Oakland Zoo Reviews

Giraffe, tiger, elephant and a lot of other animals. The gandola is quite fun too.

Oakland zoo is large and you can easily spend the WHOLE day here. Wear some comfortable shoes, some of the paths will be going uphill/downhill. Bring a stroller for younger children as they may get tired from walking, but it you forget it, they do have stroller rentals available. Bathrooms are located throughout the park as well as drinking stations and food kiosks. There are several feeding times throughout the day and trainer talks. They have an app you can download that helps with the schedules and also map of the zoo. They have a new California trail that recently opened. You'll have to take a skyline ride to get to it. There are also several kids play area throughout so you can let them play run around a bit and you can sit have a break lol

The zoo had a lot of shady paths and good viewing. Some of the paths had some incline but nothing really strenuous. The exhibits were very nice and gave the visitors many choices for viewing. The rides for the kids were a big hit. The only drawback was the price of food. A hamburger was $11.00 and fountain drinks were. $6.00 to $8.00.

Recommend watching the feeding times. They were fun and informative.

We go every week. Buy a membership. It will pay for itself. Avoid the costly food.

Great location up in the Oakland Hills - lots to see and do while still being relatively compact. Lots of shade and places to sit.

Very beautiful zoo. Somewhat disappointed in their lack of vegan options at all their food stands and restaurants.

Very good zoo. Giraffes, elephants, lions, zebras, tigers, sun bears, gibbons, lemurs, and much more!!

Just love this place. Way better than the San Francisco zoo

Great place for a family day out. Snacks are really expensive though, so bring your own

Had a great time with my family...the kids loved the train ride.

Decent zoo. There is no way to walk around the park, many of the animals are on a path that is hard to find and if you miss you end up at the bottom of a hill.

Great zoo to take your family to. Easy access from the freeway. Parking cost $10 per vehicle. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 per children.
Zoo location is on the side of the mountain, so, there is many up and down walking trails, bring your comfortable shoes. The animals looks healthy, and good varieties. Good kids play area, and a petting yard.
Stop for lunch at Tusker Grill to enjoy a burger, or salad. Try their Gilroy garlic fries.
Or, take the gondola ( free with your paid admission) to the California trail to enjoy your lunch, and see more animals after. Make San Francisco bay overlook area as your last stop to enjoy a breathtaking view of the SF bay.

We went at the right time,it was very crowded earlier in the day. Very nice place to go with the fam, but the zoo personnel need to inforce a dress code because no parent want their child to see a female with g-string underwear with see through leggings. Not a good look. Take that to the club!!!! It's a zoo young people! Smh!!!!

seemed a bit small but it was nice. gondola ride was fun and the line moved fast.

I love this zoo...better then its counter part.The SF zoo.It ison a smaller scale.The new attractions are wonderful,after a fun team ride..Awesome views of the bay and cities Oakland and SF.Resonanly priced..Stay a way from the concessions.not a good value.

A lot of fun with lots to do. A great place to entertain the kids for a long time. Maybe even the them out from all the walking!

If you have small kids, get the Family Pass. Best deal in the Bay Area. Kids love the adjacent rides. Sean is THE best ride opperator!

Wonderful, have not been here since I was a child. Brought two grandkids they loved it.

So happy this amazing zoo is open again. Great for for everyone. You'll love seeing the animals and they will love seeing you. Just make reservations ahead.

Always fun to bring the family here. And now they added a new ride and more animals to see. The baboons are always fun to see and they just had a new baby born

Very very nice,,, my kids enjoy the visit to the max

Love this zoo! Decent size and animal selection. They are building another sky ride and adding animals that will be visible from it. Can't wait to see it next year!

Great zoo doing amazing things for the animals they save. The Oakland zoo runs on a very small budget for it's size. Look into the volunteer programs!

Had a great couple hours at this zoo with my three year old. The gondola ride was such a treat. He loved climbing on the sculptures and I loved the bat exhibit.

Great zoo, spread out so it doesn't feel crowded. The new California trail is a must see with lots of activities for kids. The bear exhibit was huge and we got to see the beard up close! My 5 year old spent a lot of time playing on the playground in the trail, and the cafeteria is a great place to lunch before heading back down the hill.

I highly recommend as a day trip, is even 2 days to split up the California trail and the rest of the zoo, but get there early so you don't have to worry about parking or stand in a huge line to ride the free gondola.

Very well maintained zoo and not too far. Worth spending a good portion of the day here. There are very few food options in "The Landing Cafe" and it is pricey, but it is better than going hungry. Get there early to avoid the long wait to find parking.

Very nice zoo. Not to small not to big. A great way to spend the day.

We had a great time as this was my son's 1st trip to the zoo. I wish the enclosures were as good as the giraffe enclosure. I also wished there was more options for food.

My son ( three years old) loved the zoo. Although it was crowded the staff helped us find parking and that saved a lot of headache

One of the best zoos I have visited. Large and intricate enclosures. The animals were active and interested in the public. I will be going back once the new expansion opens.

My kids loved seeing the animals! Every single animal on the brochure was there. There were plenty of hand sanitizing stations on site. The crew was very friendly and helpful. At times, security reminded folks to stay 6 feet apart or take turns watching animals.

If you have kids, I can't recommend Oakland Zoo enough!

Not many species in the zoo. I would say its overpriced for what it currently offers. Hopefully the new sections would make it more interesting.

Really quaint zoo! I love the layout and the gondolas that take you up to another section. Not too much of a walk around the zoo and they have a nice children's play area. Went at around 9am and the animals were very active and appeared to be enjoying themselves. The black bears in particular were really fun to watch.

I didn't like it very much. There were almost no animals. I don't know what they charge if you don't see anything.

Better than expected! Good parking ($10) and exhibits are easily accessible. Don't miss the bats!

It was fun. With membership it's worth the price. I love that they have rides in the zoo for the kids....slightly disappointed to find that they didn't have more animals to see...i saw all the animals in 2hrs..which isnt a lot of time

Lots of Animals
Awesome views from Gondolas

AZA accredited! American Zoo Association. That means all their animals are born in captivity or, better yet, rescues. Not a very big zoo but will definitely keep you busy for 3/4 of a day. Staff was knowledgeable and very nice. Alligator feedings on Saturdays.

Well, I'll tell you. I was impressed with the layout and the professional attitude of the staff who were enthusiastic and helpful. The sky ride up to the restaurant was interesting. The cafe is modern and the food quality. For a day trip, I recommend it.

If you like the zoo the Oakland zoo is great. I mean it's no San Diego zoo, but it's still pretty big. There's a gondala you can ride to the American wilderness section of the park, that's pretty cool.

If you have to choose between Oakland and SF for zoos, definitely choose Oakland.

We had fun but didn't get to see all the lights. It was cold and then started raining. Kids loved the animals.

Each lion needs about 1 mile of space to be happy, do lions in the oakland zoo have that space?

Prices are super reasonable and the zoo is AWESOME the California Trail is with out a doubt extraordinarily mind blowing definitely bring your family and friends it a great experience for all and there are rides for extra entertainment and when Zoo lights comes back is a great fun outing for all during the Holidays

A great place to visit minus the throng of screaming children everywhere

Not that great may be i had high expectations or may be i have seen better zoos before. Whatsoever i didnt like that the have only one or two animals per section, most of them were sleeping which made my kids so hard to watch them. It is aone time watch.

The place was perfect for kids. A train ride around was enjoyable too. The animals were healthy for my opinion which was good. Feeding them was cool.

Great trip with my daughter and 2 little granddaughters. Brought our own pick nick to eat along side of the animals

It is a small zoo but it is very much family-oriented and also easy to walk with kids. The view of the place is good as you get to see the nature over there. All around trees are there.

I'll say that if you visit both the Oakland and SF zoo's then it is a truly epic experience as the two Zoos seem to compliment each other.

Love the Animals here. We have had our end of year field trip here and the kids love it. I am looking forward to checking out the California place.

Felt very relaxing on a Sunday. Grizzly Bears are awesome.

It's an okay short zoo if you don't have the whole day to spend at one. There's definitely your typical animal to see, but missing a lot still. At the time i went, there was renovation being done so we couldn't see the camels or bison. You can be done in 1-2 hours. Train ride is short and overpriced for seeing 3-4 animals only.

New CA zone is a good addition. Bears were great. Better to go early or late in day to see other animals active.

The zoo is not that big but worth a visit for the Gondola ride .

*Australia area+train ride are extra
*need special key to listen to animal information
* gondola ride included (freaky but worth it)
*great views of animals
*playground in upper area...
It was our first time visiting this zoo and we went on a cloudy, on-and-off raining day so the animals were all really active and fun to watch.
We got to be really close to a lot of the animals but there were many enclosures with nothing in them or where we couldn t see anything (apes, wolves, plus others) which was disappointing.
We were also disappointed that we couldn t see any of the Australian exhibit without paying extra to get on the train. There were a lot of us and we d already paid a lot to get in to the zoo so we had to skip that.
There was not a lot of information on the signs throughout but there were little speaker boxes. We couldn t figure out how to get the speaker boxes to work until we came across a key someone had dropped that made them play!!

Plan early to visit the zoo to get good parking spots.

Beautiful, animal habitat. The upper level is fabulous and the Gondola has wonderful views.

The team ride for $3 was so worth while and so much fun!!! It was a great way to see the African Safari animals and a spectacular view on the ride back. Very nice zoo.

Plenty of room for captive animals, in near natural environment.

A good place for children and adults with diversity of animals and fun.

I took my class on a field trip here and was surprised to find what a wonderful zoo Oakland has! I had a blast and so did the students. Great fun AND educational! Four thumbs up! (If you count your big toes)

Lovely, neat and clean ambience. Stroller available on rent for kids. Food, water and drink available. During pandemic you can take your own foods and staff are helpful and try to maintain social distancing. Few sections are closed

Don't know what happen to the animals. I guess it's too hot that's why they are all hidden. The Gondola is a great addition to this place. From the top is a nice view of the bay area (this was the highlight of our visit). Giraffes are the most alert animals we saw on our quick visit.

Wonderful place to see wild animals...take gandola ride...for picnic

Awesome zoo. New gondola ride is fantastic. Future expansion plans will make this zoo one of the best.

This is a great zoo, especially for younger kids. They have a good-sized parking lot, great birthday parties, a petting zoo, rides, and you can get through it all in a day!