Great photo! Northwest Trek is packed with brilliant habitats for its animals, and the focus on strictly North American wildlife works well with the forest setting in many of the naturalistic enclosures. This zoo is an underrated gem that not many people visit each year, as it receives about 200,000 visitors annually.
Yes, it is definitely underrated. It is probably my all-time favorite zoological park. It was way better than I expected and a photographer's paradise. All of the predators have huge forest enclosures and open viewing areas (no fences or windows to photograph through). The bison, elk, bighorns, etc have several hundred acres.
The hoofstock are only visible from the bus, which of course is not the best situation for hardcore zoo fans like us. There are indeed a few hundred acres that hold bison, rocky mountain goats, caribou, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose, etc, and the ride is about an hour long and is included with the admission price. All of the carnivores and smaller mammals are viewed on foot, and the exhibits are set in a dense, thick forest.
There is a lake edge where you can stand and look into a meadow at the edge of the hoofstock area. Bison are often visible from there, but for most of the other animals you have to take the tram. One weekend a month they offer special photo trams with the windows knocked out and stop in good spots for photos.
Spectacular, as I said in another thread, I'd love to see trees for mountain lions more often in zoos, but I didn't expect to see so many or such high trees! Thanks for pointing this out to me AD!
