Woodland Park Zoo

I’ve been to my fair share of zoos while traveling, but I think the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is the best zoo I’ve ever been to! Far from an inner-city zoo, the Woodland Park Zoo is nestled in a super cute neighborhood. (e.g. There’s pie.) Yet at the same time, it’s a sprawling park with lots of paths and trails to wander down. It makes the whole experience feel more like an exploration than an exploitation, if that makes sense. It feels good to see these beautiful animals in really well-made, interesting habitats and not all scrunched up together in small enclosures.

There’s sort of an inherent sadness in zoos, I think. It’s so wonderful to see wild animals up close and I know zoos do a lot for conservation and keep several species from becoming completely extinct. But it’s always a bit sad to see a wild animal in a cage. At least at the Woodland Park Zoo, they’re very nice cages and the animals seem happy and well taken care of. On the whole, it’s a world-class zoo that I’d recommend to anyone.

Getting There

First, a word about getting to the Woodland Park Zoo. Google Maps took me to the Bear Lot and the closed north entrance. Instead, either set your GPS to the Otter Lot and the West Entrance (or Penguin, a little farther away), or the Hippo Lot and the South Entrance. There’s also a Flamingo Lot between Hippo and Penguin. These are all pay lots, which I’ll discuss more at the end.

And there’s more to Woodland Park than just the zoo! There’s a playground, rose garden, sensory garden, ball fields, and a big lake and wading pool.

Woodland Park Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo is laid out in a large oval, more or less, with an east-west path straight through the middle as well. We’ll make our way around the oval today, clockwise from the West Entrance. For no better reason than that’s how I toured the day.

(Looking at the map now, I see that there is an argument for the South Entrance to be the “front” of the park. Orange directional signs around the loop have letters on the bottom right corner. Match those to the park map to orient yourself. The letters go from “A” to “P” as you go counter-clockwise from the south entrance. Not that I noticed any of that during my visit.)

West Entrance

I suspect the West Entrance was beefed up when they built the outdoor penguin exhibit – it all looks a bit new. Make sure to take note (or a picture) of the park map posted on a wall, as well as any special events for the day, usually posted next to the map. There’s a big gift shop here and restrooms, and the biggest cafe in the park is just to the south of this entrance.

We’ll ignore the penguins for now – since it’s the first stop for many visitors it might be less crowded later – and head north, to the left. This way, we encounter a big open area called the North Meadow, which really contributes to the open park-like feeling of this zoo.

Tucked in a corner is a historic carousel. Housed in a shelter and powered by solar panels, this carousel was built in 1918 for the Cincinnati Zoo and moved to the Woodland Park Zoo in 2006. Rides cost $3. The Carousel is open from 9:30-4 pm daily. (Which is two hours sooner than the zoo does.)

Living Northwest Trail

This section feels like an appropriate place to start, as a tourist: with what’s unique about the Pacific Northwest. The path leads down to white wolves, lynx, brown bears, river otters, mountain goats, and elk. A wood cabin structure for viewing a Stellar’s sea eagle was closed off because she was sitting on an egg and they didn’t want to disturb her.

I like how most of the animals are set back from the path – especially the wolves. It feels more like you’re glimpsing them in their natural habitat rather than on display. The whole area is wonderfully wooded and sets the scene perfectly.

Australasia

Often, the exit of one trail leads right into the entrance of another. Just across the exit of the Living Northwest Trail is the Australasia section, which covers Australia, East & South Asia, as well as some Pacific islands. Down this path are wallabies and emus, plus there’s a snow leopard at the other end. (I either didn’t see the leopard or couldn’t get a good picture – there have been a few times I’ve seen a snow leopard enclosure but have never found the snow leopard…)

You can exit the Australasian section on the middle, cut-through path and take a left to get back to the main loop. You only miss the Wildlife Theater on the main loop, and you can return to that for a specific show. This intersection also features a taqueria (at the “Gather & Graze Cafe”) which is where I ate a lunch of vegetarian tacos, horchata, and a churro that I was very pleased with. It’s a reasonably good idea to bundle lunch here with either the 11:30 or 2:00 show at the Wildlife Theater.

Trail of Vines

Behind the taqueria is the tropical Aisa section, called the Trail of Vines. These wandering paths are where you’ll find the orangutans, siamang, and langur, as well as a large habitat for the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros. I had never seen one of these before! I guess I’ve only seen the “regular” two-horned kind. But these guys have huge armored plates that look like a tank or something Da Vinci would have drawn. I was lucky enough to catch a keeper talk here and it’s worth trying to hit as many of these talks as you can.

There are also tapirs, tortoises, and warty pigs along here, as well as a beautiful Peacock Plaza. (There aren’t any peacocks, but it’s a pretty building.) Don’t forget to pop out onto the Main Loop around the tapirs to cross over into the Komodo Dragon building.

African Savannah

The trail out of the Rhino Reserve leads right into the African Savannah, which might be the largest section of the Woodland Park Zoo. Here you’ll find lions, giraffes, zebras, hippos, gazelles, and warthogs. This more open and arid section has the usual wandering paths, plus a large rural African village serving as an overlook for the broad savannah.

Temperate Forest & Family Farm

Across from the Savannah Overlook, you pass the South Entrance with a shop, snacks, and bathrooms. (There are also snacks and picnic tables between the African Savannah and Rhino Reserve. And bathrooms all over.) Continuing clockwise you come to the Family Farm area with goats, pigs, chickens, miniature cows, and donkeys. There’s a “contact area” (AKA petting zoo) from 10-4 daily, though they’re closed noon-1. There’s also a “Bug World” building with all the creepy crawlies on a one-way loop.

The other half of this area is the Temperate Forest with several aviaries with exotic ducks, cranes, and other birds – including a flock of flamingoes. (Or rather, a flamboyance.) There are also red pandas and maned wolves – those ones that look like tall foxes combined with nightmares.

Tropical Rain Forest

Across from the Temperate Forest is the Tropical Rain Forest. This loop has red lemurs, ring-tailed lemurs, colobus monkeys, and a building with an indoor rainforest with tropical birds, colorful frogs, and more. A jaguar paces around on the far side and gorillas can be found in the back.

Outside of the Tropical Rain Forest loop is the Zoomazium, an indoor play area for kids 0-8 and their grownups. A tented butterfly garden is open seasonally (late May-Labor Day) while a Microsoft-sponsored pollinator patio is open year-round. Also in this area is the 1899 Grove, the main restaurant in the park. The menu seems to be mostly burgers, hot dogs, and other sandwiches, soups, and salads.

Penguins & Banyan Wilds

Now we’ve made it back to the West Entrance and the outdoor penguin exhibit. Which I think is odd – I guess I’ve mostly seen penguins indoors! They seemed to be having a good time in their large tank.

I made sure to walk down the center-of-the-oval path to make sure I didn’t miss anything. This way is the Bayan Wilds with more tropical Asian animals. There’s a sloth bear, some cute otters, a tiger, and another aviary. This section looks like it will be under construction for a bit. The current map says to expect intermittent closures in the summer of 2023, with a new forest exhibit opening in 2026.

Hours & Admission

The Woodland Park Zoo is open every day except for Christmas Day. For most of the year, it’s open 9:30 am – 4 pm. But during the summer months, May 1 – Labor Day, it’s open 9:30 am – 6 pm.

Regular admission costs $29 for adults 13-64, $27 for seniors 65+, and $18 for kids 3-12, and ages two and under are free. There is a 10% discount if you buy online at least 4 days in advance, and there are further discounts for people who are disabled or in the military. I bought my admission through the Seattle CityPass, which is an overall savings on several Seattle attractions.

Keep in mind that unless you take a rideshare or bus, you’ll have to pay for parking. Parking in all the zoo lots costs $6 for the first two hours, plus $2 for each additional hour, with a cap of $12 for the day. Anyone with a disabled placard can park for free and there is free bike parking at the West Entrance. Busses & RVs can only park in the Hippo Lot.

I think the biggest hassle with the parking situation is that you have to estimate how long you’ll be there up front. If you’re a first-time visitor and not aware of how big of a zoo it is, that can be tough! Though it might work in your favor – I paid for three hours thinking that would be plenty of time, but I stayed for four. (I think there is a way to extend your time with your phone, but I didn’t see the notification until later.) But I didn’t get a ticket, so there’s that.

Events

There are some limited hours and extra-fee options at the Woodland Park Zoo that are good to know about. You can find them all on this page. The Zoomazium indoor playground is only open until 3 pm and closed on Tuesdays. The petting zoo is open 10-4 and closed noon-1. The carousel is open until 4 pm and costs $3. For $10, you can meet & feed a giraffe from 11-noon, except on Tuesdays, or meet & feed a rhinoceros from 1:30-2:30, except on Mondays. If you’re interested in either of these $10 feeding options, make sure to inquire when you first arrive, since I expect they can sell out.

There’s a twice-daily animal show in the Wildlife Theater, at 11:30 and 2:00, except on Wednesdays. And they have a trout feeding of the penguins at 11:00, and tiger training at 11:30 Fri-Sun. In fact, there are keeper talks around the park every half hour from 10:30-2:30. I always think these talks add so much and it might be fun to try to see all the talks in a day. That would take quite a bit of running from one place to another and a good working knowledge of the zoo beforehand, so I never manage it myself, but I do think it would be fun to try!

There are always reasons to return to the zoo and the Woodland Park Zoo is a particularly great one to visit. If you’re in town or using CityPass, I’d highly recommend it as one of your options.