In August I am going to the Pacific Northwest for the first time and I'm very excited. I plan to visit the Oregon Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and Vancouver Aquarium. I have allowed an extra day in case I decide to go to Woodland Park Zoo twice depending on how things go. Is there a membership scheme or any other way that would make this most economical? It would be great to hear any advice people might have.
I tour those 5 establishments all the time, as for example my wife and I (with our 2 kids) visit Woodland Park Zoo approximately 7 times a year, Seattle Aquarium twice a year, Oregon Zoo once a year, Point Defiance Zoo twice a year and Vancouver Aquarium once a month. We live an hour from the Vancouver Aquarium but the other four institutions are all a long drive away and in another country! All of them are definitely worthwhile to visit, but you will need to rent a car to make your life much easier. Oregon Coast Aquarium is a few hours south of Portland but if you had the time that is definitely a worthwhile stop as even though it is small it is possibly one of the 10 best aquariums in the United States. As far as memberships are concerned there is really nothing that you can do. None of those zoos or aquariums allow you to get in free via a membership with one of its neighbours, and that all stopped about 3 years ago. You'll have to purchase a ticket at each and every attraction, as for example pasted below is a link to the reciprocal list for Woodland Park Zoo and you'd only receive half-price at Oregon and there wouldn't be a discount anywhere else. The other attractions offer even less of a discount. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - Reciprocal Zoos and Aquariums
Thanks for that reply. I don't drive so can't hire a car but I am flying into Portland and out of Vancouver with Seattle inbetween. I'll be travelling by train and bus and hope to see some native wildlife and national parks too.
Although difficult to access without a private vehicle, if there is any way to include Northwest Trek on your itinerary you should--it is one of North America's most unique and pleasant zoos, located about 40 miles outside of Tacoma. The views of Mt. Rainier on the drive to NWT are stunning (on the rare days when the clouds part--which most often occur in August/September)
How much time is needed to see the Oregon Zoo? I changed my itinerary and won't be staying in Portland so if I do go it will be as a day trip from Seattle; a long journey but logistically possible by train. I wouldn't have a full day though; is it worth the trip?
I've visited Oregon Zoo 5 times and I think that it is a solid, top 25 zoo in the United States. The 2009 set of exhibits "Predators of the Serengeti" (lion, cheetah, caracal, African wild dog, hornbill, mongoose, rock python, etc) is excellent and won the AZA Best Exhibit of the year award. There are 7 Asian elephants in an outdated pair of paddocks, the "Great Northwest" section is very impressive, there are Steller's sea lions and sea otters, and as a first time visitor I'd estimate that walking around alone and eating lunch there you'll spend a good 5 hours at the zoo.
Thanks, that is useful to know, I think I will give it a go, the train from Seattle arrives in Portland at 11.00am and the return train to Seattle is at 18:15 so it sounds possible.
Looking forward to visiting Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and Point Defiance Zoo next week. Any recommendations, caveats (construction sites etc.), things-to-do's etc. are greatly appretiated. Is it possible to make it to Northwest Trek on the same day when driving from Seattle to Tahoma (back)?
Northwest Trek can be done at speed if you have a vehicle that can get you to the city of Eatonville where the park is located. The one-hour tram tour is interesting, but the walking trails there are excellent with many natural habitats for the animals. You could do the park in 3 hours, but it is out of the way in terms of location. You could work out your route on mapquest.com for specifics. Point Defiance has 8 clouded leopards (mostly off-exhibit) but the two young cubs are publicly fed at certain times of the day. If you have connections, which I suspect that you might, then you'll be able to see more leopards behind-the-scenes. Woodland Park is a large zoo that I'm fairly certain you've been to before, and I'd be intrigued to read your response if you took the time to type up a short review. The worst part of the zoo (Asian bear and tiger grottoes) will be considerably revamped in the next few years.
Short précis: - Woodland Park Zoo: lovely, lush zoo. Even better than I remembered. Smart & thoughtful design of exhibits (and husbandry details) both before and behind the scenes. Good to see that relict exhibits are planned to be demolished. Kudos to the Oregon Spotted frog project. -Point Defiance Zoo: little nice and straightforward zoo. The Red Wolf exhibit complex and the new Canopy exhibit stroke me as the most interesting ones. As in every other zoo, some exhibits could be better (Burmese python, birds of prey, owls...). -Northwest Trek: interesting and well-done presentation of the local fauna, with emphasis on larger native mammals. Amazed that the combination of various large ungulates works. One typical problem: very lush & naturalistic exhibits lead to visitors complaining that they do not see the animals...However, all in all well-bred visitors, if compared to other zoos. First time I saw a living neotenic Coastal Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus). Kudos to supporting the Oregon Spotted frog project. -Seattle Aquarium: some nice exhibits (for example the native Hawai'i species) and design ideas. Unfortunately, very crowded during my visit. In all cases: very hospitable & friendly staff.
Woodland Park Zoo This is the first of my visit reports/reviews. Firstly, I don’t know how snowleopard does it. I went to three zoos in three days involving a fair amount of travel and was completely exhausted. I went to Woodland Park Zoo on my second day in Seattle, a day with perfect weather which is by no means guaranteed in this part of the world. I wanted to be at the zoo as it opened and was pretty early. When I arrived there were only two other people at the entrance. The new entrance area is very attractive in my opinion with attractive wooden fronted buildings. I had a hot drink and a delicious peanut butter cookie as I waited. Quite a few people were there as opening time approached and on entry I panicked a little. Here I was at my favourite zoo in the world and I was worried that I would feel overwhelmed and not be able to take it all in. In what order should I see things? How best to dodge the crowds? What if I missed something? I turned right and went to the penguin exhibit which was very impressive. The attention to detail was excellent and on a very warm and bright morning you could appreciate what the penguin’s native environment is like. I then went across to the Tropical Rainforest. No jaguar was to be seen but again, this was an excellent enclosure. I enjoyed seeing footprints in the concrete path even without an animal in sight; it was a pleasure to view the exhibit. I later saw a jaguar very close up, asleep in the glass fronted cave. The Tropical Rain Forest Building was nice and quiet at the start of the day and although small was nicely done with some beautifully done small enclosures and I thought the walkthrough aviary was excellent with dense, green and lush vegetation. This is what a small rainforest building should be like I thought with my local London Zoo in mind. The outside enclosures for ruffed lemur, red-flanked duiker (a first for me) and black and white colobus were all excellent with lushly planted islands and a nice glass fronted mesh enclosure. One of the pleasures of this zoo is moving between exhibits, always densely planted and winding pathways which create a sense of anticipation and excitement. I enjoyed the gorilla exhibits too, my only slightly negative point is that they seemed smaller than I had expected but still very, very good. The day exhibit is one of the weaker areas in terms of aesthetics and is one of the few indoor exhibits in the zoo. There was still an interesting mix of species and I was excited to see a western pond turtle. I walked on along the sun bear and sloth bear grottoes as well as the tiger enclosure. I know snowleopard always mentions these as being weak spots in the zoo but all things considered I have seen much worse. I thought the sun bear enclosure was the most attractive but didn’t spot a bear. The cage next to the tiger enclosure had a low wooden walkway leading into it with a waist-height barrier and some boards detailing the plans for this part of the zoo. I overheard someone say “what’s in there?” to the reply “I dunno, I guess it’s gonna be a new tiger cage” “Fence looks kinda low to me, you wouldn’t get me up close to that if a tiger’s behind it”. Doh. Next I went to the snow leopard enclosure. Like many enclosures at Woodland Park Zoo it is set back from the main path and there is some nice foliage and rocks and an attractive statue. The enclosure is ok but not outstanding but there was lots of signage and some volunteer docents with lots of material including a full snow leopard pelt which you could touch. I talked to them; they were all very friendly and fascinated to hear that I had travelled from England to visit their zoo and was so well informed on their animals and exhibits. Along to Australasia. Again, the path was beautifully landscaped. In fact, just take it as a given that all areas of the zoo are well planted and beautifully maintained. It’s a wonderful place to wander around. The paddock was average but attractive but the birds in Willawong Station were unspectacular. Then to my favourite part of the zoo: Northern Trail. The path leads past wolves with elk (identified variously as moose, reindeer and caribou by my fellow visitors) in the background, netted enclosures for owls and porcupine and down to grizzly bears in an amazing enclosure with mountain goats in the distance. The vistas are amazing and the sense of closeness to the bears is incredible. You can see them through gaps in the foliage as you go down towards the wooden deck walkway and through a cave. The Taiga Viewing Shelter provided more great views of the bears splashing about in the water and if you are up close the sheer size of the bear being right next to you is breath-taking. However this is understandably very popular and it is hard to get close up. On the other side is underwater viewing for river otter with mountain goats in the background again. The walkway leads past the rocky cliffs of the mountain goat and arctic fox (didn’t see) enclosure and into a wooden hide which takes you into the sea eagle aviary which was excellent. They are probably my favourite raptor and it’s appropriate to see them in the home town of the Sea Hawks NFL team. There are more views of the elk in their grassy meadow. My only criticism of Northern Trail is that there is lots of visible mesh fencing around the wolves and elk but I can live with that. I then walked past the simple but pleasant grassy yards for anoa and the raptor building where birds are flown over a meadow. Tropical Asia is the next area and there are densely planted stands of bamboo all around here. There is a forest atmosphere and at one point, between the siamangs and tapirs, everything was green due to the sun shining through the canopy of broad leaves above. The orang utan enclosures were great and I enjoyed seeing so much greenery in an orang enclosure. The siamang enclosure was also excellent, similar to the island enclosures in the Tropical Rain Forest. The tapirs were close up to the glass viewing areas but it was difficult to get a picture due to glare on the glass and lots of people desperate to get close to the ‘anteater’ as several of them called the tapir. I was tempted to carry on to the elephants but was very tired and getting hungry so I had lunch at the Pacific Blue Chowder House. I had fish and chips and it was very nice. The queue was quite long but I found a quite spot near the Adaptations building to sit down. The Thai Village by the elephants was nicely done and the whole area was nice to explore but the enclosure itself wasn’t that amazing being rather narrow. I can see that it was once excellent for its time but I think it could be improved. The varied viewing points are excellent and I liked the part with the pool and waterfall. The winding path leads you out by the main path which I took back up to the Adaptations building. Here, from memory, are meerkat (personally I would have put them in a side enclosure to the savannah exhibit), tree shrew, tamandua, sloth and Komodo dragons. Nothing special here in terms of enclosures, basic glass fronted indoor ones. I did find the building attractive from the outside though. There is also a kea enclosure here. A trek to find a bathroom took me back up to the top of the zoo and around the historic carousel and meadow where concerts are held. There is also a summer dinosaur attraction here but I didn’t bother with it. I picked up another cookie for dessert ( I love all the peanut butter flavoured treats in North America) at the Food Pavilion and walked down to what, in terms of immersion and landscaping, is probably the weakest area of the zoo. There is a small South American area with Chilean flamingo and coscoroba swan (maybe other species too) in a nicely landscaped but unspectacular pond and an enclosure for pudu. There is lots of wire fencing on view here and throughout the Temperate Forest area. The red panda enclosure is attractive with plenty of opportunities for climbing but is let down by the mesh. The Japanese serow enclosure is also very nice but the same drawback applies. There are various enclosures for white-naped, hooded and red-crowned cranes in this area and it was nice to see a selection that included my favourite species. There is a netted wetlands aviary that is attractive and the walk through path leads to the Conservation Aviary. Very nicely planted with some interesting species it is the former pheasantry with a row of harp wire fronted aviaries and a netted aviary with free flight species covering the visitor path. On the way out there is an old style aviary with knobbed hornbill. You are now in the Family Farm area which is very nicely done with some unusual domestic species like Ossabaw island pig and miniature cows which look like pandas. There is also a clever (but small) barn owl aviary in the roof of the barn. I walked on via Bug World, a small invertebrate building, an owl aviary and more woodland to the African Savanna. This are is excellent although it was a bit of a challenge seeing all the animals. I came back a few days later for a behind the scenes experience which I booked in advance. It included getting to go in the hippo and giraffe barns as well as the African Savanna corral. Various things which you might miss around the exhibit are the bones embedded in the dry ‘river banks’ on the edge of the path and the heated rocks which you can stand on as you look over the enclosure. I was getting to be really tired by this point and the pathways were crowded but this area didn’t disappoint. I also saw a black spur-winged goose which I had never heard of and couldn’t identify. The latest enclosure for wild dogs is very well done although seeing a sign about conservation which asked ‘could wild dogs vanish?’ the answer according to one visitor was a clear ‘yes’ as none could be seen. However I managed to spot them in the undergrowth from another point. There is a nice viewing shelter for the lions and hunting dogs too I think but it was packed and I didn’t stay long. I revisited a couple of areas including the jaguar enclosure but was feeling very tired and overwhelmed so quit while I was ahead. In conclusion, I love this zoo! The enclosures, the trails and paths, the beautifully lush foliage everywhere, it really is amazing and its weak points are few and relative to the overwhelming high standard of the rest of the exhibits. I like the low key feel with visitor facilities kept on the whole discrete and the focus is very much on the animals which do, it is true, need patience in some cases to see but for me, it’s really worth it. My only criticism is the gift shops. I got a key ring and a magnet but there wasn’t much Woodland Park Zoo branded merchandise other than some caps and clothing which all had random designs and fonts. I would have loved a nicely branded baseball cap or a shirt but that is by no means the end of the world and it certainly didn’t spoil my visit.
Great review! You certainly picked a great time to go as ZooChatter Sun Wukong also remarked how incredibly green and lush the grounds are in summer. It seems as if you really loved Seattle's zoo, and was the behind-the-scenes tour worth the cost? Did you mind the fact that you sometimes had to really search to locate the animals? You mentioned that you quite enjoyed the old grottoes with Sumatran tigers, sloth bears and sun bears, but those will be history in a few years as that is the oldest section of the zoo and due to be replaced. The tigers are up first with the revamped exhibit hopefully opening in 2013, followed by the bears in subsequent years. I can't believe that you said you were tired! In 2010 I visited 39 zoos/aquariums in 46 days, with something crazy like 28,000 km of driving all over America.
I'm fascinated by zoo design and structures so from that point of view, the behind the scenes tour was worth it although you didn't see that much we got very close to the hippos and I fed a giraffe. I enjoyed the sun bear enclosure which I thought was nicely landscaped. Considering that this part of the zoo is the weakest I think it isn't too bad but it could definitely do with being replaced to bring it up to the level of the rest of the zoo and I'm looking forward to seeing the new tiger development. I get easily overwhelmed so in that respect is was tiring and I had to be up before six am to take the train from Seattle to Portland and was also up early for the bus to Tacoma. I'd love to see so many zoos across America but I just don't have the stamina for it in one trip like that. As for searching out the animals, I didn't mind at all but I was quite lucky with most species. I also went to Seattle and Vancouver aquariums, saw the grizzly bear habitat on Grouse Mountain and saw wild bears, deer, bald eagles, seals and humpbacked whales. I'll post reviews of Point Defiance and Oregon Zoo later on.
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is located in Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, about 40 minutes south of Seattle. I took a bus which was very cheap and took about 45 minutes to get to Tacoma from downtown Seattle. Point Defiance itself is quite a distance from downtown Tacoma and the buses only run every hour. I missed one by seconds so didn’t get to the zoo until lunchtime. The location of the zoo is quite spectacular. The attractive entrance is at the top of a small hill and as you enter you find yourself in a park-like setting with amazing views over the waters of Puget Sound and Mt Rainier, which I was to visit a couple of days later. After a quick look at the lemur and meerkat enclosures in the Kids’ Zone area, I walked down to start my visit at the aquariums. Starting with the South Pacific building, you enter via a winding path surrounded by bamboo. Inside it feels more like a tropical hall than an aquarium and the first part of the large tank you see is at ground level where a recreated beach has a low barrier allowing you to see into the water. You then walk along to see a sunken area alongside the glass of the tank allowing underwater views. There is only one tank in this large room but it is a nice recreation of a South Pacific island environment. The other room in the South Pacific section houses a variety of shark species and this is a more conventional aquarium setup. The rest of the aquarium was extremely crowded and noisy and as I am not a massive aquarium fan, I didn’t stay too long but just had a quick look at everything. There is a sea horse area and a large round tank which showcases the rich marine life of the local area. Outside you can see a tidal pool which was nice and nearby is a very old and mediocre looking penguin pool which I think needs to be replaced, particularly given the fact that the Rocky Shores exhibit is much more impressive. Walking back up and round the aquarium complex brought me to the Asian Forest Sanctuary. I was excited to see this area, famous for its rotation concept where different Asian species rotate among a series of enclosures. Some are kept separate and others mixed. I heard a keeper talk later in the day and apart from some obvious cases like the tigers needing to be kept separate from other animals, some species simply didn’t get on well. For example the gibbons would tease the otters and the porcupines tried to attack the tapir. At first you see the elephant enclosure. The barn looks like a farm building and the yard is not particularly large but attractive and appears to offer a reasonably rich environment to the two female elephants. A keeper talk was underway and the passion she had for the animals was evident. She took out a fire hose to allow the elephant closest to her (they had been separated for feeding to ensure that the more submissive individual could eat in peace) to make a mud bath which was nice to see on what was a pretty hot afternoon by Tacoma (and British) standards. There was lots of bamboo around the front of the enclosure which created nice viewing points, something which was also doen at Woodland Park Zoo and the Oregon Zoo. Also in this area is the new Cats of the Canopy exhibit for clouded leopards. This is a high, nicely planted glass and mesh enclosure with lots of branches for the cats and there is also a wooden viewing area for visitors who can look into the ‘nursery’ area for the cubs which feature on advertising boards all over the local area. The official opening wasn’t until a few days later but you could still see the exhibit. I thought the rotation exhibits were a bit hit and miss. The visitor paths are nicely landscaped and the largest open enclosure fronted with a deep pool and backed by bamboo and trees was quite attractive but on the whole the netted enclosures felt somewhat barren as I understand most of the planting was destroyed by the occupants. The dayroom building is also barren and sterile and although it was fun spotting the different species and seeing what was with what, I found it on the whole, slightly disappointing. I stopped for lunch but it was hard to find anywhere in the shade to sit so wasn’t a pleasant experience. Walking on, I came to the Red Wolf Woods, an attractive complex housing an animal I had never seen before. Lots of informative signage and two enclosures, one with an open fronted viewing platform, the other with a glass fronted shelter. I only saw one wolf in the grass but that was enough. I had missed the keeper talk which is a lesson to take proper note of the day’s schedule when you arrive. Then on to the Arctic Tundra area, another part of the zoo to which I had been looking forward. The sound of a musk ox bellowing was quite incredible as I walked down the path past a very poor row of aviaries housing birds of prey in a shed-like structure. The musk ox and reindeer paddocks were very nice. At the time of my visit the animals were far enough away to have a sense of wonder and to be excited to spot them but close enough to have a pretty good view. The terrain was interesting and it was nice to see them from the distance too. Next was an average moated arctic fox enclosure and then the polar bears. I liked the landscaping around the viewing building but was disappointed with the actual enclosure. They have four (I think) individuals at the zoo but the enclosure is relatively small and I wonder if there is any room for expansion. It would be great if the enclosure could be expanded to include a large meadow area like the musk ox and reindeer enclosures. The viewing area felt shabby and it was hard to see anything beyond the pool and I couldn’t see the polar bear which was asleep on the raised area very well. I saw the off show holding area through a gate and it seems the off show bears are basically kept in small cages. I know this was seen as ground-breaking when it first opened but it is definitely showing its age. The next area is the Rocky Shores complex. There is a nice, if smelly, area with puffins which I enjoyed watching, sea otters, harbour seals and walruses which can all be seen both above and below water. It’s looking a bit old but on the whole I enjoyed this area and the enormous walrus were incredible to see for the first time, very impressive indeed. I walked past the huge Wild Wonders stage on my way out where a show was underway. I would say that this zoo is great for families, not too big and plenty of close up experiences as well as some unusual species. It is definitely worth the visit but I don’t think I would make the trip again if I was in the area unless they had a major new exhibit. If I did I would aim to get there early and enjoy the rest of the park too which I didn’t really have time to do.
I enjoyed your review of Point Defiance Zoo, and you came across as a little disappointed in comparison to your enthusiastic Woodland Park Zoo review. Point Defiance has a number of rarely exhibited species, and there has been a lot of improvements in the past few years. Since 2004 there has been the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater (which features a great animal show), Asian Forest Sanctuary and all of the rotation exhibits, the large Kids' Zone (which opened in 2-3 different stages), a renovated cafe, a gift shop, education center, overhauled entryway, a carousel, Red Wolf Woods and Cats of the Canopy. Attendance has broken many records and I think that the latest total is around 700,000 per year which is good for a small zoo in an out-of-the-way yet spectacular location. It seems as if every decade there are bonds issued for new exhibits, the taxpayer base supplies a huge chunk of the revenue to the zoo, and the future includes a revamped Rocky Shores area as well as the possible demolishing of the North Pacific Aquarium in order for a new, modern one to be created. I agree with most of your review and the zoo is a modest one that has undergone a number of significant changes in recent years.
