Discover the best zoos and aquariums across the country. ThrillZing covers admission, must-see exhibits, animal encounters, and reciprocal membership tips for every major zoo and aquarium — plus the latest news from the world of wildlife attractions.
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/ July 28, 2026
Perched on the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain southwest of downtown Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the only zoo in the United States built directly into a mountainside — and, at 6,714 feet above sea level, the highest-elevation zoo in the country. Walkways zigzag up
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tz
/ July 28, 2026
The ABQ BioPark Zoo has been a fixture of Albuquerque, New Mexico since 1927, when it opened along the banks of the Rio Grande as the Rio Grande Zoo. Nearly a century later, it remains one of the state’s top attractions, part of the larger
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tz
/ July 27, 2026
The El Paso Zoo is a 35-acre zoological park in El Paso, Texas, tracing its roots to 1910 when local donations of deer and a gray wolf formed the basis of what was then known as the Washington Park Zoo. Over the following century it
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tz
/ July 27, 2026
Reid Park Zoo is a city-owned, nonprofit zoo tucked inside Tucson’s Reid Park in Arizona. Unofficially established in 1965 by parks director Gene Reid and formally opened in 1967, the zoo has grown from a small municipal attraction into an AZA-accredited facility spanning about 24
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tz
/ July 27, 2026
Utah’s Hogle Zoo has been a Salt Lake City landmark since it opened on August 1, 1931, on land donated by James A. Hogle and his wife at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. Nearly a century later, the AZA-accredited zoo remains one of the Intermountain
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tz
/ July 26, 2026
Tucked inside historic Druid Hill Park, The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has been introducing visitors to wildlife since 1876, making it the third-oldest zoo in the United States. Nearly 150 years later, it’s grown into an AZA-accredited conservation institution spanning about 135 acres, home to
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tz
/ July 26, 2026
The Virginia Zoo sits on 53 acres beside Lafayette Park in Norfolk, Virginia, tracing its roots back to 1900 when the city began assembling a small animal collection in the park. More than a century later, it has grown into an AZA-accredited zoo, home to
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tz
/ July 26, 2026
The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro is widely recognized as the world’s largest natural habitat zoo, overseeing roughly 2,805 acres in the Uwharrie foothills of the Piedmont region, including wildlife conservation lands like Ridges Mountain Nature Preserve. Since opening to the public in 1974, it
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tz
/ July 25, 2026
ZooTampa at Lowry Park is a 63-acre nonprofit zoo in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood, and it’s just added the biggest expansion in its history: the Florida Waters area, home to a brand-new manatee rescue habitat, stingrays, otters, and jellies. Whether you’re mapping out hours and
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tz
/ July 25, 2026
Zoo Miami is Florida’s largest zoo, spread across roughly 750 acres in South Miami-Dade County. Its roots trace back to 1948, when a small collection of animals from a stranded road show — three monkeys, a goat, and two black bears — was housed at
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tz
/ July 25, 2026
Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society sits inside Dreher Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, on a lush 23-acre site that has drawn visitors since it opened in 1961. What began as a small municipal attraction called the Dreher Park Farm Zoo has grown into
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tz
/ July 24, 2026
Birmingham Zoo has welcomed visitors to Lane Park in Birmingham, Alabama since it opened on April 2, 1955. What began as a modest municipal menagerie known as the Jimmy Morgan Zoo has grown into the state’s premier zoological institution, now spread across 122 acres of
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tz
/ July 24, 2026
The Louisville Zoo opened on May 1, 1969, and has grown into Kentucky’s official state zoo, spread across 134 acres in the Poplar Level neighborhood of Louisville. Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the zoo is home to more than 1,100 animals, ranging
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tz
/ July 24, 2026
Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens opened on May 12, 1914, growing from a single deer in a Springfield park pen into one of Northeast Florida’s premier family attractions. Sitting along the banks of the Trout River near its confluence with the St. Johns River, the AZA-accredited
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tz
/ July 23, 2026
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is Middle Tennessee’s most-visited wildlife attraction, drawing over a million guests a year to a 188-acre property where modern animal habitats sit alongside a preserved 1810 farmhouse. Before you go, the questions that matter most are practical: what does it cost,
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tz
/ July 23, 2026
The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden traces its roots back to 1902, when a donated white-tailed deer at Wheeler Park sparked what became the first zoo in the American Southwest. After a devastating 1923 flood destroyed much of the original Wheeler Park collection, the
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tz
/ July 23, 2026
The Tulsa Zoo sits on 124 acres inside Mohawk Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has been introducing visitors to wildlife from around the world since it opened in 1927. Owned by the City of Tulsa and privately managed by the nonprofit Tulsa Zoo Management, Inc.
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tz
/ July 22, 2026
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium traces its roots to 1894, when it opened as the small Riverview Park Zoo. It was renamed in 1963 after a major gift from businessman Henry Doorly, and has since grown into one of the most acclaimed zoological parks
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tz
/ July 22, 2026
The Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium sits on 202 acres inside Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri, and has welcomed visitors since it first opened on December 13, 1909. What began as a single building housing the zoo’s entire animal collection for $32,000 has grown
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tz
/ July 22, 2026
The Detroit Zoo opened in its current form on August 1, 1928, spanning the border of Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, Michigan, just north of the city of Detroit. It made history as one of the first zoos in the United States to move away
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