Minnesota's Best Zoos
Minnesota's Best Zoos
By Greta Alms
Whether you'd like to feed an otter, ride a camel, or take a selfie with a llama, the animals you’ll discover at the following Minnesota zoos will surprise and delight your whole family.
The Amur tiger, one of six remaining subspecies / Credit: Minnesota Zoo
MINNESOTA ZOO
APPLE VALLEY
The Minnesota Zoo is the largest and most immersive zoo in the state, home to more than 500 species and nearly 5,000 animals.
Don't worry about getting lost in its sprawling layout, though. Navigating the zoo's 485-acre campus is easy thanks to its nine distinct walking trails and indoor exhibits. Each one focuses on a different landscape, biome and collection of critters.
Minnesota Zoo's Treetop Trail
Examples include the wintery Northern Trail, which focuses on animals most at home in snow-covered climates such as American bison, moose and plenty of woodland caribou; the lush Tropics Trail, where you can meet playful lemurs, red pandas and other rainforest creatures; and Russia’s Grizzly Coast, where you can meet the zoo’s three resident brown bears, Sadie, Haines and Kenai. The zoo also boasts a brand new Treetop Trail that winds its way through more than a mile of exhibits from 32 feet above the ground.
The Minnesota Zoo is an essential part of the state’s ongoing animal conservation efforts, too. Special programs are dedicated to saving Minnesota’s prairie butterflies, restoring the American plains bison population, and conserving freshwater turtles.
Gorilla, Como Zoo / Robert Ferdinandt
COMO PARK ZOO
ST. PAUL
Como Park Zoo is the most visited attraction in St. Paul and one of the last free zoos in the United States. You could easily spend an entire day exploring the expansive 759-acre property it's part of.
The zoo is home to an array of indoor and outdoor exhibits featuring animals like reindeer, lions and bison. The cold-weather habitats are particularly popular for their beautiful arctic foxes, snow leopards and polar bears.
The Como Conservatory's Centennial Garden is a stylized nod to traditional European landscape gardens / Visit Saint Paul
After you’re done exploring the zoo, head to the adjacent Marjorie McNeely Conservatory to bask in the Twin Cities’ foremost botanical garden. The stunning indoor-outdoor complex houses thousands of beautiful plants across a variety of themed gardens. The Tropical Encounters exhibit is particularly noteworthy, combining the plant and animal worlds into one fully immersive experience.
Finally, be sure to check out the family-friendly amusement park, Como Town, before calling it a day. The park is designed for kids ages 2-12 and features more than 18 rides, including a zip line, splash zone, tilt-a-whirl, and bumper cars.
A family feeds the giraffes at Hemker Park & Zoo
HEMKER PARK & ZOO
FREEPORT
Founded as a humble game farm near St. Cloud by Mark and Joan Hemker in 1977, Hemker Park and Zoo is now home to more than 50 species and 200 animals from across the globe. Its conservation efforts include a sponsorship program and proceeds that go towards protecting rhinos from poachers. Families are also encouraged to check out several day camps and a junior zookeeper academy for kids who'd love to learn how zoos work firsthand.
Bring your own food and end the day with a picnic on the park grounds, or head down to Freeport for a meal at Charlie’s Cafe and dessert from Oak Station Coffee & Cone.
A Pallas's cat at Lake Superior Zoo
LAKE SUPERIOR ZOO
DULUTH
Northeast Minnesota is home to some of the state’s most renowned wilderness areas, but the region’s wildest place to explore may actually be the Lake Superior Zoo. Home to over 400 animals and 200 different species including North American gray wolves, Flemish giant rabbit and brown bears, the zoo prides itself on providing close-up animal experiences in a naturally picturesque location.
Meet wallabies, kangaroos, reptiles and exotic birds from down under while wandering the Australia and Oceania exhibit. Or check out the Asian Caravan exhibit for a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard, Amur tiger and other endangered species native to the continent’s dense forests and mountains.
Lake Superior Zoo also offers behind-the-scenes tours for visitors seeking an even more intimate experience. Standout tours include the Carnivore Training Tour, which gets you up close and personal with some of the zoo’s big cats, and the Primate or Owl Painting Tour, which lets you watch a tamarin, monkey or owl create a unique piece of iPad art (and take a copy home for yourself!).
One of the four owl species that can be found at Zollman Zoo
ZOLLMAN ZOO
BYRON
As one of the smallest zoos in Minnesota, what Zollman Zoo lacks in size, it makes up in heart: Nearly all of the zoo’s animals are unfit for release into the wild due to injuries, but Zollman gives them a loving home where they can mend up while providing fun learning opportunities to visitors.
While other zoos focus on exotic animals from all over the world, the Zollman Zoo focuses on animals native to Minnesota. Its indigenous collection spans over 30 species including eagles, badgers, foxes and a variety of reptiles. Across the road from the zoo’s main exhibit, the Gordon Yeager Memorial Area houses large hoofed animals such as bison, elk and white-tailed deer.
And if you’ve ever dreamed of sleeping at the zoo, you’ll be happy to learn the adjoining Oxbow Park is home to 30 campgrounds available on a first-come, first-served basis. The park is also home to over 10 miles of natural hiking trails that traverse rolling prairie and wooded hills.
Check out more animal-oriented experiences in Minnesota.
More Minnesota Zoos & Aquariums
From reptile-specific discovery centers to a full-blown aquarium at Mall of America, you can get up close and personal with wildlife in nearly every corner of Minnesota. Browse through all of Minnesota's zoos and aquariums and start planning your visit today.
Greta Alms is a pickle-eating, travel-loving, Spanish-speaking, Foodie, and mama of 2 plus the best fur baby traveler ever. Lover of slow travel and stopping to smell the roses (or pick morel mushrooms). Sustainable travel, leave no trace and buying used whenever possible are her life goals. Nothing beats a full spread, good afternoon tea after a morning's adventure!