Trimper Rides
401 S Atlantic Ave, Ocean City, MD
Ocean City, MD
One of the oldest amusement parks in America, still family-run at the foot of the boardwalk, turning on a hand-carved carousel more than a century old.
Trimper Rides is a piece of living American history disguised as a beach amusement park. Founded by the Trimper family in the 1890s and still run by their descendants, it is one of the oldest continuously operating amusement parks in the country, anchoring the historic southern end of the Ocean City boardwalk for well over a century.
Its crown jewel is a Herschell-Spillman carousel from the early 1900s, a hand-carved menagerie of horses and fanciful animals that has been turning in Ocean City since before World War I. Around it the park mixes vintage indoor attractions with a full outdoor boardwalk midway, so a ride here connects you directly to the earliest days of the American seaside resort, a rare thread of continuity in a business built on the new and the fleeting.
What Guests Love
- A hand-carved antique carousel, one of the oldest still operating anywhere
- The rare feel of a family-run park more than a century in business
- A mix of vintage indoor rides and a modern boardwalk amusement park
- Its spot at the historic foot of the Ocean City boardwalk by the inlet
Worth Knowing
- The park runs on ride tickets and wristbands, with hours that shift by season, so check ahead
- The antique carousel is a treasured, delicate machine, so ride it with care
- Summer evenings and weekends are busiest, part of the boardwalk energy
- Indoor rides let the fun continue even on a rainy shore day
Details
Ocean City, MD
Learn about Trimper Rides
A family park since the 1890s
The Trimper family got its start in Ocean City in the 1890s, when Daniel Trimper began buying up boardwalk property and installing rides as the town was becoming a resort. The amusement park they built has stayed in the family through more than a century of storms, fires, and changing times, making it one of the oldest family-run amusement enterprises in the United States.
That continuity is the heart of the story. Where most amusement parks pass through corporate hands or vanish entirely, Trimper's has remained a family concern rooted in a single stretch of boardwalk, its history layered into the buildings and machines that generations of visitors have grown up with. Riding here is a link to the very origins of the American beach vacation.
The antique carousel
The park's treasure is its carousel, a hand-carved wooden merry-go-round built by the Herschell-Spillman company in the early 1900s and installed at Trimper's around the time of the First World War. Its menagerie of horses, along with more whimsical carved animals, and its ornate ornamentation make it one of the finest and oldest operating carousels in the country.
More than a century of riders have circled on it, and the family has carefully maintained and restored the carousel to keep it running, treating it as the irreplaceable antique it is. To climb aboard is to touch the golden age of the American carousel, the same painted horses that carried children in an age of gaslight still turning today by the Atlantic.
Indoor rides and the boardwalk midway
Trimper's grew over the decades into a full amusement park spanning both sides of the boardwalk. A historic indoor pavilion houses a collection of vintage rides and attractions that keep running rain or shine, a rare survival of the old enclosed amusement halls, while an outdoor midway offers a modern mix of coasters, spinners, and family rides.
That blend of old and new is part of the park's charm. You can ride a hundred-year-old carousel and a contemporary thrill ride within a few steps of each other, the deep history and the summer fun side by side, all wrapped in the sights and sounds of the boardwalk just beyond the fence.
The boardwalk and the coast
The park sits at the historic southern end of the Ocean City boardwalk near the inlet, the oldest and most storied stretch of the boards. Around it run the classic pleasures of a Maryland beach town, saltwater taffy, arcades, fries, and the wide Atlantic beach, all within a short stroll of Trimper's gates.
Beyond the town, the wild barrier island of Assateague and its famous free-roaming ponies lie just to the south, a natural counterpoint to the lights and music of the boardwalk. Trimper's ties it all together, a century-old heart at the historic core of one of the East Coast's great beach resorts.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Ocean City
Ocean City boardwalk and beach
At the park
A classic Atlantic promenade of rides, arcades, and food along a wide beach and the open surf.
Ocean City Inlet and pier
About a 5 minute walk
The busy inlet at the boardwalk's southern end, with a fishing pier and views of the boats coming and going.
Assateague Island National Seashore
About 10 miles, a 20 minute drive
A wild barrier island of dunes, marsh, and the famous free-roaming wild ponies just south of town.