Riverbanks Zoo & Garden

I already touched once before on the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, SC, in my post about their Lights Before Christmas event. The short version is that I wasn’t particularly impressed with it, especially as compared to the fantastic Louisville Zoo I had just been to.

Covid precautions and crowd flow definitely aren’t handled nearly as well as in Louisville. The paths are tight and it’s much harder to stay six feet away from others here. It was particularly crowded during the Christmas event and I left unimpressed. BUT, I had already bought a ticket for a daytime visit later in the week! When I returned and it was a bit less crowded, I enjoyed it much more.

Riverbanks Zoo

There is an “& Garden” part to this park but I’ll get to that later. First, let’s take a tour around the zoo half.

The entrance plaza

When you first walk in, you’re greeted by a large entry plaza. Two large buildings flank the entrance – guest relations to your right, gift shop to your left. Straight ahead to the left is a large seal and sea lion pool and building. Further back is a fish aquarium/reptile house, and across from that another large building holding penguins and other birds.

This initial view gives the impression that this is a large zoo with large buildings and a large plaza. But no. Beyond this open space is not that much more zoo. It’s all small paths with some larger habitats but not many. And all the animals are jumbled up, too, with no rhyme or reason to their location. And no clear path to see it all. You just have to keep wandering until you’ve found everything, especially in the back portion. I imagine this is a smaller zoo that has grown organically over time, fitting in animals where they can in the limited footprint between the river and highway.

But for now, let’s pick a path and walk down it. Since there aren’t any designated geographical areas, we’ll just cover general areas – what’s to the left of the entry plaza, what’s to the right, and along the back corridor.

To the left, to the left

Seals & Sea Lion aquarium

Starting with the seals, there is a large building to the left just as you walk in that offers multiple vantage points for harbor seals and California Sea Lions, all of which have constant zoomies. There’s tiered amphitheater seating at the aquarium wall and stairs up to an observation area above the pool. I imagine there are some animal interaction shows that go on up here as well. Then underneath is an underwater viewing area, which was mostly blocked off on my visit. There is one little window near the door that wasn’t blocked off and I enjoyed sitting here and watching the seals zip by.

Heading down the path to the left of the seal building are some aviaries. I mainly remember a kookaburra and some large black birds. There is a kangaroo and wallaby enclosure that you can walk through.

Conservation Outpost

Then there is a long tunnel themed to a “conservation outpost.” Along the left wall are small habitats for tamarins, lemurs, a tree kangaroo, and a black-footed cat that looks just like a big kitten.

I also saw a prehensile-tailed porcupine (his back half, at least) and a funny little saki monkey. One thing that I began to appreciate about the Riverbanks Zoo is you seem to get real interaction from the animals. This little monkey was the epitome of that. Every time I would come by, the male would make faces at me, mutter, and run up to the glass like he wanted to give me what for. All the while, his girlfriend would hold onto him like, “Don’t do it, Jethro!” It was so funny to watch! (Of course, it would be distinctly less so if the glass wasn’t there and I had an angry monkey attached to my head….) This little guy was my favorite.

Gorillas

At the end of the tunnel and veering back to the right is a hillside with a western lowland gorilla family. It looked like a dad, a mom, and a couple of kids (one of which hitched a ride with mom.)

Straight ahead is an African-themed “watering hole” with a counter-service restaurant and plenty of seating. Also back here is a lodge available for private bookings. It’s a neat little corner. I feel like this is where some meerkats live as well.

Along the back

Rhinos

Rounding the corner from the gorillas is a new, large, white rhinoceros habitat. This is a nice area, with a central covered pavilion where you can get out in the middle of their space. There’s also a viewing area on the far right side near an ice cream stand.

Along the way is an area for giraffes (and a stand through which to feed them.) Farther along, you’ll find zebras and ostriches. Across the path are vultures, tapirs, and babirusa (like a boar.) I’m not sure if all these guys were out when I visited. I didn’t get pictures, at any rate. (And I took pictures of all the animals I could find – it all felt a little hit or miss.)

On a path heading towards the seals, is a largish tortoise habitat. I love these guys, they all look like little old men.

Aquarium Reptile Complex

Then closer to the front, is a large aquarium building holding lots of fish, snakes, frogs, and iguanas. It is pretty large and well-done. This is another place where it really seemed like the animals could see you. Snakes tried to smell me and frogs looked me in the eye, I swear.

Restaurant and petting zoo

Then heading back towards the back of the park on the other side of the aquarium, you’ll find a beautiful and large sit-down restaurant called Tuskers. It wasn’t open on my visit but you could order from the door and sit nearby. There’s a deck on the far side that overlooks an alligator pond.

Farther back into that corner is a tiny train (think mall-style) and a fun petting zoo. There is an unpaid portion where you can buy food and feed the goats and alpacas and go into a barn and see some rabbits and chicken in pens. Then there is a paid, in-with-the-goats petting area called The Farmyard.

To the right, to the right

The Birdhouse

Back at the entrance plaza, there is (according to the map) a large building ahead and to the right that holds gentoo, king, and rockhopper penguins, plus some myna birds and a lagoon of pink flamingos. I saw the flamingos but not the penguins, so either the building was closed, or I managed to miss it altogether. I was there for a few hours, so I can’t believe I totally missed it. (It is a confusing zoo, however.)

The right path

Along the right-most path from the entrance are some of the most interesting animals in Riverbanks Zoo. An otter pool is on the corner. Then some glass-enclosed grizzly bears that always seem to be sleeping and cuddling.

Then a series of rock outcroppings hold some baboons, African lions, and an Asian tiger.

Food and monkeys

Behind you as you face the lions, tigers, and baboons (oh my) is a little dell surrounding a pool and some siamangs on the rocks with ropes to climb on.

Next to them is the ubiquitous zoo eatery, Wild Burger. I had a really good black bean burger here for lunch, and I would definitely eat here again. Food on the whole at Riverbanks Zoo seems to be top-notch, if awfully expensive.

Australia and a carousel

Next to the lower area with food is a building that houses koala bears on one side and a lorikeet aviary on the other. Most of the pay-to-play activities are still going at Riverbanks Zoo, such as giraffe and lorikeet feedings. It’s only $2 for a little cup of nectar that the little colorful birds will fly down to drink from. They are NOT scared of you and will land on your hands, your arms, even your head! I thought it was a pretty fun way to spend $2.

Then at the farthest of this side of the zoo is the Endangered Species Carousel. Though as far as I can tell, the carved animals aren’t only of endangered species – unless peacocks and ostriches are more extinct than I realized. I do dig the big peacock bench, however!

Riverbanks Garden

Easily missable but not to be missed is the “& Garden” part of the zoo! From behind the carousel, a path leads across the Saluda River (for which the Riverbanks Zoo is named) and up a big hill to a formal garden and kid’s water play area.

In normal times, there is a tram that will take you up and down that big hill but right now, you’ll have to hoof it yourself. There’s a paved road to the top, as well as a wooded trail. I personally walked up the road and back down on the trail. Not many folks are going to make that walk right now so you’ll likely have the place almost to yourself, like I did.

Walled Garden

The top of the road ends at the Magnolia Center, a rentable event space. Behind that, is a lovely walled garden with geometric paths, and a central water fountain feature. Even in November, it was beautiful with plenty of flowers in bloom. I can’t imagine how phenomenal it is throughout the spring and summer.

At the end of the walled garden is a beautiful rose garden, again with plenty in bloom even in November. An outer circle of arbors and bench swings makes it a really relaxing spot. The trail begins/ends here.

Waterfall Junction

Next to the formal walled garden is a kids’ play area. A vegetable garden and a sandy play area flank two sides of a large educational building and bathrooms. Kid-sized tunnels and playful grasses and plants form one side of a play area, including two precious “fairy houses”. On the other side is a large waterfall wall and splash pads for kids of various sizes extend down the hill.

At the far end near the woods is a wooden play structure with towers and walkways looking down on the ravine below.

Next to this is a boardwalk out to some smaller gardens – Japanese, a bog garden, and a dry/succulents garden. All are adjacent to the parking lot on this side, so you don’t have to enter from the zoo or walk up the big hill to get to the garden or the play area.

The trail & mill

Walking up or down the woodland trail gets you to the ruins of the Saluda Mill and an interpretive center (closed on my visit.) The whole trail is really nice with rock steps and bridges over a small stream.

The walk to and from the mill is mostly level, while the walk from the mill up to the gardens is steeper. The whole trail is maybe only half a mile or less. From the garden to the mill is only 2/10ths of a mile, from the mill to the bridge over the river seemed even shorter.

Conclusion

While I liked this zoo better in the daylight and with access to the gardens, I might steer clear of it until Covid is better under control. There are too many tight spaces and they’re doing too little to protect visitors. And for me, it just compared so poorly to the excellent Louisville Zoo. But if you don’t care about any of that, it is a place to go and be outside and where you can still feed the animals for a small fee.

Visiting Riverbanks Zoo & Garden

The Riverbanks Zoo is open year-round (though I don’t feel all the animals are on-exhibit all the time.) Cost is $21.99 for adults, $18.99 for kids 2-12 (under 2 is free.) Seniors 62 and up and military can enter for $19.99. Parking is $5 per car.

They do have sort of your average zoo events throughout the year – Boo at the Zoo, Brew at the Zoo, wine tastings, and fun runs. The Lights Before Christmas event is super popular, and there is a movie in the gardens event that looks like a lot of fun. All events are “TBD” right now until the pandemic gets a bit more under control.