I am planning a trip to Texas next fall 2022 and was debating on which zoos, facilities, and places to visit. Never been to the state other than stopping at DFW for connecting flights. I know for a fact that my #1 zoo to visit list is Fort Worth. They have 3 flamingo species, Storm’s Storks, Elephant Springs, the new African Savanna as well as the MOLA (Museum of Living Art). I looked at the Dallas World Aquarium and even though they don’t have Jabiru Storks anymore they still have a ton of species I’d like to see such as Shoebill, Blyth’s and Great Indian Hornbill, Pompadour Cotinga etc…. In Houston I used to really want to go to the zoo but since they don’t have Giant Eland anymore and most of the other species I can see in Fort Worth is it still worth visiting??? To me right now the elephants would be the major “to visit” reason” but since the new elephant exhibit opened in Fort Worth I feel like that makes up for potentially missing out on Houston and allocating that day to another activity. Dallas looks like a good facility. I know both Fort Worth and Dallas hold Saddle-Billed Storks. Which zoo has the better exhibit for them where you can get the closest to them/easier to film through barrier? Also, I know that Dallas holds Yellow-Billed Storks and has a breeding program for them behind the scenes. Are any of them on public exhibit yet? Part of the reason that this trip seems so hard to pick exactly what I want to see is because I think being in FL I feel like I’ve been really lucky (spoiled actually) being able to visit Jacksonville, DAK, Busch Gardens, Sea World Orlando that truly already have remarkable exhibits (in their own unique way). For instance, I was thinking about visiting Houston because of their Pantanal exhibit but when I looked at footage/photos of it just felt to me like another Range of the Jaguar with mostly the same species. I’m sure for someone who’s a native Texan, but has never seen Jacksonville’s Range of the Jaguar it might be considered the best South American exhibit ever and that’s ok. I’m just trying to squeeze in the best bang for my buck Texas experience while trying to visit other non-zoo things. In Corsicana, they have the head of Black Diamond that used to be in the Houston Museum of Natural Science but now it’s privately owned but I think you can still make an appointment to see it? The good news is that Corsicana is en-route either way from Fort Worth to Houston or vice versa. It’d be nice to add him to the famous elephants seen list along with Siam and Bolivar. If there are any good value dude ranches to visit within a 2-hour radius of Dallas/Fort Worth that anyone would recommend experiencing. I’d totally take that into consideration as that’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Also, I plan on visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards to do some shopping along the way. Additionally, I like history and art so depending on time, I will also try to also visit the Six Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and the Dallas Museum of Art. My one must-see attraction in the area is Six Flags over Texas in Arlington. They have a Mr. Freeze clone that I’ve always wanted to ride along with the classic Schwarzkopf looper Shockwave. Lastly, I’ve never ridden an RMC so I’m also hyped to ride the new Texas Giant. Also, riding a mechanical bull has been on my bucket list for a long time. If anyone knows of any restaurants or places in Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston that have one you can ride, I will totally add it to the trip itinerary. I’d like to visit San Antonio to do Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas as well but with only 10 days of vacation, I can only do so much in that given amount of time so it probably won’t be likely. If I have any leftover time I’d like to try to visit one or two of the private exotic ranches in the Hill Country that specializes in breeding certain exotic hoof stock species as that is what I’d like to hopefully do one day as a hobby. Certain places are out of the question such as the Ox Ranch, 777 Ranch, King Ranch, and more because they are so far from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Texas is such a huge state with so many interesting sights to see and visit but like I said before I’d only have so much time (10 days max) and at least two of those days are flying to and from the state and getting a rental car to drive to the respective attractions I want to see. The one out of Texas extra place I want to visit is Tulsa Zoo to see Sneezy. I looked on Google Maps and it says that Fort Worth to Houston is about a 4-hour drive. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I really appreciate it!
Definitely go to Dallas Zoo as well, they have several stork/crane type species and multiple walk through aviaries.
I know you are bird person but as a hoofstock guy no trip to Texas would be complete without a few ranches.
Do you know if any ranches in Texas have purebred Gaur??? I know of at least one ranch that holds Banteng. The Texas Hunt Lodge advertises hybrid Gaur hunts. It'd be nice to know where they're getting their purebred Gaurs to create the hybrids so I can see the pure Gaurs.
I have contacts with ranches with almost everything under the sun (no private Okapi or Mountain Nyala though) but I don't know anyone with Gaur. I don't actually work with direct hunt ranches.
Cool! Could you perhaps if you are allowed to PM me a list of which ranches have which species so I can narrow down my options of places to travel to? For bovids, I'm really interested in Cape Buffalo, Hartebeest, Sable, Roan, Beisa Oryx, and Lechwe (both species). For cervids, I like Sambar, Barasingha, and Eld's Deer. You must have a really awesome, fun job!
Not a job, an expensive hobby/stretch goal. Most of the ones set up for visitors are going to advertise it so Google is going to be a better help for finding specifics. That's what I do, I Google or contact a broker.
Perhaps I should contact the Exotic Wildlife Association? They might have a directory as to which ranches raise which species.
There's no hartebeest in the US other than the one in Florida, but the rest are present on hunting ranches.
I've visited 45 different zoological attractions in Texas and, if you are interested, I have reviews of most of them on my Snowleopard's 2015 Road Trip thread. I was also in Texas during my 2008 and 2010 road trip threads, although the 2015 summer trip was when I spent the most time in the state. In the book that I cowrote, America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, there are 12 Texas zoos that made the cut. (Only California, with 13, topped Texas). The facilities are: Caldwell, Cameron Park, Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Gladys Porter, Houston, Moody Gardens, San Antonio, SeaWorld San Antonio and Texas State Aquarium. I think that you can safely eliminate both El Paso and Gladys Porter for geographical reasons, as they are far away from the others. Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston are locks to visit and in my opinion easily the top three zoos in the state. I personally used to lean towards Dallas as #1, but the closure of the monorail has meant that an impressive hoofstock collection is now off-show. Fort Worth has the greatest Reptile House I've ever seen and plenty of new exhibits. And then there's Houston, which has overhauled at least 50% of its acreage since 2008. My coauthor (Tim Brown) is fond of telling me that when he traveled from England to Texas several years ago, Houston was the #1 zoo chosen by his travelling companions (British zoo nerds). Moody Gardens is only an hour from Houston and is an excellent zoo/aquarium with two major pyramids for zoo fans, and it sounds as if you are intrigued by San Antonio as well. There's plenty to see in what could arguably be called America's greatest zoo state. (It's surely either Texas or California) There are plenty of smaller zoos that you can tag on, with me reviewing 40+ of them on my 2015 road trip thread.
I was looking at costs and I think I'm going to drop Houston since I've seen all those species and they no longer have Giant Elands and Shoebills which I'll hopefully be seeing at the DWA.
If you want things within 2 hours of the Metroplex, I can not encourage you enough to go down to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose. It is a drive thru park, but it's on the scale of Bush Gardens/DAK. You will need a car to get there and it will take some time. Get a reservation in advance to have a guided tour if you can. Also, when you visit this year, Houston may have their Galapagos exhibit open. Fort Worth will still have their predators section under construction. Also, as it's your first time to Texas, the state is big. Like Houston is not just down the road from Dallas. It's a full 3-4 hours depending on how fast you're driving. There is not a train between the cities. Good luck!
Thanks for your help. Yeah, TX is HUGE and will be my first trip to the state. I'm planning multiple stops. I'm thinking starting in the DFW area and making my way south to Houston over several days. Also, if anyone has been to the Dallas Museum of Art or Museum of Fine Arts Houston I'd appreciate your feedback. I'm leaning toward Dallas over Houston since they have a Oceanic art section and I'm planning on visiting the Menil Collection in Houston regardless.
Houston owns for museums, especially the natural science museum and in total quantity (there's a museum district of which the zoo is on the edge of). For Art specifically, I'd reccomend the Kimble in Fort Worth.
Dallas to Houston is a super easy, straight drive though, at least, with no tolls or bridges or anything like we have in the mid-atlantic/east coast. On my TX trip I was visiting a friend in the DFW area, but we went to Houston for the weekend for a dog show.
