If they continue as they have in recent years, Dallas Zoo is open late on Saturday nights in summer and Houston Zoo is open late on Friday nights (or is it Saturday also) in summer.
North or South?
- Thread starter sooty mangabey
- Start date
Brookfield zoo is open later on summer fridays, however, the west side gets closed so I’d suggest finishing the West off first before going to the east.
Day 1: Brookfield
Day 2: Lincoln Park and Shedd
Day 3: Indianapolis on the “travel to Ohio” day
Day 4: Cincinnati
Day 5: Columbus
Day 6: Cleveland
Day 7: Detroit
Day 8: Travel back to Chicago and fly home
Skip Toledo, Akron. What I can’t comment on is whether Fort Wayne is worth substituting for Indianapolis.
Day 2: Lincoln Park and Shedd
Day 3: Indianapolis on the “travel to Ohio” day
Day 4: Cincinnati
Day 5: Columbus
Day 6: Cleveland
Day 7: Detroit
Day 8: Travel back to Chicago and fly home
Skip Toledo, Akron. What I can’t comment on is whether Fort Wayne is worth substituting for Indianapolis.
That’d be a grave mistake, from what I’ve heard.
I have a friend who is pretty familiar with both places, and I am also familiar with the south. On his recent visit to Brookfield, he was quite disappointed with a lot of the zoo, particularly the disgrace that is Tropic World. Shedd, Lincoln Park (for the most part) and Toledo, however, were all highlights.
Down south, the biggest stain on what is otherwise a grouping of very high quality zoos is probably Fort Worth, what with their very subpar elephant exhibit, the exhibits for primates, and the poor section that is Texas Wild. A new African savanna type area will be opening soon, though. San Antonio is arguably worse but in my eyes they’ve been making leaps and bounds in recent years. Otherwise, everywhere from Dallas to Gladys Porter is superb in collection and also pretty excellent in quality (with the latter a bit outdated). I would recommend visiting the Cameron Park Zoo, but wouldn’t bother with Fossil Rim, Abilene (which I haven’t visited), Ellen Trout, Caldwell, or the numerous odds-and-ends zoos along the route. Focusing on the main attraction zoos is the way to have the best time.
Regardless of your choice, have fun!
That’d be a grave mistake, from what I’ve heard.
I have a friend who is pretty familiar with both places, and I am also familiar with the south. On his recent visit to Brookfield, he was quite disappointed with a lot of the zoo, particularly the disgrace that is Tropic World.
A disgrace? That's awfully harsh don't you think? Sure, it has quite a few flaws but it's by no means a bad building, let alone a disgrace. Here is what I belive is the good and the bad of the controversial structure. Hopefully Sooty can get a better idea as well.
The Good:
- The Tamarin and Sloth crossing is a joy to watch. Callimico's, golden lion tamarins and an active pair of two-toed sloths bouncing over the heads of visiotors to the multiple diffrent elevation points is one of my favorite areas in the building.
- The new pygmy slow loris exhibit is very nice. The temporarey viewing barriers may look incredibly ugly, but they will hopefully be off sooner than later. Still a nice little area
- Small primates all have the ability to branchitate over 100 ft in air. Not too many other zoos offer such an opportunity.
- The dozens of free flight birds in each building swarm over and beside visiotros in all three sections.
- The only two non primate mammals (Asian small-clawed otters and gaint anteater) in the building have access to huge spaces on ground leveal.
- The simulated rain storms - while they have caused the paint to peel in some places - are really cool to watch as all the animals scurry away to the crevices.
- There are always plenty of babies. Three orangutans and two (with a third on the way) gorillas are real hits with the guests.
The Bad:
- The ape habitats are less than steller. The orgauntan island is much to cramped for the red apes. The gorilla island isnt much better (Could arguably be worse). The African apes have almost no privacy in their almost comeplety viewable circular pit.
- Everything is so incredibly fake, from the ground, trees, rocks, even the plants.
- The side gorilla exhibit - for 50 year old gorilla, Ramar - is awful. Easily the worst exhibit in the building and possibly the entire zoo.
- On a crowded day, it's almost impossible to navigate the whole building without being swept up by the crowds that fill the pathway.
Gladys Porter Zoo is superb in collection, but NOT excellent in quality (IMO). It is mediocre at best. However it is a moot point since it is too far of a drive to fit into Sooty's limited schedule. Texas Wild at Forth Worth is actually quite nice I think (though the cat exhibits need to be larger).
Anyway, if both @geomorph and @snowleopard say north is the better option, I think that should just about settle it. Go north and have fun.
Anyway, if both @geomorph and @snowleopard say north is the better option, I think that should just about settle it. Go north and have fun.
I have to second this. As a native of this are of the country, I am very familiar with all of the zoos on your list, and have to say that skipping Toledo would be a mistake. While there are a few weaker exhibits, the stronger ones generally make up, and the collection is both very complete and blessed with several rarities (notably, tuatara (which are actually on exhibit here) and several bird species not common in the states). As for Brookfield, I'd have to agree with jay's friend - while there are some highlights, this once-legendary zoo can be quite depressing - the number of empty exhibits, aged buildings badly in need of some TLC, and the once famous, now infamous Tropic World combine to make a zoo that is currently pretty underwhelming, despite a few brights spots. Lincoln Park Zoo (especially with the Lion House mostly empty due to its upcoming renovation) is much smaller, but its collection holds up well next to Brookfield's, and it has more top-notch exhibits and fewer utter failures. No true zoo fan, though, would miss either of these zoos (or Shedd).
If you go north, despite what everyone else says, in my experience, Shedd takes a whole day. This leaves an empty half a day when you visit Lincoln Park. If this happens, I recommend visiting a lesser-known, but still great Chicago animal attraction: the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. It is filled with cool taxidermy, great aquariums and terrariums, and the bird-of-paradise exhibit is opening soon (it won't have any live specimens, but it still looks cool.) Anyway, that's just my recommendation.
d1am0ndback
Well-Known Member
I, living in North Texas, am very familiar and somewhat biased in this decision. This summer I went on a trip to the North almost exactly as you have planned, hitting up the big 3 in Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Cinncinnati, Kansas City, and Columbus. I had a great time, but I would still reccomend Texas.
No part of Brookfield besides the wolf exhibit particularly impressed me. They had a fine collection but the exhibits were nothing spectacular. Many of the species seen here can also be seen in North Texas.
Lincoln Park is a very fine little zoo but it feels somewhat of a park rather than a zoo. I loved their bird house and small mammal house but there's not much more to the zoo than that.
Shedd is spectacular that was by far my favorite destination in Chicago. Nothing in Texas rivals shedd as far as aquatics.
Detroit is a very impressive zoo with a very nice reptile collection and some spacious exhibits as well as a very nice amphibian house and penguin house. Their reptile collection is still dwarved by both fort worth and Dallas however.
Toledo was one of my favorite zoos of the trip they had very high quality exhibits and I could spend days in their bird house. It defeats the zoos of Texas in my opinion.
Columbus is of coarse also spectacular that was definitely my favorite of the trip. They have a wide range of high quality exhibits and species. It also defeats the zoos of Texas.
The question is do the three of Shedd, Columbus, and Toledo outweigh the zoos of Texas? Detroit, Brookfield, and Lincoln Park are nice but I wouldn't reccomend them over the zoos of Texas since Fort Worth, Dallas, Dallas World Aquarium, San Antonio, (and if you go North Oklahoma City) are all as good if not better. When I get the time I will go into detail on the Texas zoos and why I reccomend them.
No part of Brookfield besides the wolf exhibit particularly impressed me. They had a fine collection but the exhibits were nothing spectacular. Many of the species seen here can also be seen in North Texas.
Lincoln Park is a very fine little zoo but it feels somewhat of a park rather than a zoo. I loved their bird house and small mammal house but there's not much more to the zoo than that.
Shedd is spectacular that was by far my favorite destination in Chicago. Nothing in Texas rivals shedd as far as aquatics.
Detroit is a very impressive zoo with a very nice reptile collection and some spacious exhibits as well as a very nice amphibian house and penguin house. Their reptile collection is still dwarved by both fort worth and Dallas however.
Toledo was one of my favorite zoos of the trip they had very high quality exhibits and I could spend days in their bird house. It defeats the zoos of Texas in my opinion.
Columbus is of coarse also spectacular that was definitely my favorite of the trip. They have a wide range of high quality exhibits and species. It also defeats the zoos of Texas.
The question is do the three of Shedd, Columbus, and Toledo outweigh the zoos of Texas? Detroit, Brookfield, and Lincoln Park are nice but I wouldn't reccomend them over the zoos of Texas since Fort Worth, Dallas, Dallas World Aquarium, San Antonio, (and if you go North Oklahoma City) are all as good if not better. When I get the time I will go into detail on the Texas zoos and why I reccomend them.
diamondback why do you show a cottonmouth photo; diamondback rattlers are still common in Texas.
One unique feature of Dallas is the monorail, one of only three zoo monorails still in operation in the United States, as discussed here: Zoo Monorails .
Some ZooChat members do not like a monorail, but I find it enjoyable.
Some ZooChat members do not like a monorail, but I find it enjoyable.
Interesting link! I have never been on a monorail at a zoo. Although I have been to many of the zoos appearing on the list, I didn’t even notice the monorail at most of them! They really do seem to be on their way out now.
d1am0ndback
Well-Known Member
As for Texas:
Dallas has a fantastic African themed area and reptile house (collection). Giants of the Savannah is a very impressive exhibit worth seeing. As mentioned, Dallas has a monorail with many of their African species only seen from it, which I'm not a fan of but the monorail itself is very nice. North Texas is known for strong reptile collections especially vipers and Dallas does not disappoint. It was mentioned Toledo has tuatara on exhibit, Dallas does too. I'm not sure how many species Dallas has you haven't seen but their collection is wide in variety.
Fort Worth is probably the weaker of the zoos as Jay mentioned, but by summer this may be different. They will have their new African Savannah exhibit area open by then and from seeing the construction it looks good. Fort Worth is another titan with reptiles with their (debatabley the best) fantastic reptile house. I'm not sure what species they have you haven't seen but I know they are the only facility with endangered Pecos pupfish.
The Dallas World Aquarium cannot be missed with their massive collection of birds and still impressive collection of fish. Golden headed quetzals, Guianan crested eagle, tyrant hawk eagles, fiery billed aracari, shoebill stork, jabiru, Panamanian acorn woodpecker, Puerto Rican woodpecker, razorbill currasow, black tailed, and white tailed trogon are a sampling of the many rare birds that can be seen on exhibit. The yapok is gone, but the brown throated three toed sloths, Antillean manatee, and Venezuelan howlers are still there representing mammals. The aquarium gets its fair share of criticism for some of its enclosures (Several of them notoriously small) but not mentioned are some of the large and spacious aviaries the birds inhabit.
San Antonio zoo is also loaded with its collection being one of two zoos in America with a larger bird collection than the Dallas World Aquarium. Their reptile collection is also large with many many viper species ranging from habu to cross banded rattlesnake. A lot of the zoo is very outdated but the reptile house, south American area, cat area, and African areas aren't.
Near San Antonio is the animal world and snake farm zoo which I highly reccomend. This small zoo is trying to reach aza status but they have a reptile collection rivaling that of Dallas and Fort Worth. It only takes about an hour to go through.
Oklahoma city zoo doesn't have anything particularly rare but they have a stellar native species to Oklahoma region of the zoo.
None of these facilities beat Toledo, Columbus, or Shedd, but as far as collections go there are more animals to be seen in Texas than the North. Toledo, Columbus, and the shedd are all must sees but I wouldn't reccomend the other zoos of the North over those in Texas. So again, it depends on wether you want to see the massive collections of Texas and if the shedd, Toledo zoo, and Columbus zoo outweigh the zoos of Texas for you in how much you want to see them.
Dallas has a fantastic African themed area and reptile house (collection). Giants of the Savannah is a very impressive exhibit worth seeing. As mentioned, Dallas has a monorail with many of their African species only seen from it, which I'm not a fan of but the monorail itself is very nice. North Texas is known for strong reptile collections especially vipers and Dallas does not disappoint. It was mentioned Toledo has tuatara on exhibit, Dallas does too. I'm not sure how many species Dallas has you haven't seen but their collection is wide in variety.
Fort Worth is probably the weaker of the zoos as Jay mentioned, but by summer this may be different. They will have their new African Savannah exhibit area open by then and from seeing the construction it looks good. Fort Worth is another titan with reptiles with their (debatabley the best) fantastic reptile house. I'm not sure what species they have you haven't seen but I know they are the only facility with endangered Pecos pupfish.
The Dallas World Aquarium cannot be missed with their massive collection of birds and still impressive collection of fish. Golden headed quetzals, Guianan crested eagle, tyrant hawk eagles, fiery billed aracari, shoebill stork, jabiru, Panamanian acorn woodpecker, Puerto Rican woodpecker, razorbill currasow, black tailed, and white tailed trogon are a sampling of the many rare birds that can be seen on exhibit. The yapok is gone, but the brown throated three toed sloths, Antillean manatee, and Venezuelan howlers are still there representing mammals. The aquarium gets its fair share of criticism for some of its enclosures (Several of them notoriously small) but not mentioned are some of the large and spacious aviaries the birds inhabit.
San Antonio zoo is also loaded with its collection being one of two zoos in America with a larger bird collection than the Dallas World Aquarium. Their reptile collection is also large with many many viper species ranging from habu to cross banded rattlesnake. A lot of the zoo is very outdated but the reptile house, south American area, cat area, and African areas aren't.
Near San Antonio is the animal world and snake farm zoo which I highly reccomend. This small zoo is trying to reach aza status but they have a reptile collection rivaling that of Dallas and Fort Worth. It only takes about an hour to go through.
Oklahoma city zoo doesn't have anything particularly rare but they have a stellar native species to Oklahoma region of the zoo.
None of these facilities beat Toledo, Columbus, or Shedd, but as far as collections go there are more animals to be seen in Texas than the North. Toledo, Columbus, and the shedd are all must sees but I wouldn't reccomend the other zoos of the North over those in Texas. So again, it depends on wether you want to see the massive collections of Texas and if the shedd, Toledo zoo, and Columbus zoo outweigh the zoos of Texas for you in how much you want to see them.
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Have you come any closer to making a decision on where you’ll be heading this summer? I would love to hear some details if so.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
I think so - and plane tickets will be purchased over the coming weekend. All will be revealed in the summer, when I am sure I will be commenting on the zoos that I see.
One big advantage that Texas has over Chicago and Ohio is that there is a far greater range of songs to provide titles for any travel thread; however, whether this is a deal-breaker, I am not sure!
Great opportunities to view wildlife on a Texas road trip.
Haha, this resonates with me! When I was younger, I used to use Facebook and I would always create an album from each of my trips (at the time for Ballroom dancing competitions) and give it a clever and quite funny title. I don’t have Facebook anymore and I don’t publish any of my photographs from my zoo trips anywhere, but I have the most perfect title for an album for when I head to Czech Republic imminently, yet don’t have any way to use it!
Also, just to stir the pot one last time, have you ever considered The Wilds in Ohio? From photos it looks like a brilliant establishment. It all depends on how many days your spending in the mid west, but cutting Cleveland in favor of it would be mighty tempting to myself. This all depends on if your going to the mid west of course 
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.Also, just to stir the pot one last time, have you ever considered The Wilds in Ohio? From photos it looks like a brilliant establishment. It all depends on how many days your spending in the mid west, but cutting Cleveland in favor of it would be mighty tempting to myself. This all depends on if your going to the mid west of course
I was almost going to add the Wilds myself (to a post extolling the virtues of the zoos of Ohio and the rest of the Midwest, which I never got around to posting). The Wilds is overlooked by many, but anyone who likes hoofstock or the field exhibits at the San Diego Safari Park would love it. I find that while the collection is smaller than the Safari Park's (though still housing large numbers of some species now rare in the US, including Bactrian deer, goral, and Persian onager), the exhibits are more aesthetically pleasing - i.e., there is plenty of grass - and the setup of the exhibits allows one to get much closer to the animals. During the summer, I highly recommend the sunset safari - for those travelling to Ohio for a short period, it allows you to visit one zoo in the morning and then hit the Wilds at night, and the sunset drive is accompanied by feeding of many species, meaning you get the best views of the animals (and occasional special close-up encounters, including the ubiquitous giraffe feeding, but also the less common rhinoceros feeding), especially the often impossible-to-see dholes. The sheer numbers of several of the species (notably Sichuan takin, Pere David's deer, American bison, and southern white rhino) makes for some amazing views and incredible behavior (visiting during breeding season for the deer is a sight). Even if one doesn't do the sunset safari, the daily tours are great.
@jibster: A bit off-topic but I always wondered what species of goral The Wilds (and other American collections) keep, I've read on Wikipedia that they were long-tailed gorals but I didn't know these were kept outside of their range (except for Tallinn Zoo), would you happen to know if they are indeed long-tailed gorals or just Central Chinese gorals?