Stone Zoo Reviews

It's a nice zoo. Not much to see but it's good for walk and kids.

Nice smaller zoo. Great for toddlers. Fun events keep us coming back!

We visited in the cold season so there were not a lot of visitors but it had a decent collection of animals and the map was not as confusing as other places. There were plenty of locations to sit and have a meal. it was fascinating to see the flamingos!

Boo at the zoo was packed. My 2 year old had a lot of fun.

The Stone Zoo is a fine place to spend 2 hours with your kids- much easier to get to than Franklin Park and an adequate variety of animals. Our favorites include the bears, snow leopards, bald eagles, flamingos, and jaguar. A little pricey (like all museums/zoos) for single-day admission but become a member and it pays for itself pretty quickly. Best to add on a hike in the Fells or a lunch at Whole Foods in Melrose or Woburn afterwards.

Nice small zoo. Good events for children. Some enclosures seem small fo animals.

We went here on a rainy day, just myself and my four year old. It was great and all of the staff members were eager to teach my son everything they could about the animals. It is a smaller zoo so in that way, the animals are somewhat limited but it s perfect for a short zoo trip.

Sweet little zoo, just perfect for young kids. There doing a good job of limiting attendance, requiring masks, have a one way path through the zoo, and have markings for social distancing.

A great evening at Stone Zoo giving scholarship awards to dedicated Zoo staff!

When I came here as a teenager it was underwhelming. It's a smaller zoo. But now I have twin toddlers (they'll be 3 next month) and it was way more fun. Great zoo for smaller children because there's less walking between exhibits. I didn't have them in the stroller and it was great. It was this morning, a Friday, so there was barely anyone there which was honestly nice cuz it was like we had the whole park to ourselves. My mom got us the family plus membership for xmas so we can bring friends along too and it's very reasonably priced and gets you into both Stone Zoo and the Franklin Park Zoo and you get 10% off at the gift shop. Oh, and there's a playground too if you need a break!

Tl;dr, great zoo for young children, you won't get overwhelmed or overly exhausted - but your kids will still get tired out! Mine passed out in the car as soon as it started moving!

Went for Zoo Lights tonight and it was beautiful. My children enjoyed it. Saw some animals (reindeer, porcupine, owl, macaws and so on). Would like to go back to see the actual zoo when the weather is nicer.

Great place for kids and awesome Lego sculptures and got a glimpse of some of their holiday lights which looked great. A nice diversity of animals

Fun little zoo especially for the kids. Surprising amount of animals on site including lots of big cats. Parking is free and there are plenty of spaces most days. Zoo membership allows entry into both Stone Zoo and Franklin which is a nice perk.

Small but beautiful and have a lot the different animals considering the small space.

It is a wonderful zoo but the enclosures are very small but a great place to go

Alot of cool animals, some where hiding but still nice. Peaceful little walk around the zoo was nice. Little to expensive like $20 per person

I love the zoo and Stone Zoo was a great, especially with a baby! It was so lovely and the staff was quite courteous

The enclosures are very small for the animals that live there, the big cats were pacing, and the waterslide for the otters wasnt working. I just felt bad for the animals. Size was nice for a short visit with a baby, not a lot to see, but some fun things to look at. The people/staff were very friendly.

Nice time although a lot of the animals where not out because of the cold.

Went for the xmas lights was completely disappointed.

Only got to see a lot of humans, the animals were missing

Clean and amazing staff! The staff was engaging and very knowledgeable!

I expected so much more from this zoo. I did like the fact that they had little sprinkler systems set up thru out the zoo just in case people are overheating. But the prices for food are outrageous. All the animals where hiding which is understandable its hot out. But they did have some great animals there. It is not a big zoo at all so if your excepting to spend the day with the family do not go there you will be disappointed.

The animals at this zoo are kept in small confined areas in depressing conditions. The overall feeling is that of disrepair. The Canada Lynx was pacing around its small enclosure, which is a sign of distress at being confined. Many of the birds were in concrete rooms with no natural light, their only sky being blue paint on cinder block walls. The bald eagles sat stoically in the winter air in a wooden open enclosure, the netting only a few feet above their heads. The flamingos huddled in a muddy pond. It was really heartbreaking to see. These animals deserve to be able to roam and fly free in a well designed sanctuary if they are not able to survive in the wild. How can this treatment of animals still be acceptable in Massachusetts in 2017?

i like this place good for my granddaughter melissa she loves to see the monkeys

We enjoyed it , the staff is unbelievable so knowledgable.

The cages were very small! The glass (to see spiders, snakes, etc) was very dirty and scratched, so it was not possible to see what's inside. The zoo is not very big; you can spend maybe 2-3 hours there.

Worked on the new construction so nothing to be helpful with.

Small, well kept park. Nice, holiday exibits when I went. Some animal exibits were available for viewing too. Staff was friendly and accommodating.

Went there for zoolights. Very easy to navigate. Kids had fun. Only problem i found was lines. Whether it was tbe ticket line, food line, santas village line. They need to manage lines better and also place time limits on patrons because at one point in our zoo experience, we were waiting for 20 mins in line bc the people before us, were taking selfies and family photos with every display there and we couldn't enter until they were socially distant.

Great zoo, we got to see the babies Snow Leopards and their Mama, also the Alligators being feed. The kids loved that. We're differently going back there again.

Saw the Zoo lights exhibit, very beautiful and unique experience. Highly recommend it!

This place was amazing! So much fun for kids and even adults have fun too! The only thing is, the ladies who sell you the picture you take with Santa are very rude and miserable. Other than that, everything is great!

Felt really sorry for the animals, they all look like depressed, Bear, Leopard, Cougar kept looping around the cage, back and forth. May be it's just me.

Fun time. Really nice the Zoo Light Show wad great.

Stone Zoo is a wonderful place to take the kids or if you just want to take walk and have something to see in the city rather then buildings, cars, and people. The animals do a lot of sleeping so you might have to walk around the zoo a few times (we did it twice) to be able to see all the animals awake, feeding time I would say is the best time to walk around the zoo however the zookeeper's will wake them up for you to see them or refund you if your experience isn't or wasn't what it should have been. The employees there are kind and knowledgeable and although they are busy do not hesitate to ask questions even if you want to know about an animal your not currently in front of. Whatever you do do not feed the animals just cause you think that's going to bring them closer to you their are cameras there you will get banned from the zoo most cases for life as they are on strict diets and the food you feed them may kill them. Have a great time there and remember they are life like you and me and you would be sleeping too if you were locked in a cage all day given there isn't anything else to do.

Wanted to go to a zoo other than Franklin Park Zoo. What a waste of money, Stone Zoo is HORRIBLE. The poor animals look so sad. We saw not one, not two but maybe 4 or 5 DEAD mice in the tigers den. Not eaten just dead. Should have been cleaned up, hope thats not what they feed the poor tigers. NEVER AGAIN.

I love the stone zoo. Yes, it is a small zoo but they still have some great exhibits. The bird of prey show is amazing. Be sure to make time to see the show. This zoo is great for families. Even the adults I bring love it. Also, watch their website for seasonal events for both kids and adults. They run a number of programs throughout the year.

It's a small zoo that we had the unfortunate timing to visit during 2020 where many, many exhibits were closed due to COVID related restrictions. Only upside to this was the limited amount of visitors making it easy to get around with our double stroller. I do believe that a discounted price should have been offered considering how few exhibits were actually available. Either way my 2 young boys still had a good time.

Fantastic manageable sized zoo great for little kids

Great family place, easy to get around, not too big and lots of different animals

love brining the kids here. always a great weekend trip

People giving this place anything more than a 1-star review clearly is NOT an animal lover. This zoo has only small exhibits for all the animals. All the animals are anxious. And the zoo allow cigarette smoking throughout the zoo. This zoo should be SHUT DOWN immediately!

Promising Start, very poor maintenance!!!
I haven't visited this Zoo in a few years, so i was almost gitty to return. First we didn't know if it was going to be open for the 4th of July. We looked at another Zoo the night before that had the holiday hours. We found a post the morning of that said it will be open, so very poor planning and marketing for that day imo. We arrived and the Entrance was breath taking. Very beautiful compared to what use to be the ticket booth. We weren't given a map after purchasing our tickets, and really didn't notice the map dispenser as you walk in. I don't think we noticed it because our eyes were drawn up to the beautiful new flamingo enclosure as you walk in. Definitely wish there was a rate this enclosure app for each one at every Zoo. Some where 5 others not so much. I understand being a small community Zoo money isn't pouring from the clouds, but BASIC upkeep in the encloses can go along way. With that being said, temperatures topped out around 87*-90* that day. We noticed in a lot of the enclosures there wasn't your basic water source. I'm sure they had water in their sleeping enclosure but those are closed. After noticing it for the first few enclosures, it was almost like someone had shaved your eyebrow off, very hard to not notice it from that point on. We did however notice that employees had a bottle of water in their hand, in fact like 95% of them did. I'm sure the Zoo has many big plans for great enclosures for their animals and for the future of the Zoo. That time is not now, and should upkeep with what you do have in front of you. I hope my return visit to this Zoo will be a different one.

I haven't been there in years, it's come a long way. Really enjoyed going.

Great family friendly zoo with a wide variety of animals!

Lots of different species of animals to view. Great photo opportunities. Wear comfortable shoes because there is a lot of walking involved. Carry sunscreen and a cap if you are heading out in warmer weather.

Always a good time.. Amazing zoo Lego Safari this holiday season.

The snow leopards were adorable and the kids all had a great time (ages 10-1.5) but the food and gift shop were I credibly marked up (as expected, still hurts)

The zoo has well kept grounds and a good number of animal attractions. The informational displays are nicely done. Our toddler enjoyed the farm animals (especially petting the goats) and the playground.

unfortunately a lot exhibits were closed but the bear was very active.

Flamingos in the winter? They should be ashamed of themselves

I really enjoyed Zoo Lights! Even despite Covid, so much effort is put into making it a wonderful experience. I am concerned about animal well-being in some enclosures since for example the monkey area smelled very strongly of feces. A lot of exhibits are closed so there aren't many animals to see. But overall I really enjoyed it.

What a wonderful experience. Super friendly staff and clean restrooms. The zoo was nice and clean and had loads to see. They offer admission discounts if you receive MA food stamps & if I'm not mistaken WIC as well. I would gladly return.

They've done a great job at implementing safety protocols without limiting the enjoyment of the zoo. Lots of hand sanitizing stations, all one way access. Timed entry helped spread out crowds and most of the exhibits we're still open. Easy to reserve entrance online.

Enclosures for animals are very very small. Not the best conditions to house these amazing animals

7/21 marked my 7th time visiting the Stone Zoo. The animals are easy to see, and there are even Bald Eagles! Did I mention the Colobus monkeys are very playful too! The Stone Zoo is very family friendly, and they even have a few rides, and a playground for kids! There is a great concessions booth next to the rides with awesome park food! I recommend this zoo to anyone looking for an awesome experience, and a great atmosphere.

Love the Yearly Christmas light/Santa/decorOutdoor walk through that they do. They have little trains and Wizard of Oz settings and everything else. It s very entertaining for kids and adults. The kids can take pictures with Santa for an extra fee. The only animals you see on your way to the exhibit which is just outside the Stoneham zoo is the animals that stay out in the cold like the polar bear and a couple of others that sometimes may be hiding.

Had a really good time with the kids here. The snow leopards were in hiding snoozing the day away but there are so many neat attractions that it didn't matter to miss out on 1.

Small but perfect for kids Stone Zoo is a great place to take the kids. No big game but lots of interesting animals to see. Snow Leopard are amazing and you get close.

The Legos exhibition and the Halloween decoration was just perfect for the zoo for these days. A very good zoo!

Love the bears, wolves and big cats. The zoo has made significant improvements recently.

So good for families with kids. Great experience, great staff. Will come again!

Love the Bears Smokey and Grizzly, and all the rest of the animals!

So I love zoos, no matter what the lowest I'd go is a 3. Stone zoo is a great local zoo, not as many animals as I remember as a child, maybe my memory doesn't serve me correctly. However, after being to the southwick zoo I'd have to say if you have the time to get there that is going to be your better option if you like monkeys and apes as much as me. You can get a lot closer w the big cats at stone zoo, so theres that, and lots of birds, but southwick has a ton of birds as well.

Pleasant environment. The zoo feels like a nature walk where you also get to see some unique animals. The variety is enjoyable.

Enclosures might be a little small for some animals, which is worrisome. However they appear to be well kept. The animal enrichment program helps provide unique engagement opportunities for the animals to keep their mental states positive and active.

Location is lovely, sitting within the Fells, making the zoo more accessible than some for those North of Boston. They have a host of activities and programs available to keep returning patrons interested.

It's a very small zoo. Great for smaller kids to walk around. The animals all appear to be very healthy. I did ask where do the animals go in winter, I was told that they have winter habitats somewhere . I looked around to try and see where they may be and I could not figure it out. Although, they did have a Florida Alligator , I'm wondering what they do with him in the winter . I do know in winter that this zoo did make the list of one of the top 10 attractions that you should see in and around the Boston area. Santa Claus make a visit there and I hear the decorations are absolutely spectacular!

Nice enough, but the grounds need desperately to be maintained. The grounds look neglected. I'd like to see this place when everything has been cleaned up. I'm unsure why they opened before they were ready.

Always a great experience! Even when the parking lot is full we never feel that there are tons of people and we enjoy all the animals!!

I thought members would get special privileges with regard to ZooLights! Per adult is fairly expensive

As great as always! Staff really friendly and helpful, animals are the best and always seems they really care about the animals, not just a job