Smithsonian National Zoo Tips for going?

[SusScrofa]

Hi all. I am going to the zoo for the first time in late June on a Friday. Aiming to arrive early in the morning. Any tips on what to see first, how to avoid crowds, what is currently closed? Thanks in advance.

Make sure you circle all buildings, like the reptile house. Smithsonians map doesn't point out the majority of exhibits and there's many enclosures hidden on the sides and back. Also, look up in Amazonia. There's unsigned birds to be seen.

 

[Coelacanth18]

Any tips on what to see first

Your chances of seeing clouded leopard and sloth bear on the Asia Trail are far better first thing in the morning.

how to avoid crowds

I haven't had too much issue with crowds at Smithsonian compared to some other zoos. Worst is usually in the Reptile House - it's sort of in the middle of the zoo, but this could be a place to prioritize seeing earlier too.

Smithsonians map doesn't point out the majority of exhibits and there's many enclosures hidden on the sides and back.

No, but the map *does* show the paths these exhibits are on. The place this is most important is at the Small Mammal, Ape, and Reptile Houses @IwishIwasatazoorightnow; there's a path that essentially goes behind all three buildings, and all three have a number of exhibits back there. For example, the Komodo Dragon icon is located where the outdoor back path herp exhibits are.

Also, look up in Amazonia. There's unsigned birds to be seen.

Last I checked, these are the birds present in Amazonia: Ringed Teal, Green Aracari, Hawk-headed Parrot, Roseate Spoonbill, and Yellow-rumped Cacique. The teal hangs out in the first pool when you walk in the building; the other four hang around in different places but are generally easy to see. There's a flip book of signage for the walk-through room near the exit.

 

[SusScrofa]

Your chances of seeing clouded leopard and sloth bear on the Asia Trail are far better first thing in the morning.



I haven't had too much issue with crowds at Smithsonian compared to some other zoos. Worst is usually in the Reptile House - it's sort of in the middle of the zoo, but this could be a place to prioritize seeing earlier too.



No, but the map *does* show the paths these exhibits are on. The place this is most important is at the Small Mammal, Ape, and Reptile Houses @IwishIwasatazoorightnow; there's a path that essentially goes behind all three buildings, and all three have a number of exhibits back there. For example, the Komodo Dragon icon is located where the outdoor back path herp exhibits are.



Last I checked, these are the birds present in Amazonia: Ringed Teal, Green Aracari, Hawk-headed Parrot, Roseate Spoonbill, and Yellow-rumped Cacique. The teal hangs out in the first pool when you walk in the building; the other four hang around in different places but are generally easy to see. There's a flip book of signage for the walk-through room near the exit.

I went in late April and the flip book was not there. I did see all the birds besides the teal.

 

[TinoPup]

Last I checked, these are the birds present in Amazonia: Ringed Teal, Green Aracari, Hawk-headed Parrot, Roseate Spoonbill, and Yellow-rumped Cacique. The teal hangs out in the first pool when you walk in the building; the other four hang around in different places but are generally easy to see. There's a flip book of signage for the walk-through room near the exit.

The flip book is gone, probably because most of the species aren't there now.

 

[TinoPup]

Hi all. I am going to the zoo for the first time in late June on a Friday. Aiming to arrive early in the morning. Any tips on what to see first, how to avoid crowds, what is currently closed? Thanks in advance.

Get there as early as you can; grounds open at 8. I get there around 830 and do Asia first. When I do that, I see every species, usually right after they're first let out so they're more active. Later in the day you're definitely going to miss some of the species there. There's also very few people there that early, mostly people who use it as an exercise walk. The least busy route is probably doing Asia from the top, then the buildings (elephant, small mammal, herps) soon after they open (at 9), then continuing down, doing Amazonia, and looping back up.

 

[Bintuwright (Throwaway)]

I’d recommend doing the Asia Trail (sloth bear, leopard, and fishing cat are early risers) then elephants and American Trail (same goes for the beaver and the maned wolves, though I’ve yet to see the latter in their new habitat). Then, I’d do Amazonia and then work my way back up the zoo; most of the remaining exhibits are indoors, which is a blessing due to the heat. You could probably see the whole zoo in a day but if you’re short on time, prioritize the two aforementioned trails and whatever species personally interest you. I’d recommend skipping Big Cat Hill as it’s nothing special when it comes to cat habitats (and when I visited one of the three habitats was drained) as well as the Kid’s Farm, which is often crowded and holds exclusively domestic animals of common breeds. Also, if you’re just focused on animals you probably won’t want to spend much time in the Great Ape House and think tank, as every species kept there is also visible from the outside. Gibbon Ridge and the bison are also skippable as they’re nothing special. With that said, if I were you I’d try to see as much as possible.

Also, what others have said about hidden exhibits is true — most notably, there are Komodo dragons and crocodilians behind the reptile house, wallabies and coatis behind the small mammal house, and binturongs, bobcats, Pallas cats, and a porcupine on the Claws and Paws pathway behind the prairie dogs.

 

[dillotest0]

two tiger subspecies, african lion, asian elephant, gorillas, both types of orangutans, california sea lions, zebras, and more

not to be pendantic, but there are actually three species of orangutan now..

 

[ZooElephantMan]

Sorry to hijack and revive this old thread, but I am planning a trip to DC for President’s Day Weekend, and had a few unanswered questions. Earlier comments have already been helpful, but I am wondering if anyone has specific tips for a winter visit. Particularly, I wondered what are the major seasonal areas and what species are normally off-exhibit for cold weather. Also, I’d be curious to hear how long winter visits here usually take. Ive been twice before, and I know that National is normally a full day zoo, but I wondered if in winter average visit-lengths may be shorter if there is less to see. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[StoppableSan]

Sorry to hijack and revive this old thread, but I am planning a trip to DC for President’s Day Weekend, and had a few unanswered questions. Earlier comments have already been helpful, but I am wondering if anyone has specific tips for a winter visit. Particularly, I wondered what are the major seasonal areas and what species are normally off-exhibit for cold weather. Also, I’d be curious to hear how long winter visits here usually take. Ive been twice before, and I know that National is normally a full day zoo, but I wondered if in winter average visit-lengths may be shorter if there is less to see. Thanks in advance for any help!

Just letting you know right now, you may want to wait a month before you visit since the Bird House is supposed to reopen in March.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

Just letting you know right now, you may want to wait a month before you visit since the Bird House is supposed to reopen in March.

That is a good point that I hadn’t thought of— I guess construction there had been going on for so long that the prospect of the project ever being completed had completely slipped my mind ! Unfortunately I won’t be able to move my trip to March for other reasons even if I wanted to, but I am hoping to make the most of the 3-day weekend by going to Baltimore to see the zoo and national aquarium there as well (two facilities I have never seen before).

 

[DavidBrown]

SParticularly, I wondered what are the major seasonal areas and what species are normally off-exhibit for cold weather. Also, I’d be curious to hear how long winter visits here usually take. Ive been twice before, and I know that National is normally a full day zoo, but I wondered if in winter average visit-lengths may be shorter if there is less to see. Thanks in advance for any help!

I have not visited the zoo in the winter, but from my previous visits there I can tell you that the elephants, giant pandas, gorillas, and orangutans all have indoor viewing set-ups.

The lions and tigers and species on the Asian Trail other than pandas do not have indoor viewing, nor do the crocodilians and Komodo dragons in the outdoor reptile displays, nor the beavers, otters, or wolves on the American Trail, nor do any of the African hoof stock or the cheetahs.

A lot of the zoo is designed for an indoor experience - the reptile house, Small Mammal House, Think Tank, Amazonia - so you will still have plenty to see even if outdoor exhibits are closed by winter weather.

 

[TinoPup]

Sorry to hijack and revive this old thread, but I am planning a trip to DC for President’s Day Weekend, and had a few unanswered questions. Earlier comments have already been helpful, but I am wondering if anyone has specific tips for a winter visit. Particularly, I wondered what are the major seasonal areas and what species are normally off-exhibit for cold weather. Also, I’d be curious to hear how long winter visits here usually take. Ive been twice before, and I know that National is normally a full day zoo, but I wondered if in winter average visit-lengths may be shorter if there is less to see. Thanks in advance for any help!

Visiting in winter is basically exactly the same as summer, just shorter hours, less food options, and less people. You might not see the outdoor small mammal house animals, that's about it.

 

[Andrew_NZP]

Visiting in winter is basically exactly the same as summer, just shorter hours, less food options, and less people. You might not see the outdoor small mammal house animals, that's about it.

Yeah as a person that goes quite often in both the winter and summer, these are basically the only differences. Obviously the American alligator is only on exhibit during the spring and summer, but besides that the only other difference I can think of is their might not be as much effort put into any animal demos during the winter compared to the spring/summer (if they even do it). Like in the summer when there's bigger crowds you might see them doing training sessions/giving the animals special enrichment items, but during the fall & winter its usually just a keeper standing around asking if anyone has any questions. Though I did recently go to an ostrich talk that was a basically a couple minutes of the keeper talking about how stupid the ostrich was (followed by them asking if anyone had any questions), so that was a bit different I guess.

 

[TinoPup]

Yeah as a person that goes quite often in both the winter and summer, these are basically the only differences. Obviously the American alligator is only on exhibit during the spring and summer, but besides that the only other difference I can think of is their might not be as much effort put into any animal demos during the winter compared to the spring/summer (if they even do it). Like in the summer when there's bigger crowds you might see them doing training sessions/giving the animals special enrichment items, but during the fall & winter its usually just a keeper standing around asking if anyone has any questions. Though I did recently go to an ostrich talk that was a basically a couple minutes of the keeper talking about how stupid the ostrich was (followed by them asking if anyone had any questions), so that was a bit different I guess.

I think every one of my visits in the last 5 or so years has been between October-March, now that I think about it. I rarely go to demos (don't like crowds), but I've seen several in the winter. I always tried to make the maned wolf one.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I'm glad to hear that the winter experience will likely not be too different from the summertime (and the zoo being emptier is always a plus!). @Andrew_NZP I also really enjoyed the gallery pics from your recent visit, which showed the great apes having outdoor access and the orangutans using the O-Line this time of year. If I am lucky enough to see that on my upcoming visit, it will definitely be a major highlight.