There is something hauntingly beautiful about abandoned places. Watching Mother Nature slowly reclaim her territory is a fascinating process that takes many years. Given enough time, she’ll always get her way. 

The Geauga Lake Amusement Park was once a place where laughter echoed throughout the park, but it is now abandoned. Let’s take a look at this abandoned amusement park in Ohio and how it came to be. 

If you love creepy content, Only In Your State’s Vacant series – which partners with talented photographer Johnny Joo – explores a dozen other fascinating abandoned places just waiting to be discovered. 

Editor’s Note: Due to the nature of abandoned destinations, many of the places featured in this series are off-limits to visitors or have actually been demolished. We do not condone trespassing and other illegal activity but rather encourage readers to enjoy learning about these fascinating destinations. 

Geauga Lake is located between Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio. Established in 1887, the park added its first amusement ride in 1889. The first ride was a steam-powered carousel.

Originally, the park was a fun little recreational spot that was popular for picnics and swimming. The lake was actually originally known as “Picnic Lake”.

The park’s first roller coaster, the Big Dipper, was added in 1925 and gradually expanded to include many more thrilling rides over the years. Six Flags purchased the park in 2000, and Geauga Lake became Six Flags Ohio. Shortly after that, Six Flags also purchased the nearby SeaWorld Ohio, and the whole package was rebranded as Six Flags World of Adventure. 

However, Six Flags’ reign was short-lived, and the park was sold to Cedar Fair in 2004. Six Flags has a history of purchasing amusement parks and shutting them down. If you’ve ever driven around I-10 in New Orleans, you’ve likely seen the remnants of Six Flags New Orleans. This has been an eyesore since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I pass by it often.

Once Cedar Fair purchased the park in 2004, it returned to its original name (Geauga Lake), and the SeaWorld section became a waterpark the following year. Together, the two parks were known as Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom. 

Sadly, this new rebranding didn’t pull in the numbers they had hoped, and the amusement park was closed in 2007. The remaining rides were sold at auction, and the amusement park shut its doors for good while the water park continued to operate until 2016.

The amusement park land sat for sale for many years. In 2020, A home construction company unveiled plans to turn the property into a housing development on the water park parking lot area. 

As recently as September 2024, the Aurora City Council voted to purchase 48 acres of land along with the lake to turn it back into a recreational park—just like it was back in 1887. 

If it goes to plan, Geauga Lake will return to the beginning of its story. Funny how things work out, eh?

Special thanks to Cleveland-based photographer Johnny Joo of Odd World Studio for the photos used in this article. To discover more creepy and abandoned places, check out his website, Architectural Afterlife.

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