2024 - Alaska, Canada, and United States Zoo Trip - June/July

Pleistohorse

Pleistohorse

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
In a little more than one month I will be embarking on a 10,000 mile road trip from Palmer, Alaska to Wilmington, North Carolina and back. I expect to be on the road for about 39 days. The furthest south I'll get will likely be Congaree National Park, the furthest north perhaps Dawson, Yukon...or possibly Tok, Alaska (saving the Dawson visit for late August or early September).

These are the following zoos I plan to visit:
Yukon Wildlife Preserve
Zoo Montana (second visit)
Bear Country USA
Dakota Zoo
Roosevelt Park Zoo
Red River Zoo
Chahinkapa Zoo
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo (fourth visit)
Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari (second visit)
Saint Louis Zoo
Brookgreen Gardens Lowcountry Zoo
North Carolina Zoo (second visit)
West Virginia State Wildlife Center
The Wilds
Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
Detroit Zoo
Lake Superior Zoo
Assiniboine Park Zoo
Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo
Calgary Zoo (second visit)
Discovery Wildlife Park
Edmonton Valley Zoo (second visit)

Timing and possible route changes might allow visits to the following zoos as well:
Bramble Park Zoo
Great Plains Zoo
Lincoln Children's Zoo
Kansas City Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
 
May I suggest the Great Lakes Aquarium, perhaps in place of the Lake Superior Zoo? It's got a bunch of species that are probably not exhibited anywhere else and some cool historical displays. Unless there was some specific reason you wanted to get Lake Superior Zoo instead?
 
Between these zoos, I've planned the majority of my route through rural areas to increase my chances of spotting wildlife enroute. Believe it or not spotting (not necessarily observing or photographing) wildlife from the road while driving is very productive. Just about every photo I've ever posted of wild Dall Sheep, Moose, Bears, Caribou and Bison has been taken from my vehicle. In addition to the routes I'm taking to enhance my chances of wildlife spotting, I'll also be visiting (if only briefly) several wildlife hotspots. The natural areas I'm visiting include:

Jasper National Park
Banff National Park
Yoho National Park
The Bison Range
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Devil's Tower National Monument
Custer State Park
Wind Cave National Park
Badlands National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Cape Fear
Congaree National Park
New River Gorge National Park
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Voyageurs National Park
Riding Mountain National Park
Stone Mountain Provincial Park
Muncho Lake Provincial Park
Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge

With the exception of a couple of days apiece spent in Yellowstone and the Black Hills, these will be short visits (basically a drive-by and maybe a stop at the visitor center) with maybe a quick hike involved.
 
Enjoy your trip! Lots of great places there that I'd love to visit someday. I went whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge once, but that was before it was a national park- such a great experience! The only zoo on your list I've been to is Detroit- and it's a personal favorite of mine. Enjoy!
 
Sounds like a nice trip! Looking forward to your reviews and photos and hope you enjoy it :)

Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason for including Lowcountry Zoo over Riverbanks Zoo? I assume you are driving to South Carolina for the Congaree National Park, in which case Riverbanks is much closer at about half an hour away.

If you are going to be by the Myrtle Beach area and like reptiles, Reptile Lagoon is a place worth looking into. Its obscure but I've heard it has one of the best reptile collections in the country (never been... yet).

If you are driving south from WV towards North Carolina Zoo/Cape Fear, you should also try to check out Greensboro Science Center if you have never been. Its a great mid-sized AZA facility with some interesting species and wonderful exhibits. I think its a worthy competitor to NC Zoo as best in state. Also potentially the NC Museum of Natural History might be of interest to you thanks to its native snake collection and its also free admission.
 
You are going to have a blast! I am eager to follow along and read your reviews.
 
Looks like a great trip. Have you been to Cincinnati before? If not, it’s so close to Columbus that it must be worth including.
 
Neil chace said:
Enjoy your trip! Lots of great places there that I'd love to visit someday. I went whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge once, but that was before it was a national park- such a great experience! The only zoo on your list I've been to is Detroit- and it's a personal favorite of mine. Enjoy!
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@Neil chace
Thank You! I'm looking forward to visiting the Detroit Zoo and Upper Michigan. When I was a kid we lived for several months (my father was in the service) at an Air Base just south of Sault Ste. Marie. I can't wait to see how the Yupee lives up to my memories of it.
 
SusScrofa said:
Sounds like a nice trip! Looking forward to your reviews and photos and hope you enjoy it :)

Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason for including Lowcountry Zoo over Riverbanks Zoo? I assume you are driving to South Carolina for the Congaree National Park, in which case Riverbanks is much closer at about half an hour away.

If you are going to be by the Myrtle Beach area and like reptiles, Reptile Lagoon is a place worth looking into. Its obscure but I've heard it has one of the best reptile collections in the country (never been... yet).

If you are driving south from WV towards North Carolina Zoo/Cape Fear, you should also try to check out Greensboro Science Center if you have never been. Its a great mid-sized AZA facility with some interesting species and wonderful exhibits. I think its a worthy competitor to NC Zoo as best in state. Also potentially the NC Museum of Natural History might be of interest to you thanks to its native snake collection and its also free admission.
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@SusScrofa

My original route had me coming out of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and then south-east through South Carolina past Columbia with a possible stop at Riverbanks Zoo. As it stands now, my route takes me from Kentucky straight down to Wilmington with no stops. I'll be spending a few days in Wilmington and hope to day trip and overnight from Wilmington down the coast to the Lowcountry Zoo...staying the night...and then visiting Congaree the next day before returning to Wilmington and resuming my drive back north.
 
birdsandbats said:
May I suggest the Great Lakes Aquarium, perhaps in place of the Lake Superior Zoo? It's got a bunch of species that are probably not exhibited anywhere else and some cool historical displays. Unless there was some specific reason you wanted to get Lake Superior Zoo instead?
Click to expand...

I prefer zoos to aquariums, however if I can fit in the Great Lakes Aquarium I will.
 
CGSwans said:
Looks like a great trip. Have you been to Cincinnati before? If not, it’s so close to Columbus that it must be worth including.
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@CGSwans
I have never been to Cincinnati. I'm factoring in travel time, opening hours, and schedule to my choices. In Ohio I'd like to visit Cleveland and Toledo as well, but I don't think it will be possible.
 
Aside from absolutely listening to plenty of Gordon Lightfoot while driving along the shores of Lake Superior; rather than music on the radio, I'll be listening to Audio Books along my journey. I've timed these books to line up their themes with the physical and cultural geography I'll be experiencing at any point in the drive. For those interested here are the books I've downloaded:

1. To Build a Fire by Jack London. This short story about an ill thought journey through the north lands will take me from my driveway to about Sutton, Alaska on the banks of the Matanuska River.

2. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. A local writer from Palmer, Alaska, Eowyn's first novel is about a childless couple homesteading in the Matanuska Valley and the child they find in the woods. This should get me through to Whitehorse, Yukon.

3. White Fang by Jack London. The story of a wild wolf-dog in the Klondike becoming acclimated to man and traveling southward in a reverse to Buck's experience in The Call of the Wild.

4. The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant. An accounting of an injured Amur Tiger turning to man-killing in 1990's Russia. An appropriate tale as I travel the lonely Taiga of British Columbia.

5. Out of Africa by Isek Dinesen. As I approach the "Safari" lands of North America I think this will be a good choice. When I was seriously considering leaving Alaska after 17 years in 2022, I'd often post pictures of my home and life here with the caption "I had a farm in Africa" reflecting that no matter how much time I'd spent here...it still seemed transitory and already almost as if only a memory.

6. Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn by Evan S. Connell. Can't think of a better read as a travel across the plains of Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas.

7. My Antonia by Willa Cather. This will bring me through the eastern end of South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska (maybe Kansas too).

8. The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. By this point I'm headed south east directly for the Carolina Lowcountry and I'm driving listening to the poetry of Pat Conroy...here as he recounts his experience as a young teacher on Yamacraw Island.

9. The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. Another classic of Lowcountry and Military literature as Mr. Conroy records a year in the life of a military family ruled over by a Marine fighter pilot stationed in South Carolina.

10. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. An American Odyssey. A soldier leaves the siege lines of Petersburg, Virginia and makes his way back home to Appalachian North Carolina. As I'm leaving Wilmington and headed for the hills this story should get me to Pennsylvania.

11. The White Rhino Hotel by Bartle Bull. A story of an eclectic crowd of adventurers, pirates, settlers and natives in post-Great War Kenya. Set in the height (for better or worse) of east Africa's colonial past. A perfect tale as I travel from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History through the great zoo's of Ohio and Michigan.

12. Journey by James Michener. Rather than arrive by sea at Skagway, Alaska and crossing the Chilkoot Pass to the goldfields of the Yukon, four Englishmen and their Irish servant instead chose an overland route through western Canada.

13. American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steve Rinella. Across the Prairies of Canada, I'll listen to the account of a Bison hunt in the Copper River Valley of south-central Alaska, with anecdotes regarding the species's natural history.

14. The Call of the Wild by Jack London. A southland dog adapts to life in the north. I'm pushing hard into the Klondike at this point.

15. The Collected Best of Robert Service. Witty rhymes of adventures in the Klondike. If I'm able to fit in a journey to Dawson, I'll visit the cabins of Jack London and Robert Service.

16. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey. The story of a military expedition to map south central Alaska in the late 19th Century.

17. Coming into the Country by John McPhee. A multi-chapter essay on what Alaska was 40 years ago and what it was becoming. An interesting look into the past's future.

I know this is ZooChat and not a Book Club...but I'd welcome any comments.
 
Pleistohorse said:
@birdsandbats
Why is that?
Click to expand...
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Detroit. The amphibian and penguin complexes are excellent, of course, but overall Detroit's collection is lacking, its grounds feel empty, and its exhibitry tends to be boring and much too large.

Meanwhile, Toledo is an absolutely packed zoo with a massive collection. Lots of the zoo feels pretty generic, but it has several massive exhibit buildings filled to the brim with tons of species, and the zoo is just packed with rarities.
 
birdsandbats said:
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Detroit. The amphibian and penguin complexes are excellent, of course, but overall Detroit's collection is lacking, its grounds feel empty, and its exhibitry tends to be boring and much too large.

Meanwhile, Toledo is an absolutely packed zoo with a massive collection. Lots of the zoo feels pretty generic, but it has several massive exhibit buildings filled to the brim with tons of species, and the zoo is just packed with rarities.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the recommendation!
 
Pleistohorse said:
Aside from absolutely listening to plenty of Gordon Lightfoot while driving along the shores of Lake Superior; rather than music on the radio, I'll be listening to Audio Books along my journey. I've timed these books to line up their themes with the physical and cultural geography I'll be experiencing at any point in the drive. For those interested here are the books I've downloaded:

1. To Build a Fire by Jack London. This short story about an ill thought journey through the north lands will take me from my driveway to about Sutton, Alaska on the banks of the Matanuska River.

2. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. A local writer from Palmer, Alaska, Eowyn's first novel is about a childless couple homesteading in the Matanuska Valley and the child they find in the woods. This should get me through to Whitehorse, Yukon.

3. White Fang by Jack London. The story of a wild wolf-dog in the Klondike becoming acclimated to man and traveling southward in a reverse to Buck's experience in The Call of the Wild.

4. The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant. An accounting of an injured Amur Tiger turning to man-killing in 1990's Russia. An appropriate tale as I travel the lonely Taiga of British Columbia.

5. Out of Africa by Isek Dinesen. As I approach the "Safari" lands of North America I think this will be a good choice. When I was seriously considering leaving Alaska after 17 years in 2022, I'd often post pictures of my home and life here with the caption "I had a farm in Africa" reflecting that no matter how much time I'd spent here...it still seemed transitory and already almost as if only a memory.

6. Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn by Evan S. Connell. Can't think of a better read as a travel across the plains of Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas.

7. My Antonia by Willa Cather. This will bring me through the eastern end of South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska (maybe Kansas too).

8. The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. By this point I'm headed south east directly for the Carolina Lowcountry and I'm driving listening to the poetry of Pat Conroy...here as he recounts his experience as a young teacher on Yamacraw Island.

9. The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. Another classic of Lowcountry and Military literature as Mr. Conroy records a year in the life of a military family ruled over by a Marine fighter pilot stationed in South Carolina.

10. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. An American Odyssey. A soldier leaves the siege lines of Petersburg, Virginia and makes his way back home to Appalachian North Carolina. As I'm leaving Wilmington and headed for the hills this story should get me to Pennsylvania.

11. The White Rhino Hotel by Bartle Bull. A story of an eclectic crowd of adventurers, pirates, settlers and natives in post-Great War Kenya. Set in the height (for better or worse) of east Africa's colonial past. A perfect tale as I travel from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History through the great zoo's of Ohio and Michigan.

12. Journey by James Michener. Rather than arrive by sea at Skagway, Alaska and crossing the Chilkoot Pass to the goldfields of the Yukon, four Englishmen and their Irish servant instead chose an overland route through western Canada.

13. American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steve Rinella. Across the Prairies of Canada, I'll listen to the account of a Bison hunt in the Copper River Valley of south-central Alaska, with anecdotes regarding the species's natural history.

14. The Call of the Wild by Jack London. A southland dog adapts to life in the north. I'm pushing hard into the Klondike at this point.

15. The Collected Best of Robert Service. Witty rhymes of adventures in the Klondike. If I'm able to fit in a journey to Dawson, I'll visit the cabins of Jack London and Robert Service.

16. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey. The story of a military expedition to map south central Alaska in the late 19th Century.

17. Coming into the Country by John McPhee. A multi-chapter essay on what Alaska was 40 years ago and what it was becoming. An interesting look into the past's future.

I know this is ZooChat and not a Book Club...but I'd welcome any comments.
Click to expand...

This sounds like an amazing trip and I am looking forward to reading about it.

I am a huge audio book fan (I listen to them working on photos I spend more time in audio than any other medium) The only ones I'd suggest if you have not tried them are Andy Serkis's reading of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - an epic journey of course albeit another world.

I like plays and cast dramas in the main, but your selections certainly fit your trip!
 
Looks like a fun trip. Do you plan on visiting the Toronto Zoo and Granby Zoo in Canada? Zoo Granby has a new dhole(still in quarantine for maybe a month), Japanese serow and red-crowned crane exhibit(already opened) The new mandrill and black and white Colombus outdoor exhibit is nearly done. You can visit Toronto Zoo in 2027 when the entrance plaza will all be renovated with otters, and orangutans climbing on the rope(in their masterplan). It is still worth visiting Toronto Zoo, the Canadian domain is closing in 2025 but might be closing in 2024 because of law reasons. Many people say that the domain is incredible and worth visiting. There are also lots of different animals in Toronto. I hope one day you visit this zoo. Hope this helps you.
 
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