Roger Williams Park Zoo

The Roger Williams Park Zoo is located about 10 – 15 minutes outside of downtown Providence. It’s a nice little zoo though not particularly fancy which is a-​okay. I went on a weekday in December around noon and it was pretty empty. I got to park in the first row of parking and crowds around the enclosures were nearly nonexistent. Admission into the zoo was $ 14 (I think) and I think it was worth it for the just under 2 hours of time it took for me.
The enclosures aren’t anything fancy and some could do with some enhancement, nd improvement with more natural settings. But overall, the animals seemed happy and I did get to see some animals I have never seen before. Some favorites had to have been this porcupine I have never seen but it was climbing all over the place, a giraffe with some unusual behavior, and a tree kangaroo that was a little bit sassy (but cute and playful) with it’s keeper. A nice zoo to go to if you like zoos.

A great zoo. Great for kids of all ages. Large enclosures that can be seen from multiple angles. Exotic creatures, and interesting species. Great staff who are knowledgable and friendly. The zoo is very large, and very expensive. At our visit many of the exhibits were being moved around so we didn’t get to to see many animals. Which was disappointing. And the walk ways are very uneven so wear comfortable shoes.

Consistently impressed with the quality of this zoo — as it sits in a struggling and fairly middling city (sorry Prov, youz know i love ya!)
4 elephants!!! I mean pachyderm me sideways. Giraffes? Cheetahs x 3? Those are some real deal animals.
Plus: clean, well designed, cool Hasbro supported free-​play area for the kiddos, and in the middle of an awesome urban public park? Yeah, that’ll do Zoo, that’ll do quite nicely.
Check it.

What a gem in New England! This is the best zoo in the northeast.
I vacation annually in Rhode Island. We take the whole family here on one of our days. The animals are not caged, they are allowed to roam.
There are a large selection of animals from all over the world. There are plenty of signs that help educate on the endangerment status of each creature. The staff is extremely friendly and open to questions of all kinds. They are especially patient with the young ones.
Be prepared on hot days. It gets quite uncomfortable, so set the right expectations. I can’t wait to go back.

Since having my son I can not even tell you how many times we have visited Roger Williams Zoo, I feel like we practically live there! We have been members for 2 years in a row, which is an amazing deal that I highly recommend you look into if you live nearby. They offer different packages based on family sizes, etc so take a look. I can get in 4 adults and 3 children every time I go I believe which is great when friends/​family want to join us.
The park usually takes us about 1 ½ hours to get through, that’s on days that we just go to visit the animals. There’s also the Big Back Yard which I’ll tell you about in a minute. So, as for the animals, RW is always looking to expand and improve their habitats. Our favorites our the cheetahs which arrived in July 2015, elephants which are beautiful and awesome, the sweet river otters who could entertain my kid for 20+ minutes and the snow leopards. We really love them all! The seal habitat has been getting a makeover throughout the summer, but are due back soon I believe, we desperately miss them.
We love the Farmyard, which offers a goat/​sheep petting area. My son loves to feed them. There is also a walk through area with kangaroos and wallaby’s, it’s small but pretty awesome.
The Big Back Yard has been developing probably for the last 5 years. It offers a great place for the kiddos to run and explore. There is a tree house, cave, water activities in the summer and other fun stuff available. My husband loves taking our son here.
Definitely check out the zoo and also Roger Williams Park at large. It’s a wonderful place to explore and have fun for a reasonable cost in Providence.

There is something to be said about visiting the zoo on a cold, wet day in November!!! It is easy to visualize how nice this place must be in July! Another adult, 2 kids, and I visited the zoo on Veteran’s Day. Understandable, a lot of exhibits and consessions were closed. However what was opened made up for it. The zoologist were great… especially the guy in the elephant exhibit. We got to see him play with/​exercise the elephants. Afterwards he spent at least 30 minutes giving us unlimited Q&A time. He was extremely knowledgable, knew his elephants’ personalities well and was willing to answer all off our questions. It was evident he loves his animals. The lady in the giraffe house was great too.,

This zoo has grown so much, all the animals are so great! Family friendly atmosphere! Taking my kids for many years

This is a cute, small zoo that’s great for families, especially with younger kids. I didn’t get to experience a lot of this place, but the pumpkins on display were amazing!!!

I came here for the pumpkin Jack-​o-​lantern spectacular, so this review is just based on that event. Overall I do like this zoo, but this is a warning of all those looking to come here for this event.
Go at 8:30. I was there at 7pm and it was the worst. All there is are lots of little kids, old people, and strollers at this time. There is also no parking, it took us half an hour to find a spot.
Then you have the lines. It really does not matter if you buy the tickets in advance or not, the lines are almost exactly the same length. In fact, don’t buy your tickets, that line went quicker. Once you get into the park, you have to wait in a longer line to go and see the pumpkins. In total, I waited 1.5 hours to take a 20 min walk.
Then during the walk, be prepared to get hit 15 times with strollers because the people who are pushing them just don’t care and push them into you. Also you will be at a dead stop when people want to take 50 pictures of one nice looking pumpkin.
This event is a nice time, but the park needs to enforce better rules to make this more of an enjoyable time.

Such a great evening at the Jackolantern Spectacular. I came with family and I couldn’t be happier with the experience. It was engaging, beautifully setup and great for children of all ages. Just remarkable pieces of art– on a pumpkin! We will be making this an annual tradition.

Went on a very busy day and despite almost no parking was still plenty of room to see all the animals. At no time did the place seem overcrowded. Nice small /​medium sized zoo and kids had a great time. Will be back again.

I visited this zoo when I was younger so I decided to come here last summer. I didn’t realize on our way there that it was located literally in the middle of a city. I imagined it to be bigger than it was. However, there weren’t as many animals as I expected and it really didn’t take that long for us to walk around the entire zoo before we were done.
Some of the exhibits were underwhelming; some only had one animal in it. Other exhibits we couldn’t see any thing because they were hiding. My favorite animals were the elephants. They seemed to be one of the more active animals there.
Admission price is very cheap; only $ 15 for adults. But I think I’ll just stick with Southwick’s Zoo.

Now I don’t really have any other zoo to compare it to but I love this zoo. You never hear any horror stores of them not treating the animals well. Not only do the
Animals look healthy and happy but so do the employees. Everyone who works here seems to love their job and is happy. The park is kept clean and neat which is amazing considering
How many events are held here. Besides the animals the zoo also has lots of cool events such as the jackolantern spectacular. You can even get Married here ! If your looking for a nice day with the kids or even another zoo loving adult go check it out. !

I will say that Roger Williams zoo holds a special place in my heart as I’ve been visiting this zoo yearly since I can remember. but… it’s ALWAYS evolving! I feel as though every year there’s something new and exciting!
The animal exhibits range from your elephants to farm animals. So there’s quite a bit to look at. I think the animals are taken care of very well here and their habitats include items to keep the animals engaged and interested in life which is very important to me as an animal lover.
There is an area called the «Big Backyard» where you will find a treehouse with a scavenger hunt inside, a giant kaleidoscope and a few other fun things! There’s also water play areas (so pack your kids swimsuits! Or just get wet!), a more natural type playground, and a few areas where the kids can chill in some «hammocks». … I will say that I never appreciated this area until today with two 9 year old boys! However, there were just as many toddlers enjoying this area too!
Great little spots throughout the zoo to stop to eat (we packed lunches) but there is also a café.
The biggest hit with the kids were the camel rides, and feeding the giraffes (both are extra money, but worth the smiles and memories!)
I recommend a zoo membership if you’re going with a large family. totally worth it. Even if you go just a couple times of year!

Im surprised I’ve never reviewed this zoo. While it may not be super big, it’s a great place to visit during the summer time and very spooky to see during the fall for the annual pumpkin lighting festival. There are your typical giraffes, elephants, and birds. I kinda wish there are more insects and exotics and the price of admission may be a little bit too much, however, your family and date will not be disappointed.

Not the worst zoo I’ve been too but no where near the best either. The zoo is relatively small without a wide rang of animals to view. We could have covered the whole thing in about an hour or so which was disappointing since we traveled so far.
The food wasn’t bad and there seemed to be some discount on it for Friday’s.
I was sad than the seals were closed for the season and they weren’t doing the elephant baths but that’s life!
They also have plenty of reasonable stroller rentals.

This Zoo is by far the best Zoo I’ve been to.
I am here in Rhode Island for a Birthday Party and its my first time visiting a Zoo like this. Down in NYC not only is the Bronx Zoo a sad place to visit but they also don’t have staff like the staff here.
I am impressed with how fast getting tickets were and all the information we received even to things that weren’t involving the animals. A EMS worker at the Zoo told us about awesome activities to do in Newport and Providence areas. My children were also able to feed the giraffes and ride the camels. It was an experience they will never forget. It’s just long long walk trails but that’s expected in any Zoo so I can’t complain.

Great zoo; thoughtfully laid out and easy to navigate. Awesome playground with great variety of activities for children. Highly recommend.

Roger Williams Park is Beautiful!
If you are driving with GPS, use this address: 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI
We visited Oct 18, 2014. It was overcast around 65 degrees. Perfect to take a leisurely walk. We were there for the Park grounds. They have SO many beautiful Photo Spots — Bridges, Lakes, Wildlife, Japanese Garden, Cottages, Carousel, etc. You can easily spend a day there just walking around. Many people had professional photographers with them. so you have to wait patiently as they hog up an area for 20 min but you can easily go somewhere else and come back.
I really loved this park and would definitely come back any season!

This was my first time going to this zoo and I had a lot of fun. The park was bigger than I thought so I was happy about that. I actually got lost a couple of times trying to find my way around, even the exit for that matter.
They had a lot of animals there even ones that I’ve never seen before so it was exciting. I was fortunate to be able to go on a nice day although it got extremely humid after raining for around 10 minutes so we had to look for shades a few times. Most of the animals were out doing their thing and it was definitely fun to watch. The only thing that I was disappointed about was that the snow leopard sat on top of a hill the whole time and didn’t move at all. I was hoping to see it a bit up close. Even when we walked around and came back, it was still at the same spot.
I also came across the petting area and fed some of the goats. I was scared they were going to bite my hand at first then realized that they were locking them off my hand instead so it wasn’t that bad. I was actually thinking of picking and choosing which one to feed but they each came up one by one on their own so it was all good.
The only thing we bought there was a side of fries and it was pretty good for quick appetizer. I can’t review the other food that they offered since we only got chili cheese fries there. I also bought a stuffed giraffe which was adorable and was only $ 5. It was originally around $ 10 (or so they say). Regardless, it was worth it for a souvenir and I think a lot of people fell for it because most of them have bought the same stuff animal as I did. But the money goes back to the zoo.
All and all, we did enjoy our visit there and had a lot of fun. Next time, we’re going to sign up to feed the giraffe and hopefully come back in time to see the kangaroos.