ExplorABLE Ohio: Wheelchair Friendly Fun in Warren County
Blog by Jennifer Allen. This piece originally appeared on Wonders Within Reach, an outlet committed to highlighting wheelchair accessible travel experiences.
It isn’t hard to see how Warren County earned its name as Ohio’s Largest Playground. We could see the swoops of rollercoasters from our parking lot at Great Wolf Lodge. Beyond theme parks and indoor and outdoor water parks, there are also playgrounds of the usual variety, hiking trails, historic towns, and all of the local shopping and eating a heart could desire. This is a great destination for families with mixed abilities, mixed age levels, and mixed personalities. There’s truly something for everyone!
When to Go
Thanks to the diversity of indoor and outdoor fun, there’s no bad time to visit. I suggest checking the events calendar and the theme park schedule and planning accordingly. There is plenty of fun available any time of year.
Getting There and Around
We drove eight hours each way and it was worth it. The closest major airports are Cincinnati (CVG), Dayton (DAY), and then Columbus (CMH). If you don’t have the convenience of arriving with your own vehicle, I recommend renting from the airport. While the amusement park is walking distance from Great Wolf Lodge, there are lots of fun excursions off campus that make it worth having a vehicle available. We didn’t try any rideshares, since we had our minivan, so I don’t know how hard it would be to catch an accessible ride.
What to Do
Did you know there’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ohio? These are a rare treat on the east coast, and this one is newly named! This is a top reason to add Warren County to your bucket list.
Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve, a part of the Hopewell era earthworks, is one site of Ohio’s first World Heritage Site. It’s only $8 per vehicle to explore the grounds, but I highly recommend checking out the museum or taking a tour to better understand the magnitude of this find. These piles of dirt were built over hundreds of years, with soil from around the nation, by people from all different tribes. The mounds are built as perfect markings for tracking the moon and solstices. “The builders literally carved the rhythm of time into the land.”
The museum and facilities are accessible. The automatic door opener is tucked behind the wall on the ramp up to the building. Many of the earthworks can be seen from your car. We stopped for a better view of the stone works because the stones lay flat with the ground.
Little Miami Scenic Trail
In keeping with my dream of spending the summer in the great outdoors, we had to check out a great trail. At just over 78 miles long, the Little Miami Scenic Trail is the fourth longest paved trail in the United States. It was in the upper 90’s when we visited, so we didn’t cover anywhere close to Warren County’s 33 miles of the trail! We picked a nice section by a delightful ice cream shop. (See below.)
Harmon Museum
Lebanon is brimming with history, and the Harmon Museum is a great place to start for an overview. From mammoth tusks to the Underground Railroad to Neil Armstrong, The Harmon Museum displays an incredible collection of artifacts from throughout our nation’s history. Perhaps the most mind blowing is the fully restored 1795 cabin that was accidentally discovered inside of a modern home that was being taken down. The cabin is ramped to make it accessible to all, though there is a brief patch of loose gravel to get to the door.
Historic Downtown Lebanon
After laying the groundwork at the Harmon Museum, spend some time exploring the historic downtown on your own! You’ll notice several original buildings, many of which are now filled with local shops or restaurants. The Golden Lamb Restaurant & Hotel opened in 1803 and is Ohio’s oldest continuously operating business. There are steps just inside the door of the main entrance, but there’s a zero entry accessible door the next door down in one of the dining rooms. Directly across from the Golden Lamb is a quintessential small town ice cream parlor. Don’t miss Mulberry St. Books – every bibliophile’s dream.
Kings Island
Kings Island is the kind of big fun that’s worth traveling for, routinely ranked as one of the best amusement parks in the world. If I did it again, we would leave two days for the park. The park is massive. We spent the morning in Planet Snoopy, the kids’ area of the park, and the afternoon in Soak City, the waterpark. We never made it to the rest of the park.
When you arrive, stop at Guest Services (by the entrance on the right hand side) to go over your needs and get the appropriate disability pass. You’ll enter each ride through the exit, and you’ll be given a return time for your next ride based on the current ride’s wait time. There are no rides that don’t require a transfer, but attendants are helpful and can bring any ride to a complete stop to give you the time you need. Don’t miss Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers – the last car on this new coaster has been specially designed to open wide for easier wheelchair transfers.
There’s a water chair available at the Soak City, and zero entry pools, splash areas, and wave pool – making it a great place for inclusive water play! Don’t miss the blue ice cream! My oldest said it was the highlight of his trip!
Great Wolf Lodge
I’ll say more about this when we get to accommodations, but you really shouldn’t miss Great Wolf‘s epic indoor/outdoor water park. This is another one that could’ve easily been more than one full day. Pick up your water chair when you enter and then wheel around the multiple splash areas and zero entry pools and wave pool. The bigger pools, hot tub, and lazy river have working chair lifts for easy access. After trying many different ways to do lazy rivers at other destinations, I can tell you that a chair lift is the only way to go! The only thing we couldn’t do was the water slides and the upper levels of the water fort.
What to Eat
There’s an undeniable convenience when you stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. They have a buffet, a sit down grill, a pizza shop, a creamery, a Dunkin’, and multiple snacking options. They’re also in the center of the action of shopping centers with just about every chain restaurant you’ve ever heard of. That said, we found a couple of finds that were worth leaving the lodge for.
Two Cities Pizza Co.
Two cities has one of the best bathrooms in the country (that’s a real award), but that’s not the best thing about it. They serve up both Chicago and New York style pizzas – and both are authentically delicious! Put yourself on the wait list online before you go, or you’ll wait a very long time. Zero entry. Ramped access to accessible (and really cool) restrooms.
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is everything you’d want a breakfast joint to be. From chic design to warm service and breakfast comfort foods with innovative flare. If the lot is full, there’s easy paid parking on the street. Service is quick, so don’t let the crowds scare you. Accessible restrooms.
Miranda’s Ice Cream Shop of Morrow
Miranda’s serve’s up all the treats of your dreams. Soft serve, hand scooped, gelato, and snacky lunch options. They can also turn any sundae into a unicorn. Win.
We spent over an hour here cooling off, playing games, and checking out the vault from the historic bank.
The accessible entrance is just beyond the front door, but it’s locked. If you don’t have someone to run in and ask for access, call (513) 431-3126. There’s also an alternate restroom available by the kitchen if you’re not able to access the public restroom outdoors.
Where to Stay
While Warren County has plenty of options, including all your favorite accessible chains, I cannot recommend Great Wolf Lodge enough. (That’s even after our midnight evacuation for a small fire. Ha!)
We love the family suites because of the shared living space, separate bedrooms, and two bathrooms. For families with medical routines that commandeer the bathroom for over an hour at a time, you know how valuable that second restroom is. The roll in shower is open and easy to use and the roll-under sink makes the accessible bathroom easy to navigate. The living room raises this family suite levels above getting two connecting rooms in any other hotel.
Oh, but that’s just the start. The reason we really love Great Wolf is the endless fun. There are scheduled activities throughout the day, which means there’s something for the big kids to do after the littles go to bed, or for the littles to do before the bigs wake up. The waterpark is included, so you can spend the entire day or just take a quick dip after a day of outside adventures. Great Wolf also has the most accessible waterpark experiences we’ve found.