This exhibit is huge by the standards of most urban zoos, and when I visited all of the bears (three?) were extremely active. The pool is massive, there are glass viewing areas for a closer look at the animals, and my only major complaint would be that the enclosure is a little too bare )) for forest-dwelling animals.
I am a huge fan of this exhibit, and definitely think it is one of the top 25 or even 15 exhibits in America. I think this enclosure particularly goes above and beyond replicating the black bears environment, and providing a great experience for visitors. My only complaint is some of the sight lines. Quite minor, but that's what makes the difference between an incredible brilliant exhibit (i.e. Congo Gorilla Forest), and an excellent just a notch below top 10 quality (This exhibit).
Any more forest-like and this exhibit would be too dense and be more preserve like rather than top quality zoo like. This offers the bears open spaces for playing and plenty of trees to give an awesome North American wilderness experience.
