are closed in the off season (like today) and 2 It's a very popular place for weddings - so you may not get the area you want, when you want it. So be flexible and have a back up plan. -
Review from Katherine M.
Harrisburg, PA
9/16/2011 7 photos
I first set foot in this park as a senior in high school and instantly fell in love. The adorable pavillion, the amazing overlook, and the view of the airport. Close to home also. What wasn't too love. It was about then I decided to get married here.
6 years later, I did exactly that.
To review the park itself, it's amazing. The pavillion is beautiful and stone and perfect for a picnic or just a day out. We love walking around. There is a play area for kids, a few trails to walk around (although many are overgrown), and an overlook of both the river and Lunken Airport. It's a beautiful green area that I love and I view as my favorite place in Cincinnati here. My husband and I had picnics here and got married here, so yeah, that makes sense. I love this place.
My wedding was beautiful. But that is because my husband and I spent months and months slaving over decorations and designs and set it up by ourself. The park is beautiful. If you want to get married here or another Cincinnati Park, go for it, but expect that it's going to be rough working with these people.
So, if you are looking to get married here, my advice - go for it. But do not expect help from the company that Cincinnati Parks contracts out. In fact, expect a lot of hesitation, forgetfulness, and general disorganization. We started really talking with them in mid-January after reserving our June date a year before our wedding. When we got to the building for our first meeting, neither of the two women knew about us coming. She finally found it in her calendar and met with us. We told her our number, talked about some of the ideas with her, signed *something*, got a confirmation of our payment, and made sure things were in line. She had a folder with our name on it, and she stored it away with all that information. She said their designer would make us a 3D layout of our wedding and send it to us in the next weeks. Awesome! She describes some program that has 3d views and we can see everything. So we wait. And Wait. I was patient because, well, my wedding was in June so I knew I wasn't priority.
Now come March. I send an e-mail asking if anything has happened on it. No response. So we call, and they have no idea who we are. They can't find our information. So we schedule another appointment for the beginning of April. We get there and they asking us all the same questions we already answered, about numbers, what we want, etc. Exact. Same Thing. So we're kind of annoyed. The designer was running late, and when he got there, he started asking us ALL the same questions. We say, uh, we just went over this, and he looks at all the information sitting right in front of him. We talk to him about all the things we want, the decorations we have, and what not. We are told we will get layouts by the end of the week. Yay! Finally. So, the end of that week comes. Nothing. I e-mail him on Friday in the morning asking where it is. Around 10pm on that Friday, I get a layout and quote that had so many mistakes it wasn't even funny. And some weird excuse. And that 3D software? It's nothing but an Illustrator scale drawing I could have done myself weeks ago.
I e-mail back. It takes 6 e-mails to get everything right. Really basic mistakes that shouldn't be made. We finally get our final walkthrough, a 10 minute meeting where basically nothing happens, and we're still worried. All in all, the tables were okay, albeit tight, and since it rained, our head table got rained on a bit. And a lot of the linens were incorrect - most were floor length, we wanted lap. Only the round tables had lap length. Picky yes, I suppose, but I'm paying them a decent amount to do the right things. Also, things were not in the right place (dance floor tables and upper tables) and never moved (I picked up the hor d'ouvre table after the food was taken off and moved it myself.....along with a a
few other tables) so yeah. Bride moving her own tables. Funny.
All in all, they never answer their phones. It takes quite awhile for them to get back to you if you leave a message. And they never ONCE managed to do what they told me. I had to remind them of everything - including to send me my final quote. They stressed me out, so yes, I hated them and if you can avoid using them, do it. But if you want to get married in one of these parks like I did, you have to deal. And it's worth it. This is one amazing park. -
Review from Arnold W.
Menlo Park, CA
3/9/2009 2 photos
"The Frederick H. Alms Memorial Park lies on Mt. Tusculum with its magnificent vantage point overlooking the broad Ohio River, a point originally called 'Bald' Hill because the Indians had cleared the trees from its summit to have an unobstructed view of the early settlers..."
The views here of the Ohio River and of Lunken airfield are wondrous. The trees are back. The park is not easy to find, and explains why it never seems busy. The 1930s PWA pavillion has been refurbished and is much to admire. Opposite it is a short walk to the fairly new giant pergola drawing you to a superb view of the Ohio. At the bend opposite the play area stop to see the view overlooking Lunken Airfield, which was the city's main airport until CVG in Kentucky replaced it. -
Review from Becca E.
Bloomington, IL
11/15/2010 1 Check-in Here
I have mentioned in past post that I love parks. Alms is probably my favorite Cincinnati park after Eden. Let's start with the views. On one side, there is a beautiful view of the Ohio river, where you can just see the skyline of Cincinnati peeking over Kentucky. On the other side, is Lunken Airport where you can sit and watch planes land, if you enjoy that kind of thing. Both views are nice for some introspection.
The pavilion is also a really nice place to go up, not quite as fancy or as large as the one at Ault park, but still nice in its own little way. I was here once for a Cincinnati Shakespeare Company free performance of Romeo and Juliet and they used the pavilion as a backdrop/staging area making it an incredibly unique theater experience.
There is a nice new playground, which is great if you have kids, but personally I prefer the old school swings and the concrete slide. The swings are really high for kids (honestly, they were a little high for me!) so you don't feel like a jerk stealing the swings from the kiddies when you decide you want to reconnect with your childhood. Just be sure not to get to into the moment and jump off in mid-swing, it will not end as well as it did when you were 8! Also, the concrete slide (which maybe be closed, hopefully just for construction) can be deadly if you decide to push the limits of your abilities. It doesn't have as much space as other parks, but it is still a great experience if you have never been here.
