Sacramento Zoo

We went to the Sacramento zoo this past weekend and had a nice time. The weather was a little cold and rainy, and that kind of put a damper on the festivities. A lot of the animals were chilling inside, instead of out and about. The zoo was pretty small for such a large city. However, it was clean and everyone was friendly. They had a small reptile house, monkeys, the necessary big cats and safari type animals. Feeding the giraffes is by far the best part of the zoo. At certain times of the day they let you go on the giraffe platform and one or more of the giraffes come to you. Two of their zoo keepers are there to answer any questions you might have and to teach you the proper way to feed the giraffes lettuce. They charge $ 3 cash per person, but it is totally worth it. We had a lot of fun, however the zoo is about a 1 – 2 hour activity, so don’t expect to spend all day there.
~BMO

Good Zoo, might not be the San Diego Zoo, yet have to think the Zoo is in the top ten in California. Reasonable price, food not to expensive. Always like to throw peanuts at the monkeys. Giraffe, elephants, are great to watch. Hippos are fun to watch swim. Alot to do at the zoo. People working at the zoo seem to be informative, and seem to really like animals.

Good bang for the buck. Fun for a cute date or family time. We went in the winter and later in the day, so animals weren’t as active. Good selection of animals though.

Came here for a school field trip. The parking is a nightmare. I parked so far behind the zoo. The area is packed with families since there’s the kid zone across the street, the park nearby and the zoo itself.
If you’re a student, you’ll receive a student discount from the regular price. Just make sure to show your student ID.
I mainly looked at the primates since that’s what my class was studying. The animals are very attentive it’s really interesting to see how they interact. There were certain animals that did not do much since it all depends on the time of day. The earlier you go, the more interaction they’ll have. I went around 2 pm so by that time, the animals are sleeping or eating. KEEP IN MIND THESE ANIMALS DO NO LIKE BEING STARED AT. Overall, it’s a great place to bring kids to and see how some of the animals are.

I love this zoo yea it’s a bit small but great atmosphere and good verity of animals and birds been coming here for so many years as a kid now I’m 21 and now it’s time to share it with my daughter ! Love this zoo!

I feel that this tiny zoo does not get enough love on Unilocal.It is an excellent zoo for the little ones and the old, as you can walk around the entire place in less than an hour and see everything.
They have an excellent gift shop and several places for getting something to eat. I have been a member of the zoo for two years. Even though I live in Davis, I make it a point to bring my kiddo here, so he can see the teenage lions, chimps, tigers, giraffes, and red pandas. Yes, the zoo is small and some animals (like the anteater) look like they are aimlessly pacing and the idea of keeping animals enclosed may appear cruel to some. Having said that, the kids will be inspired to help these animals in the wild only if they have seen them in person, like they do at this zoo. How many people can say that they got to feed a giraffe? Well, if go to Sac Zoo, you can do so there.
My favorite spot is the hidden away creek with a bench at the end where I like to sit in the shade and watch the Koi fish swim. I think this place is a little gem.

I love going to the zoo! It’s fun seeing all the animals, however, every time I’m here it seems like something is missing or closed! I like how they have educational information and facts about most of the animals and that the staff is pretty knowledgable! It’s crazy how small it seems now that I’m older. I could have sworn it was bigger, but maybe that’s just what it seems when I was a child.

Bike by the Zoo twice a week but never go in. A few weeks ago they had a Thursday night Jazz in the Zoo and we decided to partake. It’s amazing how fun the Zoo was. We essentially had tree place to ourselves at 4 pm and were able to tour the entire zoo in about an hour. Don’t forget to take the train ride as the animated driver gives you the lowdown on all of the animals, but th best part is having everyone look at you as you drive by. If you have an entertainment card, there is a 2 for 1 coupon for admission. They pretty much had everything but elephants, as they said that they were required to a lot so much space for the elephants and they could not do that.

There are some interesting exhibits to see, such as the Chimpanzees, Orangutans, lions and tigers.
Unfortunately, there were no red pandas and the Jaguar exhibit was closed when I went in late August.
My least favorite is the reptile house since it was pretty small… I do like that there are different «geographical» sections, such as the Asian Forest, Australian Outback, etc. but they were all still pretty small.
It’s $ 11/​adult, so it’s affordable, and for the price, it is worth coming to see.

At some point in our relationship my husband said he would never take me to the Sacramento Zoo. LOL… guess he didn’t know this gal eventually always gets what she wants! We scored 4 passes to the Sacramento Zoo at an auction and decide to use them 2 weekends ago. I don’t know what his impression of zoo was back then and now but I had a great time. Its been years since I been to a zoo so even if this one is smaller compared to others it still met my expectations of a zoo.
We visited during prime time on a Saturday so it took us a little while to find parking. After a short walk we used our passes and walked straight in. I thought the $ 11.75 adult $ 7.75 child admission fees were fair. We started toward the left and took our time checking out the animals. I was surprised by all the varieties… I never would have thought there was a zoo with all these animals in the middle of Land Park. I loved all the primates, especially the chimpanzees. We watched guests feed the giraffes, tortoises eat and did you know zebras are really white with black stripes? We spent a good 2 hours at the zoo before checking out the gift shop and heading out.
Overall I thought the Sacramento Zoo was a great place to have in Sacramento. Cool place for kids and families to visit. It’s small but worth visiting. I’d come back again.

Become a zoo member!
The best way to be a member of a community is to be a part of it, and once you purchase a Sacramento Zoo membership you will immediately take pride in becoming part of an organization that brings so much joy to so many people. During my recent visit i got to enjoy all the amenities of the Sacramento Zoo, and It felt good knowing my small contribution helps keep the place going.
The zoo is such a peaceful place to enjoy, so if you’ve already visited your favorite exhibits just take a spot on a picnic bench under a shady tree, and simply enjoy the setting. Or, if you are like me and have a hard time mustering up the enthusiasm to exercise, then just come to the zoo and you can safely walk in a serene environment until your hearts content!
There’s something always going on and the calendar of events offers plenty of options!

This was my second time going to the Sacramento Zoo. The first time I went was about 10 years ago. I remembered it being really small and not very exciting, except for the cool tiger show. Sorry to say, it hasn’t changed very much, even worse, no cool show. A lot of areas were empty, either that or the animals were hiding or keeping cool. I walked the entire zoo and probably saw a couple handful of animals.
Service: $ 11.75 adult ticket and free on-​street parking.

A mainstay of Sacramento, and a great place to take the kids. Very affordable. Only $ 11.75 per adult. Children under 2 are free. I would recommend going early in the morning before the crowds and heat of the day sets in however. The animals all hide inside when it’s hot. I particularly like the reptile house. As a child, I spent many an hour in it. I do wish, however, that they still had larger specimens like the green anaconda. The largest specimen these days is a dwarf Cuviers caiman. Albeit, extremely cool too. Can’t really go wrong for the price. I would highly recommend stopping by!

I usually try to avoid zoos because I don’t think that you should put animals in cages, but I also think that some are good and some are a necessary evil.
We gave in because my toddler has been on one to see some monkeys and seeing as we live in northern California and there aren’t any roaming around here. to the zoo we went.
I think it says something that there are signs everywhere that say «if you’re concerned about the animals, contact this number». :(It seems like the zoo is making an effort to keep the animals happy, with activity boxes etc, but the pens are much too small in my mildly-​educated opinion. My 2.5 year old kept asking me why the animals were so sad.
Animal rights aside. It’s clean and mellow and nicely shaded. The layout is really odd, however, and we were a little confused walking around. All-​in-​all, it’s not a bad place to go, though I would like to see more space for the animals and less «picnic areas» for school-​groups

I’m always on the fence about whether or not to patronize zoos. On the one hand, many zoos have some admirable conservation efforts and offer learning opportunities to kids, who wouldn’t have the chance to see these creatures elswhere. On the other hand, I do worry about the animals’ well being, available space to roam and overall conditions. Usually in the end, my curious nature wins out and let’s face it, being able to see lion cubs is a unique and worthy experience.
I would rate Sacramento Zoo as a respectable location. They seem to offer decent space and clean enclosures for their animals. It was definitely enjoyable to see the Snow Leopard & Jaguar napping and the said lion cubs playing in their enclosure (while their mom & dad were basking in the sun asleep.)
The zoo is on the small side and going without any kids, I’d say you can spend a good two hours, taking your time at each exhibit. Aside from the aforementioned exhibits, the lemurs and chimps were in full view and active, while the tiger was a no-​show, the giraffes were hamming it up and the red panda was sound asleep in his little cave. Overall I thought the grounds were nice to stroll through-​plenty of foliage and shade to accomodate a hot Sacramento day. There is a small little bamboo forest with a koi pond that provides a nice respite in the shade and it’s not overally crowded. Free parking nearby in William Land Park, $ 11.75 adult entrance fee (with some discount packages available if you are also visiting the nearby Fairytale park) and a pleasant way to spend a few hours. I enjoyed my time here and would recommend it as a nice (but small) local zoo for the Sacramento area. Combine with other adventures in the nearby park and you can round out a nice full, family day.

I would have thought the state capital would have a larger zoo, with elephants and large wild animals. Instead the zoo is much smaller then excepted. Staff is very nice and are setup along the path to provide fun facts about their current residents. The highlights of our trip were the lion and his cubs also the giraffes. Gift shop has some really nice stuff for the kids and staff was very nice and helpful. Come early, parking is across the street and it’s nice to park close when you have little ones. You can Purchase tickets online and pick up tickets for the train and merry-​go round inside the zoo entrance to the right. The Playground is to the right of the entrance which is nice to let the kids run around and burn some energy. I will be back I just hope that they bring better exhibits

My 100^th review!
Back in the 1990s, when I was a little kid like me, I visited to the Sacramento Zoo for the first time to see the real, authentic animals from flamingos, lions, zebras, giraffes, etc. Right now, as of today, I finally revisited to this zoo last year due to my Sociology project for humans vs monkeys behavior. Located near Fairytale Town and William Land Park, this zoo is well-​maintained for several decades, so every exhibits in this zoo keeps it clean, spay and neuter. The zoology and employers have done a good job to protect the animals very confident and carefully filled with happiness.
Every animals in this zoo are well behaved, so every zoo visitors will experience it. The facts board are well informed and accurate. No issues or problems at all!
The parking is a mixed bag for me. If you’re a college student at Sacramento City College, you can park at the garage and walk there to the zoo easier. Otherwise, if not a college student, you can park at William Land Park nor the zoo parking for free, so be here early before the doors open. You can also transit, walk, or bike to the zoo too. Finally, this zoo is well populated for school field trips that every kids from elementary to high school will enjoy.
In the end, Sacramento Zoo is a fascinating local zoo that everyone from young and old can experience the wonders of real, exotic animals from across the globe. Perfect for school researching and family/​friends gathering. A well-​worthy visit!

For being located in Sacramento, I was surprised by the size of the zoo. It’s pretty decent. There are lots of animals including tigers, lions, jaguars, giraffes, warthogs, gibbons, zebras, orangutans, lemurs, and monkeys. There’s a reptile house and lots of birds. You’d be hard pressed to spend more than three hours here, considering the small amount of exhibits. I hope they get more!
You can get a meal at the Kampala Café, located in the zoo. We got a chicken basket that came with chips ($ 7.25) and a flatbread cheese pizza ($ 6.75). Fries are an additional cost ($ 3.50). Regular soda (16 oz) for $ 3.75, free refills. There were 4 crispy chicken strips in the basket that were small-​medium size. Good amount of crispy breading. The potato chips looked like they were housemade but had a bland flavor. The cheese pizza had nice soft dough and average tomato sauce. All in all, we were hungry, and the food satisfied us. I’d bring my own food next time I come though.
There were a lot of school field trips happening so it was crowded. But it looked like a place that it would be worth it to have memberships to in order to have some fun morning/​afternoon outings with your little ones!

Small but well kept zoo. Needs more funding to get better exhibits so I would recommend making a small donation if you go there. Every penny counts.
This is always a great place to take a date during the day and get out for a little walk. You can visit the vet clinic and they also have alot of really cool exhibits. I went there a few weeks ago and realized that my childhood favorite the flamingo exhibit was still there. I think they make a nice centerpiece to the park .
This is also a great place to just take children and get them out of the house for the day. There are alot of educational boxes there for the public. I highly recommend getting a zoo key for the boxes. Children love them and it makes it wort their wild to run around with the key.
The staff is very friendly and informative. I had a question about the burrowing owls and they gave me a whole print up on them. I will defiantly be getting a season pass for the place and coming there alot this summer. Its more then worth it to escape the boredom of Sacramento.

Small zoo, but great place to take the kids to. My husband and I decided to take our son here one afternoon. To be honest, it wasn’t a very exciting adventure for us since there wasn’t much animals active in their den. (except the Gorillas!) The flamingos were fun to watch since we were able to get a close up view of them. It’s a very small zoo but there is definitely lots of learning and small activities for the children to be involved in.
Entry cost is $ 12 per adult. There is a train that also drives through the zoo. Cost per ticket is $ 4. If your kid is 1 or under it is free.