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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/ August 24, 2026
Zoo Knoxville sits just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, tracing its roots back to a small municipal zoo that opened in 1951 before being reorganized and expanded into the modern nonprofit zoo in 1971. Today the AZA-accredited facility covers 53 acres and is home to…
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tz
/ August 24, 2026
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden opened on April 25, 1974, along the banks of the Saluda River in Columbia and West Columbia, South Carolina. What began as a state-supported project in the early 1960s took years to plan, partly because archaeologists had to survey four historic…
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tz
/ August 24, 2026
Sedgwick County Zoo opened on August 25, 1971, in Wichita, Kansas, and has grown into one of the largest zoos in the country by both size and collection. Spread across 247 acres, with 115 acres currently developed for exhibits, the AZA-accredited zoo is regularly cited…
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tz
/ August 23, 2026
Newport Aquarium sits inside the Newport on the Levee entertainment complex in Newport, Kentucky, directly across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati, and it’s one of the region’s top family attractions. Visitors walk beneath sharks, rays, and other marine life through a network of acrylic…
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tz
/ August 23, 2026
The Toledo Zoo & Aquarium began in 1900 with a single donated woodchuck housed at Walbridge Park in Toledo, Ohio. From that modest start, it grew into one of the country’s most respected zoos, known for its Depression-era architecture and long history of animal care…
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tz
/ August 23, 2026
Aquarium of the Bay sits at Pier 39 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, offering visitors a walk-through look at the marine life that actually lives beneath the city’s own waterfront. Rather than showcasing exotic species from distant oceans, the aquarium focuses on the San Francisco Bay…
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/ August 23, 2026
The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium sits on the riverfront in Dubuque, Iowa, where it tells the story of America’s rivers through live animals, historic vessels, and hands-on exhibits. Operated by the Dubuque County Historical Society, the museum grew out of the smaller Fred…
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
The Alaska SeaLife Center opened on May 20, 1998, on the shores of Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska, built to study and protect the northern marine environment after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill devastated the region’s coastline. Of the project’s roughly $55 million cost…
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
The Dallas World Aquarium opened in October 1992 inside a gutted 1924 warehouse in the city’s West End Historic District, transforming an old industrial shell into a multi-level journey through rainforest canopies, coral reefs, and Mesoamerican ruins. Unlike a traditional single-building aquarium, the attraction has…
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
North Carolina Aquariums is a state-run system of three public aquariums strung along the coast at Fort Fisher (Kure Beach), Pine Knoll Shores, and Roanoke Island. The system traces back to September 10, 1976, when the state opened three Marine Resources Centers built primarily for…
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium sits inside Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, where it has grown from a small city menagerie founded in 1905 into a full-scale AZA-accredited zoo and aquarium. Operated by Metro Parks Tacoma, it is recognized as the only combined zoo…
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tz
/ August 22, 2026
The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium sits in Draper, Utah, as one of the largest aquariums in the country, tracing its roots back to founder Brent Andersen’s 1997 vision of bringing marine life education to landlocked Utah. What began as a traveling “Aquavan” program for schools…
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/ August 21, 2026
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center opened on June 14, 1986, as the Virginia Marine Science Museum, growing from a modest 100,000-gallon facility into one of the mid-Atlantic’s premier aquariums. Sitting on a 235-acre property just south of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Virginia…
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tz
/ August 21, 2026
The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk sits in the historic SoNo (South Norwalk) district of Norwalk, Connecticut, inside a converted 1860s iron works building. It opened on July 16, 1988 as the “Maritime Center” before being rebranded the Maritime Aquarium in 1996 to spotlight its growing…
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tz
/ August 20, 2026
The Florida Aquarium opened in downtown Tampa’s Channel District on March 31, 1995, and has since grown into one of the region’s premier marine attractions. Spanning roughly 250,000 square feet along the waterfront, the aquarium houses more than 671 species and nearly 20,000 aquatic and…
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tz
/ August 20, 2026
Birch Aquarium at Scripps sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California, serving as the public outreach center for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. The aquarium traces its roots back over a century to Scripps’ early marine…
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tz
/ August 20, 2026
The Seattle Aquarium opened on May 20, 1977, on Piers 59 and 60 along the downtown Elliott Bay waterfront. Managed by the nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society since 2010 and accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since March 2024, it now draws roughly 850,000…
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tz
/ August 19, 2026
Mote Marine Laboratory began in 1955 as a small shark research lab founded by pioneering scientist Eugenie Clark, growing over the decades into one of the most respected independent marine research institutions in the country. For 45 years, its public aquarium welcomed visitors to its…
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tz
/ August 19, 2026
Moody Gardens is a non-profit educational destination in Galveston, Texas, established in 1986 by The Moody Foundation on land owned by the City of Galveston. Spread across 242 acres, the campus is anchored by three glass pyramids, each dedicated to a different environment: rainforest, marine…
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tz
/ August 18, 2026
Downtown Aquarium is a Landry’s-owned aquarium and entertainment complex at 410 Bagby Street in downtown Houston, opened in 2003 on a 6-acre site built around two redeveloped city landmarks: historic Fire Station No. 1 and the old Central Waterworks Building. The project cost Landry’s roughly…
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