Once the World's Largest Amusement Park... Now A Wilderness Wasteland

You might be surprised to learn that at one time, a 20min drive from my home in Solon, OH, was the largest amusement park on the planet. It was not a long time ago either, just a little over a decade. Now the park stands abandoned, all rides removed, either sold for scrap or relocated. All that remains is the occasional abandoned structure, cement pillar, or light post. The park had been overwhelmed by wilderness in recent years. In fact, the park is so overgrown that if someone unfamiliar to the park were to drive by it, they would never guess it was once an amusement park. The only hints are the two expansive, abandoned parking lots flourishing with weeds. Even Wildwater Kingdom, which only closed four years ago, is already overgrown and unrecognizable. The police now use both parks as training grounds and trespassing is strictly prohibited. The rest of the park has simply been left to grow wild.

Geauga Lake was established in 1887, and originally was little more than a scenic lake and picnic area. Over the years, it expanded. In 1925, the park added their first roller coaster The Big Dipper. This ride was significant because it continued to operate until the park’s closure and was the last remaining abandoned ride in the park (it was only torn down a few years ago). In 1970, Sea World Ohio opened across the lake, which was owned by a separate company than Geauga Lake. The two parks benefited from each other. They became staple tourist attractions of Cleveland. People would come to visit Sea World, and as a bonus, would attended Geauga Lake. Both parks continued to expand with the increased income. In 2000, Six Flags bought Geauga Lake, renamed it Six Flags Ohio, and dumped $40 million into the park. They added more than 20 rides (including four roller coasters) in just 2000. At the end of the 2000 season, Six Flags bought Sea World Ohio. In 2001, the park reopened as Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, the largest amusement park on the planet. In theory, the park was genius. Six Flags combined both Sea World and Geauga Lake into a single park: both the animals and thrill rides combined into a single admission ticket. However, in practice it proved to be a disaster. The park was poorly managed, and the tremendous investment was among the reasons that lead to Six Flag’s bankruptcy in 2004. Six Flags was forced to sell the park, and their rival company Cedar Fair (who owns Cedar Point) was eager to buy it. In 2004, the park opened yet again under the name Geauga Lake, but with some odd compromises: the Six Flags trademarks were hastily removed, staple attractions were closed, and the animals were removed. At the end of the 2007 season, Cedar Fair closed the park and announced that it would never reopen. Why Cedar Fair bought the park remains a mystery, but the well-accepted theory is that they bought the park to close it. Because of the park’s close proximity to Cedar Point (Sandusky) and Kings Island (Cincinnati), Geauga Lake was a deterrent to the other Cedar Fair parks (especially when it was operated by Six Flags, their rival company). Cedar Fair still operated Geauga Lake’s waterpark Wildwater Kingdom until 2016.

Today the sky was covered by ominous rain clouds as I drove down Aurora Rd. I peer through the wet windshield into the distance and see a break in the woods to my left, the Geauga Lake parking lot. It looked straight out of a dystopian apocalypse movie. I saw a rusted chain fence with a “No Trespassing” sign. It was almost undisguisable from the overgrown weeds, bushes, and trees that jutted out of cracks in the concrete. The occasional mark of faded paint and light posts are the only reminders that this was once a vibrant site where roller coasters towered over the skyline and cars filled the behemoth-sized parking lots. Now there are only weeds.

I continued to drive around to the back of the park, where Wildwater Kingdom once operated. Here I find even more abandoned parking lot. The waterpark’s entrance and remnants of concrete pools have visibly begun to wither. Nature overpowers quickly and powerfully. Over the fences, I can see a few abandoned buildings. They are collapsing and have missing windows. These buildings are actually remnants from the Sea World era, even before Six Flags had bought the park. They had been completely devastated by exposure.

I continue up the road to where the Raging Wolf Bobs roller coaster and the Grizzly Run river rapids ride used to sit. There are no remnants of the roller coaster. It just appears to be barren wilderness. I only see tall trees, no evidence of any amusement park. I saw an opening in the fence near where the river rapid’s ride used to be. I pull my car off to the side of the road to gaze a bit closer. I saw a cement structure buried in the ground, reminiscent of what LA’s sewer district would look like if it were abandoned forever. I realized that structure was Grizzly Run. It was the only ride at the park that was fully abandoned (rather than torn down) because its structure was built into the ground. It was hardly recognizable.

During class, we read a piece by Alan Weisman about what would happen if humans simply abandoned New York City. The conclusion was frightening. Everything that humankind had built would simply crumble back to nature faster than we could possibly imagine. Geauga Lake is proof. Over the course of my lifetime, I have watched the park’s digression from concrete, roller coasters, and crowds to forest and rust. Every time I drive past the park, I am astonished to see how much less remains of the once thriving amusement park. Over the years, there have been proposals to revitalize the property. Some plans included turning it into neighborhoods or building a shopping center. None have come to fruition. In the meantime, the park’s return to its once scenic appearance from over 100 years ago seems to be an appropriate end to the park’s incredible history. In a way, its current state incites just as much excitement and curiosity as it would have a little over a decade ago, searching through its ruins for clues to the past.