The Best Zoo in Every State

Reader’s Digest recently released an article where they listed out the best zoo in every state (you can read it here). We’re not exactly sure how they came up with the rankings – could have been all thru online research, or a team of reporters that visited every zoo, or just one person’s opinion. But regardless it’s a good read. It also got us thinking…

We haven’t been to zoos in every state yet, and for the states we have visited, in most cases we haven’t been to every zoo that state offers. But in many cases, we feel that we can accurately assess the zoo quality within each state boundary. Our Zoo vs Zoo series comes close to this, comparing two zoos at a time, and our rankings list gives you our opinion as well, but we thought we’d weigh in on a few states and give you our take.

Georgia:
Their pick: Zoo Atlanta
Our pick: Zoo Atlanta
Reason: When we road tripped to Georgia in 2015, the highlight of our trip was the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The aquarium has amazing views, especially of the whale shark. That said, the zoo was also a fun visit, just pales in comparison to a world class aquarium. The zoo has pandas (1 of 4 zoos in the country), as well as many other animals. The Asia exhibit (build around the pandas) is well-themed. The hoofstock area was a bit outdated. We also loved our journey to the Chehaw Park Zoo in rural Albany, but being a smaller zoo I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Zoo Atlanta.

Illinois:
Their pick: Brookfield Zoo
Our pick: Brookfield Zoo
Reason: They definitely got the pick right in our home state. Illinois does have about a dozen zoos, with a wide range in size. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, as well as several in central Illinois are fun to visit, but Brookfield is by far the largest. For us, the highlights at Brookfield include the dolphins, the new family area with wallabies, red panda, and parakeets, and the giraffes.

Indiana:
Their pick: Indianapolis Zoo
Our pick: Indianapolis Zoo
Reason: Indiana has several smaller zoos, like Mesker Park in Evansville and the Columbian Park Zoo in Lafayette. The Fort Wayne Zoo is probably the biggest competition here, but we agree with Indianapolis as the top zoo in the state. This zoo has a large Africa section that is a lot of fun to check out, and dolphin tank with tremendous underwater viewing, an aquarium with a shark touch tank, and they even have a walrus! New to 2019 is the opportunity to feed a flamingo – which we’d love to try.

Iowa:
Their pick: Blank Park Zoo
Our pick: Blank Park Zoo
Reason: We would consider the only competition for Blank Park Zoo to be the Niabi Zoo in the Quad Cities, but technically that zoo is on the Illinois side of the border, so Blank Park is the obvious choice here. Blank Park’s strength is the number of animal interactions they have available to visitors, including being able to feed parakeets, giraffes, goats, fish, and ostriches!

Michigan:
Their pick: Detroit Zoo
Our pick: Detroit Zoo
Reason: We finally visited the Detroit Zoo this summer, and we agree that this is the best zoo in the state of Michigan. Detroit has a magnificent penguin building. It’s true that there is a lot of walking between the entrance and the back half of the zoo. However, the back half includes many exhibits, such as the polar bears, giraffes, and their new tiger forest. While there is a back entrance to the zoo, you would want to trek to the front to see the penguin building (once it reopens in summer of 2020). Second place for us here would be John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids.

Minnesota:
Their pick: Como Park Zoo
Our pick: Minnesota Zoo
Reason: This would be the only state where I would make a strong argument that they picked the wrong zoo. Como Park Zoo supporters would talk about the beautiful botanical gardens that they have, and how the zoo has been doing a lot of renovations lately to change the idea of keeping animals behind bars in small exhibits, and making their zoo more for the animals. On the other side of the city, however, the Minnesota Zoo does all of this and more. Their exhibits are larger than most we’ve seen, and offer multiple viewing areas of the animals. They also have multiple indoor exhibit buildings for visitors that come in the harsh winter months. The zoo also has animals that fit the Minnesota weather, such as musk oxen, tigers, and moose.

Missouri:
Their pick: Saint Louis Zoo
Our pick: Saint Louis Zoo
Reason: This might be the most obviously state to choose, at least from the ones we’ve visited. While there are several zoos in Missouri, none of them can compare with the Saint Louis Zoo. It’s one of the largest ones we’ve visited, with some amazing exhibits including Sea Lion Sound, Grizzly Ridge, and Penguin and Puffin Coast. On top of all that, this zoo is free!

Ohio:
Their pick: Cincinnati Zoo
Our pick: Columbus Zoo
Reason: Choosing the Cincinnati Zoo as the best zoo in Ohio isn’t wrong. This zoo is great, and is currently in our top 5. Fiona the Hippo has put them on the map, and the zoo boasts many other great exhibits, like their elephants and their manatee building. But for us, the Columbus Zoo is the winner here. The zoo is divided into regions and each one is very expansive. The Africa section is our favorite, but the Asia and Australia sections are also very impressive.

Tennessee:
Their pick: Memphis Zoo
Our pick: Memphis Zoo
Reason: We finally visited the Memphis Zoo in 2020, and would agree this is the top zoo in Tennessee. Their China exhibit with Giant Pandas is thrilling. They are one of just three zoos in the US to exhibit pandas. They have several other well-themed exhibits, including Northwest Passage and Teton Trek. And don’t forget to feed the sting rays before you leave! Tennessee is also home to two other very strong zoos in Nashville and Knoxville. We visited both zoos in 2015 while they were undergoing construction, and then again in 2020. Both have added several large exhibits, and were already strong zoos in our opinions at the time! Despite the additions, we would agree that Memphis takes the crown in Tennessee.

Texas:
Their pick: San Antonio Zoo
Our pick: Undecided
Reason: We visited the San Antonio Zoo, back in 2013. While the zoo is good sized, it was very outdated, and has been cited in anti-zoo blogs for poor animal conditions. The article talked about its “Tiny Tot” area for small children, which admittedly we don’t have much of a recollection of. However, three other zoos in Texas (Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth) are widely talked about as being strong zoos. One of us has visited Dallas, and would definitely put it above San Antonio. In July, Fort Worth was named the #1 zoo in the country by their Best Zoos readership poll.

Wisconsin:
Their pick: Henry Vilas Zoo
Our pick: Milwaukee Zoo
Reason: Seeing this pick made me think the article was mainly written from the perspective of younger children. We’ve visited the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison twice, including as recently as March, 2019. Although it is a nice zoo, and does feature a nice children’s area, the zoo itself isn’t that big (although it is permanently free, which is a nice feature). Our pick in Wisconsin would be the Milwaukee Zoo. This zoo has all the big cats – lions, tigers, jaguars included – as well as many other large animals, like giraffes, rhinos, and gorillas. In May, 2019, Milwaukee opened Adventure Africa, home to a newly expanded elephant area. They also added a third elephant to their herd in the Fall. In 2020, they completed a renovation of their hippo exhibit.

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