Zoo in Forest Park and Education Center

David Nieves Jr.

2024-04

So much fun! We love that Forest Park held this event for the kids (and grown-ups) to enjoy the Easter weekend.The weather was chilly, but there were enough animals out at the zoo that the kids were in awe every time we moved from one enclosure to another.Definitely look for other events throughout the year.

Xanna S.

2024-04

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Karly D

2024-04

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ken p

2023-09

Came here today because the month of Aug had free events so I wanted to check out this zoo in Springfield. A really nice park with a zoo, which was okay. Would I have paid the 12 dollars to enter the zoo on a normal day probably not. You will need to pay to enter the park 3 dollars for residents and 5 for non residents which I didn't mind paying. Spent some time in the zoo checking out the exhibits. After we drove around this beautiful park.

Kazandra Baez

2023-07

Very beautiful park ...there are lots of areas for all sorts of different outings. Would be great for family gatherings.. the zoo is also nice.The only complaint I have is the restroom area. They are completely unsanitary , your children could not use this restroom alone , it is filthier than a prison bathroom, I was shocked and disgusted..not even soap for use. Everything else was great.

Jenny Lau

2024-02

One of my favorite small zoos! One of my favorite things about Forest Park Zoo is their signage, which explains their work in wildlife rescue and conversation and even gives you the backstory (and names!) on some of the animals that call the zoo home. It helps visitors engage and stay connected with the animals, which helps boost interests in wildlife conservation!You can purchase a feed cone at the entrance, and feed any of the hooved animals with the feed or sugar cone. Highly recommend meeting Max - a dromedary camel and an absolute gentle giant. The walking path has no diversions and is easy to follow. While visiting the zoo, we were able to chat with some of the keepers who were preparing to care for one of the baby camels at the zoo. They were very friendly and knowledgeable.Parking was a little confusing. I would recommend entering from Main Greeting Road ($3-5 parking) and following the signs for the zoo, traveling on North Greeting Road. If you're using a GPS, I would use the nearby F-Lot as your destination to find the right park entrance. There is some parking right in front of the zoo and usually plenty of parking in F-Lot.As for the bathroom, the only available facility for visitors is the park bathroom a few steps from the zoo entrance. It was clean and well maintained.

Larissa Steblen

2023-09

Visiting from out of state and this was one of the places we most wanted to visit. We had a great time! $5 just to enter the park for out of state plates (cash only). Additional admission price for the zoo which I felt was reasonable for what they offered and the level of care the animals seemed to receive. I was happy to see how active many of the animals were, even during the afternoon. They have appropriate hidey holes/safe places if they don't want to interact but the majority of the animals were awake and active. I LOVE that they have an option to feed the hoofed animals. We got to feed a camel! You can buy pre-made "grain cones" (grain feed inside an ice cream cone) to feed to the animals. 2 for $5 and 2 cones felt like enough to ration across the animals we were able to feed. The zoo took us about an hour to walk and look at all the animals. There is decent signage and I liked that they share the animals names and backstories, it made us feel more connected to them. All of their animals are un-releasable for various reasons and I am happy to see them sharing the message of conservation. Any zoo I wish the enclosures were bigger but I very much understand the constraints in terms of space and funding, I was happy to see appropriate enrichment items in enclosures and it seems they have knowledgeable staff. (however we did wonder if it was stressful for predator's and prey to be directly across from each other in a few of the areas). Overall I think worth a visit if you are looking for something to do while visiting or if you live nearby and haven't check it out yet. Just outside the zoo is a good sized playground and bathrooms nearby as well. We ventured around a little to other areas of the park and the grounds were well kept and very beautiful.

Lady Driver

2024-04

Love this zoo. Well worth it to get a membership if you live locally. Animals are well kept and taken care of. Staff is friendly and informative if you have any questions about the wildlife living there. My favorite area is where you can pet/feed the animals.

Mark Follett

2024-04

Nice little zoo in the park with a wide a variety of animals. You can feed the hoofed animals like goats, sheep, donkeys, alpacas, and camels. They had grain cones the day we were there. There is a little reptile enclosurw where you could them from the outside. They had a staff member with a huge snake for kids to touch if they wanted. Most of the native animals have a story relating to their rescue or why they are there. There are a few exotic ones too.

Margaret Honan

2022-05

4.20.22 OH my goodness what a pleasant surprise. The zoo was so much better than what I had imagined. First, there's a $5 fee for CT/out of state cars. But worth it! Check your library for discount zoo passes. The park itself is huge with many trails and cool things to see and do for adults and kids. The zoo has many interesting animals, mammals etc such as eagles, donkeys, wolves, a leopard, bobcat etc. Lots of parking, bathrooms close by, snacks available, zoo was very clean. We absolutely loved it.

Jorge Velarde

2023-09

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Andy Russell

2022-05

Awesome. 10 stars. We had such fun. My pics aren't doing justice to the zoo. Its well planned out and we saw all the animals except the skunk;-). Then there was the play ground and a nice area to order good food and just relax. Will be going back soon again.

Trish Ghazali

2023-08

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John Frogameni

2023-05

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Robert Wellenberger

2023-05

A wonderful way to spend an hour or two in a great local attraction. My grandson and wife had a wonderful excursion. Plenty of cover foliage so you aren't battered by the sun. Clean and filled with attentive staff and plenty of families enjoying the zoo.

Stuart Krantz

2023-05

What a GREAT smaller Zoo. Admission for Seniors was only$7.00. There were some school groups early but we were first at 10 am and saw 1/2 the zoo before they showed. Even saw some animals I havent seen in other Zoos - like a P? Mule and a white ?? Peacock. Enjoy.

NewEngland BettyBoop

2024-04

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Vinodhraj Manoharan

2020-05

The place is inside a park. So there is enough parking space. The place not much crowded and not much animals too. Only the monkeys were active (obviously). I wouldn't complain given the cost of ticket is so cheap. If you are an animal liver and need a "zoo" experience, this place won't satisfy you. But if you are a parent to a kid, this is a great place to introduce them to animals and see how they react. And no charge for kids under a year. Mine was so scared seeing the Raven. The place is clean and well maintained. It also has a decent sized play area for kids. Parents - recommended

Paul Stone

2024-04

Love the Forest Park zoo! A good amount of animals to see, and just a pleasant stoll thru makes for a great day. There is a gift shop in the zoo. You can feed the goats and mules if you buy some food at the entrance. Afterwards there's a kids spot with slides and settings just outside the zoo. Farther down the road is a foodstand with ice cream and such. Parking is plentiful. Overall a great place to bring the kids!

Wella Garcia

2022-05

We enjoyed our visit here,$10 per adult $5 per child . You can pet some animal , you can buy feed for $2 per cone.Kids loves all the animals, they really enjoy the place plus it has park playground and picnic table if you want to eat together just bring seat and table cover for hygiene.

Alex Morales

2024-05

It was such a great experience we loved it my son loved it.They have improved some areas cant complain

Terrilee Piepul

2021-05

I absolutely loved going to the Forest Park Zoo recently 😁. I was enjoying it probably just as much as the kids did, maybe more. We went to visit the zoo one day and found out that we first needed to get tickets online. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, you were able to purchase tickets at the zoo entrance. Years ago, things were quite different...there were animals along the side of the sports field after the concession stand. Each species had a section of land from the sidewalk down the hill with some type of cage or shelter. At the end of that strip, there were more animals inside a couple of the brick buildings. I remember that one had monkeys, however I cannot recall exactly what other animals lived at the zoo then. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a variety of animals! We took our time reading the educational signs and understanding why some of the animals needed to be in the zoo. The wolves were amazing, the raven and many other birds were entertaining and we enjoyed our visit so much that we'll be heading back sometime soon! Great zoo!

Tiffany Basile

2022-05

Such a great zoo! Fun place to bring the kids! Great friendly staff also! Prices were very reasonable! We will keep coming back to this zoo!

Kerri Jensen

2023-05

Bright Nights never disappoints!! Merry Christmas to you all and Have a safe and happy and healthy New Year everyone!! ⛄🎄🎅 Cheers 🍻 to 2023!! 🌟🎉🌟🎉

Victoria Szetela

2020-05

This zoo was much bigger than I thought. The cost is $ 10.00 for adults and $ 5.00 for kids 12 and under. Please note that they have closed off some of the entrances to Forest Park and I only saw 2 open entrances and you now have to pay $ 5.00 to get into the park as well. I did not see this listed on the Forest Park website so I dont know how recent the change is because I havent been down this way in a few years. I'm undecided as to how I feel about zoo's in general because on one hand nothing deserves to be caged but on the other you get too see animals that you otherwise may never get to see such as the kangaroos that they have here or the endangered Timber Wolves. They also have goats, chickens, turkeys, turtles,emus and many more animals.

Kathryn Frank

2020-05

This place was so cool! We had no idea there was a zoo in Springfield. The animals seemed happy and responsive. The zoo is in the middle of a really cool park. We came on a rainy day so we were the only people there. Don't miss Cassie the Cotoye.

James Martin

2023-12

The park is so nice of a walk. There is hills beautiful things to see. Rose gardens geese ducks. There is a zoo. With different bird, wolf's camels donkeys raccoons an more. There is a small charge to go in to see. Only open to the zoo on weekendsThe staff There are helpfull. There is picnic table to us all different places. There is baseball field basket ball courts, tennis ball courts. A ice ring. For the holiday There is going to be a light show a night to drive through. A really good time. You could spend all day there. I say go an have fun with the hole family.

MaryAnne

2020-05

Very nice, though it was really hot we still were able to see a majority of the animals. (They were out and active) There were a few animals that weren't there, but 98% were❤❤ It's bigger then I thought it was to be honest. $10 for adults and $5 for kids under 12. You also have to pay to get in the park $3 for mass plates $5 for out of state. I posted mostly bird pictures because I didn't want to ruin the mystery of what there is for animals! Only thing I was really disappointed with, was there are no tigers! 😞😞🐅🐯

Aimee Turoczy

2021-05

Cute Zoo to visit for something to do with family. Not too big but passes time. My boyfriend and I went during Covid so they had some areas cut off but nothing that hurts your visit. Will always love coming here when visiting Forest Park!

Janae Craig

2023-11

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