CINCINNATI — A hillside that once carried incline railway cars could carry zipline riders again under a proposal from Over-the-Rhine residents who want to build an adventure park below Bellevue Hill Park.
The idea goes beyond a single zipline. Supporters envision elevated walkways through the treetops and climbing walls on the hillside, using the exposed rock face and the sweeping views over downtown that make Bellevue Park a local landmark.
The Over-the-Rhine Community Council has asked the city for $350,000 in the 2028-2029 biennial budget to buy land and study whether the project is feasible. A tentative budget discussed this summer put the early work at about $440,000, including roughly $300,000 to acquire the land.
The site at the center of the plan is an 8-acre wooded plot owned by the University of Cincinnati since 1899. It has no paths or amenities, and it sits where the Bellevue Incline ran from 1876 to 1926. The last of Cincinnati’s inclines closed in 1948.
The push grew out of lost green space: construction of a new community center on a former park site left neighbors looking for a replacement, and an adventure park struck them as a way to open the small forest to visitors while keeping the woods themselves largely untouched. Similar parks in Columbus and Asheville helped shape the idea.
Many questions are still open, including the zipline’s route — one possibility runs from the park’s concession building down toward a brewery and church in Over-the-Rhine — and who would own and operate the park. The next step is a meeting with university officials about the land, hoped for this month, while any city money remains at least two budget years away.
