2013 US zoo trip travel advise

Y

Yero

Active Member
15+ year member
Hi y'all,

I am travelling to the US next week, and planning a bit of a zoo trip aftervisiting a conference in chicago (where I will also visit Brookfield Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd aquarium - did i miss any zoological collections in Chicago?).

As always all your advise is welcome, since in the past i found advise on this forum very helpful.

So far my travel plan looks like this

- drive from chicago to columbus = 7 hours (perhaps stop over at Fort Wayne - is it worth it?; does it take a lot of time to visit here?)
- visit columbus zoo (have been there 5 years ago, but will be nice to be there again)
- drive from columbus to cincinatti + visit zoo (have been there 5 years ago, but see above)
- drive from cincinatti to indianapolis (is it worth it?) or louisville or both (any recommendations or advise is very welcome)
- drive to milwaukee, visit zoo

anything on the road that i could also visit? Any zoos/other places that are (also)worth visiting (with rarely seen mammals, which is what i like most, but am afraid i have seen most of the usuals now, and also many of the mammals that are rarely seen in zoos)
 
Since you will be traveling in my neck of the woods I thought I'd help you out. Fort Wayne zoo is a fairly small zoo. I live here and visit it a couple times a week. I'd say a normal visit is around 2 hrs, but that may be because I visit often and have for the past 20 years. There are several animals here that are fairly rare in zoos... Javan gibbon (we have 4, including a 6 week old baby), dingos (had 7 pups last year but they are all grown up and 2 moved to Cleveland), honey badger (not sure how rare it is in zoos but in the 45 I've been to I haven't seen it anywhere else). The zoo is called a children's zoo but in now way is a petting zoo or anything like that. Just your typical zoo. African journey is the highlight but this is a very nice smaller zoo.
As for your other questions, the 3 in Chicago are all that's there. Columbus and cincinnati are great stops. Toledo is also a great stop, having just added Australian animals including a saltwater crocodile + they have 2 baby polar bears. Indianapolis is very small. You could get it finished quickly. What they have is well exhibited, best cheetah exhibit I've seen yet, and they are building the international orangutan center in the center of the zoo but its still a ways from being done. Louisville is a horribly underrated zoo. I personally love it. It's a mixture of cutting edge exhibits and old school but its definitely worth a visit especially being so close to cincinnati. Milwaukee is good, great for birds or if u pay $125 u can "swim" with their group of sea lions. It's a fun once in a lifetime opportunity. There are many other great zoos in the area. St. Louis is in my top 5 in the country that I've seen. Omaha nebraskas Henry doorly is my favorite, and Minnesota zoo is fourth on my list. I hàvent been to the east coast zoos but I've been everywhere from the Mississippi River to Cleveland + San Diego. All in all I'd say u have a great trip ahead of you.
 
If u have any specific questions feel free to ask. I've been to all the places you are going many many times. Go to each at least 1x a year.
 
Hear is our advice if you have the time to do it.Its basically a zoo circle.

Chicago to Toledo to Cleveland to Columbus to Cincy to Louisville to Indy to Fort Wayne and back to Chicago.

Louisville is one of our favorite zoos do your best to include it in your plans.Glacier Run is Fantastic!

If time is a issue we would consider Cleveland and Toledo better options than Indy and FW

Team Tapir223
 
Yero said:
Hi y'all,

I am travelling to the US next week, and planning a bit of a zoo trip aftervisiting a conference in chicago (where I will also visit Brookfield Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd aquarium - did i miss any zoological collections in Chicago?).
Click to expand...

There are not any other zoos but the Field Museum has some very rare species. The museum is right next to the Shedd Aquarium so if you finish the aquarium early you could try to go to the museum. Also you should try to get to the Shedd Aquarium as early as you can because I have waited for over 2 hours outside in line for the USA's most visited aquarium.
 
wow, thanks for all the tips! TeamTapir, I will take the northern route, but dont think I will make it as far south as saint louis; so now itinerary looks a bit like this (and will skip Indy and Fort Wayne); will stay a couple of days in columbus (visiting some friends, human and non-human ;-)):

chicago - columbus - (cincinatti maybe 1 day excursion) - columbus - Cleveland - Toledo - Milwaukee

I look especially forward to Cleveland; seems to be an awesome place, from what I see on the gallery pictures
 
Yero said:
wow, thanks for all the tips! TeamTapir, I will take the northern route, but dont think I will make it as far south as saint louis; so now itinerary looks a bit like this (and will skip Indy and Fort Wayne); will stay a couple of days in columbus (visiting some friends, human and non-human ;-)):

chicago - columbus - (cincinatti maybe 1 day excursion) - columbus - Cleveland - Toledo - Milwaukee

I look especially forward to Cleveland; seems to be an awesome place, from what I see on the gallery pictures
Click to expand...

All good zoos. In my mind each with a very different character (not so different as Bronx vs. Twycross or Beijing vs. Rotterdam, but different yet all typical modern American zoos)
One could debate whether you should adjust the itinerary this way or that, but it's quite a trip as it is!
Enjoy it
 
Yero said:
Hi y'all,

I am travelling to the US next week, and planning a bit of a zoo trip aftervisiting a conference in chicago (where I will also visit Brookfield Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd aquarium - did i miss any zoological collections in Chicago?).

As always all your advise is welcome, since in the past i found advise on this forum very helpful.

So far my travel plan looks like this

- drive from chicago to columbus = 7 hours (perhaps stop over at Fort Wayne - is it worth it?; does it take a lot of time to visit here?)
- visit columbus zoo (have been there 5 years ago, but will be nice to be there again)
- drive from columbus to cincinatti + visit zoo (have been there 5 years ago, but see above)
- drive from cincinatti to indianapolis (is it worth it?) or louisville or both (any recommendations or advise is very welcome)
- drive to milwaukee, visit zoo

anything on the road that i could also visit? Any zoos/other places that are (also)worth visiting (with rarely seen mammals, which is what i like most, but am afraid i have seen most of the usuals now, and also many of the mammals that are rarely seen in zoos)
Click to expand...

Hi I travelled a very similar path last year, personally to do it again l would not visit Indianapolis and visit Louisville. I only went to Indianapolis to see the dolphin exhibit and after assessing the negativive impact it would have on the dolphins l was hugely disappointed!

If you have not been to St Louis zoo you simply have to make the effort besides some very poor to average primate exhibits it is a fantastic zoo!
 
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