Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is located in a slightly hilly area a few miles from downtown but mostly feels like it is worlds away from the derelict industrial structures that surround the city. It is a zoo composed of areas which are distinctly seperate from each other, in fact it feels like several small zoos located close together, and this fact makes exploring the property an adventure. The most unfortunate aspects of its layout are that one of the areas of the zoo is a seperately gated attraction surrounded by the parking lot, and a massive arched bridge that carries a city street soars over part of the property and ruins the atmosphere. Currently, that bridge is being rebuilt, so visitors must take a tram through the construction site to reach the area on the other side. I imagine that when the bridge is finished, traffic noise from above will still be an annoyance for the exhibits closest to it. The zoo is reached by road in a small wooded valley which gives way to parking lots dotted with trees that lead to the ticket plaza, and then across a parking lot lane to the ordinary undetailed turnstile shed which is surrounded by an administration and education building that matches the gift shop and rentals building on the other.
The area of the zoo which is located outside of the main gate is the Rainforest. It is a seperate gated attraction, but is covered with zoo admission. Although it is surrounded by the parking lot, it is also surrounded by a landscape buffer of berms covered with trees and a curved entry path and small plaza, so it is a nice entry experience. The building is large and features glazed walls with a series of stepped half and quarter curves at the top. After entering, it is very architectural and feels like a hotel lobby in its front section, which is several stories tall and features the majority of the living plants. Glazed walls give way to Mayan-like ruins from which a giant waterfall drops and several small primate enclosures emerge. There is also a restaurant and small gift shop in this entry atrium area. The bottom floor of the main exhibit is mostly an extensive collection of standard reptile and amphibian enclosures arranged around a dark gallery room with minimal theming. Highlights include a large crocodile enclosure with underwater viewing, a tunnel with windows into the lower floor of a two-story monkey exhibit which is better viewed from the second floor, and a really creepy dark open habitat for chevrotains in the middle of the room which features a mist system which creates a low fog and stops occasionally to clear and provide a view of the little deer-like critters! The second floor is the more open themed and skylit part of the main exhibit space and is entered by a themed rainforest education tent. Rocky enclosures for giant anteaters, capybaras, clouded leopard, asian otters, silvered leaf monkeys, and others are mostly small to midsized, skylit, and well-themed and presented, and an orangutan enclosure occupies the space beneath a glass dome with rocks and a large climbing tree, although the space is limited. Live plants in the exhibits are a bit sparse but not distractingly so. Overall it is a nice immersive experience, not equal to Lied Jungle or Jungleworld, but my favorite part of the zoo.
After entering the main part of the zoo, the Welcome Plaza is the junction point for further exploration and is surrounded by the entrance buildings, the tip of Elephant Crossing which is under construction and promises to be a great addition to the African Savanna which is adjacent, and an African themed food court and cafe whose dining terrace overlooks one of the African Savanna exhibits. The African Savanna is a pleasant but ordinary collection of several nice open enclosures reached by curving paths with occasional wood timber shelter lookouts, the largest of which is an enclosure with giraffe, zebra, and ostrich with too many visible fences and steel railings. The best is a large enclosure with bontebok and crowned cranes that adjoins the cafe. An average African lion exhibit of grass and a little outcrop of rock is backed by a tall flat straight wall of timbers. The most themed area is the Rising Waters Safari Camp, composed of several outdoor areas around an African pavilion. Adjoining this are two buildings, one of which is the nice Center for Zoological Medicine that features interior displays and glazed viewing of operating and care rooms. The other is the rhino house, with interior views of the bedrooms for the black rhino yard adjacent which is average, backed by wood fencing. Scattered around the periphery of African Savanna are several exhibits which are unrelated and unimpressive but do not detract from the overall theme. These include a small leopard house and exhibit, next to a historic rocky monkey island, and an ordinary pair of greenhouses with a temporary butterfly display. Adjacent to the African Savanna is an area that could be considered the other part of this central part of the zoo, Waterfowl Lake. It is a verdant landscape of woods and islands with abundant birds on a large curving lake, partly traversed by a boardwalk and surrounded by paths and a peaked historic building called Wade Hall housing an ice cream shop. The islands feature several primates, lucky fellows compared to most of the zoo's primates. A few medium netted flight cages feature Andean condors and bald eagles on one end. Overall, this central area is pleasant, unhurried, roomy, and ultimately, forgettable.
The next area of the zoo is the one that is seperated from the rest by the overhead bridge. Right now it is reached by a tram, but normally it would be reached by a path running under the bridge. It also features a smaller seperate entrance to the zoo that adjoins one of the Metroparks that ring the city. This area is called Northern Trek, is backed by a thickly wooded hillside, and was mostly built at the same time (1960's?) and partially updated with more woodsy theming and a great newer exhibit. The core of the area is a complete circle of rocky grottoes, surrounded by several large hoofstock yards walled with matching low rock, two more grottoes, a pinniped pool, and a small cafecalled Grin N Bear Eats. This is a great area for getting your bear fix! Most of the grottoes are for bears and they are mostly roomy and open in comparison to some of the dark steep walled exhibits of the same time. The center circle has Amur tigers in addition to sun, sloth, spectacled, and black bears, and all have earth substrate. The two other exhibits are bigger but only had concrete substrate, with grizzly and polar. The polar bear exhibit did feature open views over the valley from the top of its exhibit which was nice, and a central rocky plinth that gives visitors a very close open view of the bears when the bears climb it. The pinniped pool is a small architectural pit that is the weakest part of the area. The three hoofstock yards for Bactrian camels, reindeer, and white-lipped deer are roomy and shaded and remind me of Saint Louis Zoos excellent mid-century Red Rocks hoofstock area. The cafe building has a high pitched square roof that matches the indoor houses for the hoofstock. The newer update to the area in addition to some entry theming is Wolf Wilderness, an excellent themed complex for several species at the far end of Northern Trek. The exhibits are entered through a rustic lodge with a large central themed education room, with a side room that has a large glazed viewing area into the large wooded gray wolf exhibit. The lodge is then exited, and several exhibits surround an outdoor sheltered breezeway, with a small bald eagle aviary and an open streambank exhibit for Blandings turtle with underwater viewing on one side, and a roomy beaver pool and den on the other which is open to the wolf exhibit behind it. Then the visitor goes back through a smaller wood lodge and another wolf view to exit this fine small complex that really augments Northern Trek.
Another seperate area reached from the Welcome Plaza is the second best area of the zoo and is very complete and well-themed. Surprisingly, it is the childrens zoo, called Australian Adventure. It strikes the right balance of theming and education and animal exhibits while being a place that both adults and children can enjoy, without being too junky or syrupy or bright. A train circles the extensive grounds, and the first features are a building called Gumleaf Hideout with several interior skylit koala habitats and a small exterior yard, and a gift shop called In The Pouch Gifts with a nice small lorikeet feeding aviary behind. Then a charming train station and misting water tower adjoin the entrance to the rest of the exhibits, a roomy open walkthrough habitat for kangaroos and wallabies called Wallaby Walkabout. This leads to a themed Australian homestead building with a video and animal robotics presentation about the continent, and then a cafe, petting barn and yard, sheep ranch, small show amphitheater, camel ride, playground, picnic pavilions, emu and singing dog exhibits, and finally a fantastic treehouse filled with cavelike exhibits for reptiles and bats as well as a slide and lookout called Yagga Tree.
Yet another seperate area of the zoo is located up a hill from this and reached by a switchbacking deck through the woods or a tram, and is the weakest part of the zoo, the Primate Cat and Aquatics Building. Other than a few average outdoor yards, the exhibits are mostly viewed inside an ordinary (1970's?) building that is loosely divided into geographic zones for the primates and cats, and a gallery of average small wall aquariums in a row. The primate and cat exhibits are fronted by sloping glass, and divided by concrete walls, often with mesh backdrops, and filled with some minimal fallen logs and toys and ropes. I didn't spend much time in here but it appeared to be a fairly extensive collection cooped up in a subpar facility. Adjacent is another cafe and a rather standard parklike clearing with little excitement.
Despite shortcomings, this zoo is pleasant and is worth the 10 dollar adult general admission, in fact it is underpriced by 2 dollars for the extent of its collection and facilities. I have been to 45 zoos, and I rank Cleveland Metroparks Zoo at number 28, just behind Oregon Zoo and just above Honolulu Zoo. None of the zoos exhibit complexes make my top 50 list, although both the Rainforest and the Australian Adventure are nearly there. None of the zoos individual exhibits make my top lists either. However, any zoo fan going to Cleveland should not skip this facility! I have posted many pictures in the gallery.
The area of the zoo which is located outside of the main gate is the Rainforest. It is a seperate gated attraction, but is covered with zoo admission. Although it is surrounded by the parking lot, it is also surrounded by a landscape buffer of berms covered with trees and a curved entry path and small plaza, so it is a nice entry experience. The building is large and features glazed walls with a series of stepped half and quarter curves at the top. After entering, it is very architectural and feels like a hotel lobby in its front section, which is several stories tall and features the majority of the living plants. Glazed walls give way to Mayan-like ruins from which a giant waterfall drops and several small primate enclosures emerge. There is also a restaurant and small gift shop in this entry atrium area. The bottom floor of the main exhibit is mostly an extensive collection of standard reptile and amphibian enclosures arranged around a dark gallery room with minimal theming. Highlights include a large crocodile enclosure with underwater viewing, a tunnel with windows into the lower floor of a two-story monkey exhibit which is better viewed from the second floor, and a really creepy dark open habitat for chevrotains in the middle of the room which features a mist system which creates a low fog and stops occasionally to clear and provide a view of the little deer-like critters! The second floor is the more open themed and skylit part of the main exhibit space and is entered by a themed rainforest education tent. Rocky enclosures for giant anteaters, capybaras, clouded leopard, asian otters, silvered leaf monkeys, and others are mostly small to midsized, skylit, and well-themed and presented, and an orangutan enclosure occupies the space beneath a glass dome with rocks and a large climbing tree, although the space is limited. Live plants in the exhibits are a bit sparse but not distractingly so. Overall it is a nice immersive experience, not equal to Lied Jungle or Jungleworld, but my favorite part of the zoo.
After entering the main part of the zoo, the Welcome Plaza is the junction point for further exploration and is surrounded by the entrance buildings, the tip of Elephant Crossing which is under construction and promises to be a great addition to the African Savanna which is adjacent, and an African themed food court and cafe whose dining terrace overlooks one of the African Savanna exhibits. The African Savanna is a pleasant but ordinary collection of several nice open enclosures reached by curving paths with occasional wood timber shelter lookouts, the largest of which is an enclosure with giraffe, zebra, and ostrich with too many visible fences and steel railings. The best is a large enclosure with bontebok and crowned cranes that adjoins the cafe. An average African lion exhibit of grass and a little outcrop of rock is backed by a tall flat straight wall of timbers. The most themed area is the Rising Waters Safari Camp, composed of several outdoor areas around an African pavilion. Adjoining this are two buildings, one of which is the nice Center for Zoological Medicine that features interior displays and glazed viewing of operating and care rooms. The other is the rhino house, with interior views of the bedrooms for the black rhino yard adjacent which is average, backed by wood fencing. Scattered around the periphery of African Savanna are several exhibits which are unrelated and unimpressive but do not detract from the overall theme. These include a small leopard house and exhibit, next to a historic rocky monkey island, and an ordinary pair of greenhouses with a temporary butterfly display. Adjacent to the African Savanna is an area that could be considered the other part of this central part of the zoo, Waterfowl Lake. It is a verdant landscape of woods and islands with abundant birds on a large curving lake, partly traversed by a boardwalk and surrounded by paths and a peaked historic building called Wade Hall housing an ice cream shop. The islands feature several primates, lucky fellows compared to most of the zoo's primates. A few medium netted flight cages feature Andean condors and bald eagles on one end. Overall, this central area is pleasant, unhurried, roomy, and ultimately, forgettable.
The next area of the zoo is the one that is seperated from the rest by the overhead bridge. Right now it is reached by a tram, but normally it would be reached by a path running under the bridge. It also features a smaller seperate entrance to the zoo that adjoins one of the Metroparks that ring the city. This area is called Northern Trek, is backed by a thickly wooded hillside, and was mostly built at the same time (1960's?) and partially updated with more woodsy theming and a great newer exhibit. The core of the area is a complete circle of rocky grottoes, surrounded by several large hoofstock yards walled with matching low rock, two more grottoes, a pinniped pool, and a small cafecalled Grin N Bear Eats. This is a great area for getting your bear fix! Most of the grottoes are for bears and they are mostly roomy and open in comparison to some of the dark steep walled exhibits of the same time. The center circle has Amur tigers in addition to sun, sloth, spectacled, and black bears, and all have earth substrate. The two other exhibits are bigger but only had concrete substrate, with grizzly and polar. The polar bear exhibit did feature open views over the valley from the top of its exhibit which was nice, and a central rocky plinth that gives visitors a very close open view of the bears when the bears climb it. The pinniped pool is a small architectural pit that is the weakest part of the area. The three hoofstock yards for Bactrian camels, reindeer, and white-lipped deer are roomy and shaded and remind me of Saint Louis Zoos excellent mid-century Red Rocks hoofstock area. The cafe building has a high pitched square roof that matches the indoor houses for the hoofstock. The newer update to the area in addition to some entry theming is Wolf Wilderness, an excellent themed complex for several species at the far end of Northern Trek. The exhibits are entered through a rustic lodge with a large central themed education room, with a side room that has a large glazed viewing area into the large wooded gray wolf exhibit. The lodge is then exited, and several exhibits surround an outdoor sheltered breezeway, with a small bald eagle aviary and an open streambank exhibit for Blandings turtle with underwater viewing on one side, and a roomy beaver pool and den on the other which is open to the wolf exhibit behind it. Then the visitor goes back through a smaller wood lodge and another wolf view to exit this fine small complex that really augments Northern Trek.
Another seperate area reached from the Welcome Plaza is the second best area of the zoo and is very complete and well-themed. Surprisingly, it is the childrens zoo, called Australian Adventure. It strikes the right balance of theming and education and animal exhibits while being a place that both adults and children can enjoy, without being too junky or syrupy or bright. A train circles the extensive grounds, and the first features are a building called Gumleaf Hideout with several interior skylit koala habitats and a small exterior yard, and a gift shop called In The Pouch Gifts with a nice small lorikeet feeding aviary behind. Then a charming train station and misting water tower adjoin the entrance to the rest of the exhibits, a roomy open walkthrough habitat for kangaroos and wallabies called Wallaby Walkabout. This leads to a themed Australian homestead building with a video and animal robotics presentation about the continent, and then a cafe, petting barn and yard, sheep ranch, small show amphitheater, camel ride, playground, picnic pavilions, emu and singing dog exhibits, and finally a fantastic treehouse filled with cavelike exhibits for reptiles and bats as well as a slide and lookout called Yagga Tree.
Yet another seperate area of the zoo is located up a hill from this and reached by a switchbacking deck through the woods or a tram, and is the weakest part of the zoo, the Primate Cat and Aquatics Building. Other than a few average outdoor yards, the exhibits are mostly viewed inside an ordinary (1970's?) building that is loosely divided into geographic zones for the primates and cats, and a gallery of average small wall aquariums in a row. The primate and cat exhibits are fronted by sloping glass, and divided by concrete walls, often with mesh backdrops, and filled with some minimal fallen logs and toys and ropes. I didn't spend much time in here but it appeared to be a fairly extensive collection cooped up in a subpar facility. Adjacent is another cafe and a rather standard parklike clearing with little excitement.
Despite shortcomings, this zoo is pleasant and is worth the 10 dollar adult general admission, in fact it is underpriced by 2 dollars for the extent of its collection and facilities. I have been to 45 zoos, and I rank Cleveland Metroparks Zoo at number 28, just behind Oregon Zoo and just above Honolulu Zoo. None of the zoos exhibit complexes make my top 50 list, although both the Rainforest and the Australian Adventure are nearly there. None of the zoos individual exhibits make my top lists either. However, any zoo fan going to Cleveland should not skip this facility! I have posted many pictures in the gallery.
We shoud be thankful for that!
