Memphis Zoo Review

Today was great. Lots of social distancing and masks were in use. The amount of 6ft distance markers was impressive and creative. Plenty of hand sanitizer stations.

A great zoo with many excellent animals. I would have given 5 stars, but the information signs were not very good. I would definitely recommend this zoo

Tons of fun. Lots of animals, lots of walking. We fed giraffes and saw all sorts of animals. They also had some Lego displays of animals up!
My only complaint would be that the polar bears were unavailable for viewing because a private party had rented out that area, but the zoo was great

Was nice. But they made us pay 2 minutes before it was free.

We were passing through and wanted a place to let our 2 year old run. We enjoyed our afternoon at the zoo. The lion roaring and the sea lion show where highlights of the day.

Great visit with family! The animals all seem happy and well cared for! Especially the polar bear and sea lions!
The prairie dog exhibit was especially fun!

My daughter went with her best friend's family. They had a blast and learned so much!

This is a really nice zoo. They offer a number of programs, and that was fun. And it was not a busy day. Just a mid-week day with not great weather. We weren't expecting much, but ended up thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

This is a very good zoo with excellent exhibits and organization. The animal enclosures appear to be well maintained. I visited with my family on Easter weekend and the animals were out and enjoying the sun. The big cats were especially active as were the elephants and panda bears.

I especially enjoyed the attention to detail in the structures in the China portion. Travel between exhibits was good and the was a team as well as a stream train available to ride. There were also camel rides and a carousel.

Admission was reasonable $15 for adults and $10 for children, but admission is half the cost of you have a membership at the St. Louis zoo. Parking is somewhat limited and costs $5 so arrive early.

There is food available, including a chicken and waffles stand shaped like a pagoda. The staff was friendly and helpful. There is a playground for the kids and several gift shops. This is a good place to visit as part of a weekend trip to memphis.

Love this park! Exhibits are always clean and animals healthy and enriched. Animal staff are available at specific times for 'keeper talks' where they talk about the animals and you can ask questions. Concession food is about what you'd expect for a zoo (pretty good and a little overpriced), but I was pleased with my sandwich. We spent the whole day here and still didn't see everything, but we like to hang out at our favorite exhibits for extended periods and will circle back for timed events, so I think most folks would finish much quicker.

Not my favorite zoo, but wasn t the worst zoo I have ever been too. Just seemed like a lot off the exhibits where empty. Other than that the experience wasn t to bad.

Great place. Memberships are great value if you want some change of scenery for taking a walk. You can even have an unnamed guest to bring a friend. If you're planning to be there a while, absolutely pack a cold water bottle and maybe some snacks. If you have kids, especially age approx. 3-8, on a hot day, bring a towel and either a swimsuit or change of clothes-- there are a few fountains that kids love to cool off in.

Great place with lots to do! We have lived in lots of places with lot different zoos this one is well designed with so much that you will have to do multiple trips

Great variety for animals and getting to feed the giraffes and stingrays and watch the hippo was definitely fantastic but the enclosures for the most part are TINY and the aquarium is a joke.

It's too hot for the animals to be out. The view for toddlers is terrible. It wasn't worth my time and money.

My family loved this trip. It was our 3rd time going. Try to avoid free Tuesday if you can afford it. However, I do wish the concessions stayed open a little longer .

The open enclosures and all the animals I will never get to see in the wild

Friendly environment.. service animal protocol is an extra step.. avoid cat country when entering with service dog

I absolutely love this zoo. I've been a couple times over the years and always have a great time. Really enjoyed petting the new Sting Ray's. I was to scared to feed them but my husband did. It was really cool.

The zoo was thoughtfully laid out and very clean. All of the animals appeared to be healthy and sociable. I especially like the stingrays! A great selection of species that well represents a sampling of the wonders and majesty of our wonderful natural world. This would be a great place to bring children, a date, or just yourself for a fun day out. Make sure to go on a Tuesday if you are a Tennessee resident, because your admission will be free later in the day. Oh, and definitely make sure to visit the stingrays!

One of the best zoos in the country, and so great to have it here in Memphis. If you're a family with young children, definitely become a member. It pays for itself to visit whenever you want and it's always fun for everyone.

It was a nice place to take your kids, the animals looked miserable, because it was a hot day. The only thing I would really complain about would be the workers. We stopped to get drinks at one place and the people working there acted like they absolutely hated their job. And then we went and got a pizza at another place, same thing the workers are not necessarily rude, but extremely unhappy, seemed like they hated working there if you want my honest opinion. Definitely bringing a sack lunch and our own drinks next time.

I love to just walk around, seeing everything is nice

A great layout for a zoo, with plenty of space, enough restaurants, restrooms, benches and of course animals.

I loved the way they had themes, for instance the panda where after you enter a (Chinese) temple. Or tyhe entrance is made to give the feeling of Egypt.

Animals looked happy, humans even more. Only negative to me was we had to pay extra 5 dollars for parking and i don't see the reason. I would much prefer them to have it in the price for the whole ticket of the zoo than extra.
Ticket was 15 dollars per adult, and after we saw everything we can easily say it worth the money.

The best zoo in Memphis!! I love coming here, we will surely be returning here, I love the wonderful animals and the staff is so nice and caring and keep the animals and zoo very clean and well maintained! Highly recommend

Very nice. All the exhibits are set up well so you can see the animals even if they aren't active. I would recommend visiting if you get the chance.

Awesome zoo, but half the stuff was closed due to covid.

My kids and I loved it. They have a good variety of animals and other attractions!

We love this zoo! It is such a great place for a day of walking and sightseeing. The animals are so adorable!

A great family experience! Everything was clean, well put together, and nearly every exhibit was open. The design behind the exhibits was thoughtful and really put a spotlight on the zoo's commitment to conservation. My family of 5 spent 5 hours there without a full moment. 5 stars guys! Outstanding!

Always love the zoo. Missed having a camel ride this year

Love it. All the lights and animals. Nice program for Christmas day.

My family and I went especially to see the dinosaur exhibit. We were not disappointed! It definitely was the best part of our visit. Our children lived that the dinosaurs were moving, making sounds and some had babies that also moved and screeched. The rest of the zoo was satisfying but all drink machines were $3 ( cash or credit cards) and out of what we drink, only food we found was $3 popcorn. There are lots of monkeys but no giraffes, zebras, or rhinos ( my kids faves) but do have pandas, red panda, brown bears and a really cute petting zoo. Maps of zoo were outdated and incorrect so be prepared! We were there 5 hours and spent 1 hour and a half at the dino exhibit, 1 hour for bathroom breaks and looking for food/drinks and 30 minutes where the hippo was so daughter could breastfeed... 3 other moms decided to feed too ( no designated area for private feeding but absolutely need it!!). Overall.. satisfying and will suggest to others.

Yes We had a great time at the Zoo. The weather was nice and the Zoo had cooling spots. Excellent family day.

Decent zoo. There were some subpar parts but a lot of exceptional ones too. My son especially enjoyed the herpetarium, where they have an awesome looking, lively king cobra. Worth the trip!!

Absolutely fabulous and family friendly. Hours of walking, so worth each step.

Worth every penny! This is by far the best zoo I've ever been to, it is clean and well organized. The wide array of animals is enough to keep anybody happy! This place has just gotten better through the years and I hope it continues!

Best Zoo in Memphis seriously we love the Memphis zoo!

This zoo was excellent. Great layout, easily walkable and a variety of different animals. Highly recommended for family visits if you are in Memphis

Who doesnt love the zoo. Memphis is constantly upgrading this place slowly but surely. This attraction has come a long way from where it used to be. I recommend adding this stop to your next Memphis visit.

BE PREPARED TO WALK!!!! Memphis zoo is a great place to learn and have a great time with shows, Q&A's with staff about animals, some petting zoo animals, train rides, carousel rides both in farm life and in China exhibit! So much stuff to see you really set a good pace. My advice come early so you can stroll thru and see everything!

This was one of the best zoos!! For one its huge! We loved the themes each area had. It was very hot but they had multiple places that were covered, had trees that shaded places, fans and things spraying mist and indoor places. We had a blast! Can't wait to visit again

Beautiful place with a wide variety of animals to see. Many good places to eat inside the zoo as well

Really nicely laid out a habits and animals look happy and healthy!

Huge zoo! So many animals and cool activities. My 4 year old had a blast. We don't live in TN but will go back when we swing that way again.

This place is Cool!!!

I have never been to a zoo where all of the animals were so active! Everyone one from the monkey's to the big cats to the Pandas.

Only issue i didnt like was that alot of exhibits were closed, yet i paid full price to still get in. I feel like we paid full price for half the excitement and features this zoo can offer.

Zoo is very clean and easy to navigate, especially with strollers or wagons.

I love love LOVE the Memphis zoo. The layout is very nice, the staff are always friendly and eager to answer any questions you may have about the animals or their careers in general, it's definitely family oriented as there are rules in place to prevent smoking, drinking, etc. and overall it's just a nice place to be. There are lots of animals to see, including a new Hippo exhibit they just opened over the past few months, and there's almost always something going on no matter where you go in the zoo too, whether it's a feeding or a show or just a talk about the animals. The price of admission is fair too, and their memberships are definitely worth the price; even if you go just three times in an entire year, you've already saved money, not to mention the discounts you get at the food carts and gift shops. All in all, a great place, and if I lived closer I would go nearly every day.

Loved this place, although we visited off season with a few animal exhibits closed, what we did see was well done with lots of close up opportunitiess with the animals!

It's was really fun and big zoo will visit again soon

One of the better zoo experiences I've had. Being able to touch sting rays, ride camels, and feed girraffes were all an awesome part of taking me out of my comfort zone and bringing me a little closer to nature. Otherwise, just like any zoo with very kind and helpful staff!

It was a great experience and Lil Man really had a ball

Great place to take the family, things for all ages , lots of beautiful animals.

Fun as always it is a bit pricey, but worth it 67.00 just for parking 2 adults, 3 yr old and a 9 yr old great for the family

This was my first time at Memphis Zoo (July 2019) and I loved it. There were a few areas where kids could play in the water. They offered camel rides and there were lots of animals to enjoy. I really liked the Animals of the Night area. I will definitely visit this zoo again the next time I'm in the area.

UPDATE: I took my family to this zoo (August 2019) and my kids had a blast!! They enjoyed getting wet in the water areas and they loved looking and learning about all of the animals. I highly recommend this zoo to anyone living in or visiting the Memphis area.

It was a very fun and awesome experience, the tram tour guide was very friendly, and showed us around the zoo, I would go back again anytime, I would highly recommend going if you haven't been.

we love the zoo! it s one of our favorite things to do in memphis. we especially enjoyed touching the stingrays and watching the sea lion training show.

Best zoo period. I see cars from all over the country in the parking lot whenever I visit. And the Sting Rays are well behaved for the exhibit as well. Always docile. Make sure you visit Rosy in the Animals of the Night exhibit as well.

While on Vacation in Memphis, Family makes a trip to the Zoo. Been to several in other states along the Eastern Seaboard of the USA and this one was very enjoyable.

Even on a very hot and muggy Summer Day.

It was great other than some of the experience where the exhibits was closed

I love our zoo ! The major exhibits are excellent. Very nice walkways that have you feeling like you're walking thru the woods.

Honestly I haven't been to that many zoos, so I'm no expert on the subject. With that being said, I've been to this one a great number of times and will be back a great many more. I'd highly recommend packing a picnic and plenty of drink/bottles. There are several water fountains, but somehow when you happen to be the thirstiest the water fountain you walk up to isn't working. So fill up the bottles and time your inside location stops right and you'll have a wonderful, hydrated time.

Great time! The exhibits were amazing and very large. Really appreciated getting to see the scale of these animals.

Love this place! Even with the COVID-restrictions, it's still a wonderful place to take the kids or grandkids. Clean, beautiful, and lots to see and do and smell!

First off, I am a relative Zoo Pro. I have been to close to 10 zoos & aquariums in the last 2 years, and my wife and I are avid Zoo Enthusiast. Our trip to the Memphis Zoo was actually a pretty spur of the moment trip that included the Tennessee Safari Park as well.

The Memphis Zoo is definitely towards the top of my zoo list. The price is not crazy, there is plenty of parking, the food was good, and the Zoo itself is clean. Overall we enjoyed our trip. Even with the wearing of Mask (Something we have gotten used to) we were able to enjoy almost everything the zoo had to offer.

Pros:
--The EXIBITS are wonderfully designed. Many Zoos do not think through how a good exabits should be designed. At the Memphis Zoo, almost all the newer exabits have multiple if not all the way around viewing to ensure that even if the animal is sleeping you will still be able to see it.
--Theming was really great on the newer side of the Zoo. Each area is very well themed. At times it feels more like walking into a theme park area VS a Zoo.
--Variety of Animals was great! Its not just a little zoo, they have a ton of different animals, including many you don't see everywhere.
--Food Prices were actually very reasonable. A burger, fries and a drink for less than $10. That is something you do not see often! Not the best burger I have ever had, but still adequate.
--Related to the good exabits, but another note is that this zoo is a photographers dream. With a good telephoto lens, you can just about capture every animal up close.

Cons:
--Zoo layout is somewhat jumbled. We found ourselves back tracking a fair amount. Kind of wish there was a more clear "Path To See Everything". However we are still yet to go to a Zoo that this is done well.
--The keeper talks were a little embarrassing. I assume this was B or C team over the weekend, but several did not know answered to questions, and others just ignored the people a together. Also, the couple that were "Feeding" times did not even have a Keeper Talk. They just threw food into the enclosures.
--The additional cost for stingray touch pool is annoying. This should be included in the cost. No Zoo should ever have anything animal related that is additional cost once you enter the park. Especially given you could not even go see the stingrays without paying.
--Some of the older enclosures were closed. Not sure if they were being refurbished, but the circle barn only had 2 animals in it.
--The beer festival is annoying for normal folks that came to the zoo to see animals. I know all zoos are doing this these days for extra income, but for folks like me, its annoying to have to walk through groups of drunk college students that couldn't care less about animals and are looking for their next refill.
--The gift shop was very small, and not stocked well. We always buy a stuffed animal from every trip we take, and we could not find anything at this shop we liked. We decided to order some offline instead. It kind of ruins the magic of getting one from the actual zoo.

Notes:
--This zoo will take you over 2 hours at a fast pace walk.
--I recommend going left on the trail as you enter as that seemed to require the less amount of back tracking.
--Wear comfortable shoes as there is a lot of walking
--Get there early! It really helps to get ahead of the crowds
--Buy food! Its a decent price, so worth supporting the good prices.

Will add pictures to my review once I get them weeded down. Google reviews does not usually like my 600 pictures.

Great place to visit as a family. Extremely clean and the directions are will laid out. Parking is free for st.jude employees. Don't miss the panda exibit.

Awesome experience! Excellent tourist attraction for kids and adults alike. It was exciting to see all of the different animals and observe some of their mannerisms in unique settings. The aquarium was especially enlightening and entertaining.

We really enjoyed ourselves but with the cost to get in I don't think there should be extra cost to see the stingrays we didn't get to see them today which made me sad because we loved seeing them at the St.Louis zoo. My sister decided not told take her boy that they would enjoy something from the gift shop instead. I really wish i would have bought my son a shirt but the lines where crazy and he had to go the bathroom so maybe next time lol anyway he had a good time

I think it s pathetic that you HAVE to wear a mask when it is 80 degrees outside. I think it should be your decision weather you wear a mask or not. My whole family was going to come today but they shot that down with the pathetic ness of masks

Was disappointed that a lot of the animals were not out. Gift shop folks were rude. And NOT MAKING people wear mask ...

Some of the animal viewing areas are a long distance from each other and the transportation trams are not running at this time of year. The animal viewing areas are excellent. In particular the size of the area the grizzly bears have impressed me. My wife enjoyed the panda bear exhibit the most.

I don't have any small children, but if I did they would love it. So many great things for kids to do!

I'll be honest, atleast 5 animal exhibits were unavailable, and the zoo itself is outdated. Everything is dated back to 93' but hasn't gotten past that? Also there needs to be more communication with people coming in if anything is under construction...money wise is great though! And food is delicious, kid friendly to!

Absolutely awesome!!! Well kept and friendly staff! Definitely going back.

Beautiful zoo! We were delighted with such a wonderful creatures, clean installations, you will not be disappoint about this place. Consider to have 3 hours or more to visit this zoo is big.
We certainly come back!!!

The zoo it self is very cool to me. All the vendor's was closed, so it was hard to get a nice treat for yourself. Not a bad place, i would go back.

It's not a huge zoo, but it is so fun to visit. We have an annual pass and love that when we come to Memphis to shop we can see the whole zoo in 2-3 hours, but are able to see a lot of animals in that short amount of time and still run all of our errands. Also, there are so many great restaurants to choose from within miles of the zoo.

This is definitely my favorite zoo out of all the zoos I ve been to, it s one of the best things in Memphis in my opinion. However, I do think that they need to give the elephants, and the pandas some more space. It s absolutely unacceptable that they give them such a small habitat.

We love it, wonderfull place to take the kids and have a great time with the family.

I always enjoy the Memphis Zoo. Due to the COVID -19 pandemic you must wear a face mask before entering.

This zoo is a MUST SEE, if you are in the area! The animals are beautifully taken care of, and their keepers are extremely knowledgable!! I have never seen a healthier polar bear, and it came right up to the glass and swam around while we were at the exhibit! It was breathtaking! This zoo is the perfect size for a day trip. We took a million pictures and were able to get through the zoo in 5 hours, including lunch. Their pulled pork sandwich was very good, but food is high priced - as usual at a zoo! I would go to this zoo all the time if I lived near by! Entrance fee is very reasonable! We went on a week day and it wasn't busy at all, but school was in session!

The zoo is always a great experience. We've had memberships off and on for many years. We were concerned how it would be now with the different regulations, but it really wasn't that much different. The crowds are low right now, and all the exhibits are open. The indoor areas require masks.

Fantastic zoo, don't miss it. When we were there, the animals were given pumpkins filled with meat to smash open. Beautiful, great views of the animals, the big cats exhibits were stupendous.

Always a pleasure to visit. Enough to see for every age.

I am a zoo member and worked here one summer. This zoo is one of the best in the country. I enjoyed it more than the San Diego Zoo because it is the perfect size and still is packed with a diverse group of animals.

Beautiful day for the Zoo. Dino Exhibit still need little more work. But nice.

Very good zoo. Well laid out and plenty of animals to see and things to do. Also a very good value

Definitely a zoo you need more than 4 hours to walk. Friendly staff clean facilities, ways to keep cool on hot days. A small splash park for the kids, and great and healthy choices for food. I give it a huge thumbs up.

Grear zoo! Easy walking, lots of great exhibit, super family friendly. Animals appeared well cared for and staff was helpful and informative.