Turtleback Zoo Reviews

Love this place but don't go in the winter and expect to see animals.

Great zoo.very spacious with tons of exhibits and active animals.

I love walking the zoo frequently. It is a great place to get a relaxing walk in while seeing the animals.

Turtle Back Zoo has been one of my favorite childhood memories.

This place is awesome. I don t get tired of going and they have giraffes now! Amazing. Adorable little zoo. Great for families and even couples in a cute date which I see often there including myself.

Wow, how do you think this place got its name? I was brought to Turtle Back as a kid in the 60's. We little kids sat on what I now think was huge Galapagos Turtles and these sad looking older dudes prodded the indentured giant turtles with electric rods so the poor things would move with us on top of them. This is one of my recurring nightmares from this period of time in my childhood in this country. They stayed in business? Horrifying. Let's hope their animal treatment has improved by huge margins since then. But, it's a zoo...let's face it.

What a wonderful local zoo and community gem. Visiting is an educational, family-friendly activity with something for everyone. My two year old twins loved the train ride and saw their first animals from the wild.

I was impressed by the animal exhibits for the size of the zoo. You can see farm and exotic animals like giraffes, lions and leopards.

A lot of effort goes into the maintenance. The staff are engaged and friendly. I like that they host a free day open to the community where parents and kids can learn about the public services available in Essex County.

You're welcome to bring your own drink and snacks, which I prefer when going to places with young kids.

Drop by and have a day if learning and fun. If you have young children and go early they will be ready for a nap by the afternoon.

Love it! Perfect size and atmosphere for young children. Very clean. Staff is very friendly. Nice that train rides is included in admission and other extra attractions (like pony ride and feeding giraffes) is super affordable ($2-$3).

a very good zoo, many different animals, a good view of the animals. It is necessary to refill with food for a snack for visitors. Replace the awfully squeaky stroller for children

Best zoo in NJ. Gets really really crowded though... probably because it's so great.

Nice beautiful place and affordable price will go again the kids and I have great time

Kids live being here. Will probably sp by 3 more time by summers end

Very clean and extremely kid oriented. Animals are well cared for and happy. Restaurant on upper deck serves adult beverages

Quite a nice Zoo. I've maybe been lucky to see a few others that I like more

Im loved is much different from pass , im glad is at north new jersey and is not far

Beautiful place and lovely animals very well kept and clean

Very reasonably priced great for my family look forward to our yearly visits.!

I have been there numerous times. The place is very clean. There are lions, giraffes, wolfs, flamingos, pelicans & many other animals. You can feed most of the animals. Truly a fantastic place for a fun day with the family. Will come back very soon!

Turtle back zoo is great. The right size and price for a younger child. Most recently we visited for the holiday lights. A food donation in return for admittance to the park. A few animals. But just a really nice evening. The train runs for free (the train in general is pretty lame). We were disappointed that many people walked in without donating a can of food, but overall a really great zoo.

Good zoo for younger kids. You can do the whole thing in less than a days visit. There are lots of great exhibits and they are always improving the different areas. The staff is friendly and the animals seem well cared for. Older kids might get bored and younger kids will definitely need a stroller as the exhibits are a bit spread out and it's pretty hilly.

Took my niece. It is a nice small zoo with fun activities.

Very clean. Great price. Great selection of animals. Easy to find your way around.

Good place for toddlers and kids below 5 yrs. there are more activities for kids like aviary, butterfly house, sting ray tank, carousel, free train inside and pony ride.

A lot of great exhibits of animals as well as other fun things to do, such as mini golf, zip lining, boat rides, and more! Great fun for the entire family.

Fun for the whole family. Reasonably priced admission. Tons to do!

Had a wonderful time at this zoo. Many animals and attractions including a carousel and train. It is very clean and well kept. The atmosphere is very nicely themed (great decorations and whatnot). Of course we had to wear a mask for safety, but the sprinklers kept us cool!

My child and I had a great time there as it was both our 1st time at Turtle Back Zoo.

Good size zoo for people who get tired easily. Missed out on the big cats exhibition because there weren't any but really enjoyed the aviary and the giraffe sections.

We always love going to Turtle Back Zoo and let me just say they take your temperature before you go in it's very safe and you'll have a great time

Night tour is great with all the christmas lights. They have a great set up. It's busy but well run. Alot of animals to be seen. Not every animal at night but well worth the trip. Enjoy!!

Very popular zoo. Wide variety of animals. But, lots of walking on steep and winding paths. During hot days animals typically seek out shade and rest

I loved seeing all the animals especially the red pandas. I'm hoping to come back to see the butterfly's and foxes since I didn't get a chance since the zoo was starting to close.

Great place for kids!!! Cheap entry and quick visit to all animals!!

Love this place. Had amazing time with my children. Perfect place to enjoy a beautiful day.

Many new improvements! Needs more restrooms! Especially tiny potties for kids.

There have been many changes over the years. This year the entire African section is new and was great. Kids always love it. It is very hilly which makes it challenging with strollers and heavy bags.

A very nice place. Lots to do. Great for family outings

Really nice zoo with a great mix of variety and size. The zoo is easily walkable and has attractions ranging from a train ride, carousel and animals of course! There is a turtle rehab exhibit along with a relatively new "safari" area. Fun visit for the entire family.

My daughter(5years old) had a lot of fun. My son(1 years old) had a lot of fun. The animals were lively and the area was clean. You can see animals way closer than the Bronx zoo. My one gripe was the reptile exhibit. It was very small, with a lot of traffic and tight doors. Everything else was fantastic. The train was free and even though it was short, it was memorable. The best food is in the restaurant. Some of the food stands have less than fresh food but it was still good. Still no complaints. Also they have face paint and multiple gift shops. Zip lining as well. For the price and quality of fun it was really good.

Nice zoo for the little ones. Plenty of animals to see and activities to do. They also have a small scale train. Adjacent to a nice park and tree adventure and zip line spot.

This is definitely good for kids as a day outing and you have train ride and Mary-go-round. But the animals are very few, I would love to see many more animals and more in number.

And the weekend is very busy, it is impossible to walk with a Stroller, was there 03/23/2019 ( not a season) half the animals were not yet, but anyway it is nice place.

Cheap, clean, family safe, fun place to visit. This was my first visit and my family will be visiting again many times.

The zoo went through a renovation recently and they did a lot of great things to expand. I still feel like as far as zoos go it's just OK. It doesn't compare to the Bronx Zoo - mainly due to the fact that they have a lot of birds and well no one goes to the zoo to see birds. They recently added some lions and giraffe's so they are getting there but I still feel like they have a long way to go. They also need to work on the lines to get into the zoo. They are often backed up and it just starts the day off wrong (if you're traveling with young ones). The staff is your typical young kids and well you get what you pay for. Parking is OK - if you go early it isn't bad but Noon or later and you should just wait or go another day.

It was a great experience! Animals seem to be well cared for. Parking was very well organized and free! The only downside is that a few animals were not in the exhibit, and the zoo is a bit small.
Great place to take kids for half a day.

I didn't even know that this place existed in Jersey wow I always thought we don't have any zoo around here the closest one is obviously is the bronx zoo, go here people you will love it.

Reasonable care re masking policy. Family friendly. All of us had a great time . Wish more exhibits were open.

Great zoo. Only 15.00 admission and no extra charges once inside (except .50 for goat food and $3.00 for 2 pieces of lettuce to feed the giraffes). So worth the money and time to get there. The place is expansive and has a nice train ride to sit and relax. Touch tank you can play with sting rays. Overall a great place, inexpensive, and great for children.

This is a fantastic place for a family outing. The animals all appear to be very well cared for, and they have a wide variety of exhibits. Bonus points for being able to feed the giraffes as well!

My kids and I had a really great time together exploring and seeing all the animals ! They have so many fun things to do for the kids and adults ,I found myself running to see the next exhibit. The touch tank and carousel were big hits with my 4 and 9 year olds . Seeing lions and hyenas is great for children who never get that chance in the wild . The price of admission is very reasonable, the food is pretty pricey but you can pack your own lunch and bring it to the park and you can also leave the park and return later by just showing your receipt, the park hours are 10am to 4 PM so it's a great day trip for families!

Lets be honest. its a zoo. animals are caged. it keeps kids entertained at a high dollar value... I would rather a circus.

The Turtle Back Zoo is a fantastic place to take a family for a day! The animal exhibits are great and you always see most of what s at the zoo! Would definitely recommend it!

Very hilly. Go on a warmer day and be prepared to walk a lot.

Reserved spots by time ,temperatures taken before purchasing tickets, train only on for a few hours, everyone must wear masks, overall the zoo is taking great measures to prevention.

Their winter wonderland event is great for kids, and free! It was excellent to roast smoores over a fire.

Fun, but after paying to get in, you still have to pay again for certain rides.

First off the sheriffs and parking attendants sent us to the wrong place to park. We parked then walked to the zoo gate. At the zoo gate they sent us to another main zoo gate which was very far from the first. We finally got to the gate walking around with a 3 year old. Then there was 1 line for birthday entrances which had about 20 people on it. By the time we actually got into the park it was about an hour. Pretty. Ad just to get into this place.

Still a great zoo for kids but swarms of bees almost everywhere we went. Also charged full price even though many of the exhibits were closed due to corona (petting zoo, bird feeding and viewing area and others were closed) Also did not honor reciprocity even though pre covid the zoo did offer 50% off through AZA ..kids enjoyed the train ride, the large tortoises and the giraffes.

Excellent for kids as you can imagine. New giraffe exhibit is cool. They are really investing a lot of money to make this a really great zoo!

Animals should not be incarcerated (in zoos) like criminals.

It's a pretty small zoo not to expensive. Went on a Sunday it was packed and hot so we didn't get to see half the animals. The enclosures were very small to which I didn't really appreciate because I don't think it's fair to the animals.

Even though we didn't go to the zoo, but I thoroughly enjoyed the park. The scenery was beautiful and the waterfront was real nice, it was clean, natural, scenic. I definitely will be going back throughout the summer

This is such a great zoo! It's so much fun to walk around and see everything. You get to take in nature as well. The workers are very friendly. There's a cool little train to ride around and see the lake on the side. Def recommend checking it out if you haven't been before!!

fun zoo to take the kids. there are picnic tables to bring food and eat there but you can also purchase food from their cafe. tons of kids brought here for field trips. there are some set times for animal feedings and options for interactive sessions. the staff there are nice and pleasant and seem knowledgeable. even though a group of us didn't pay for the giraffe feeding, the staff members there told us about some cool giraffe facts and answered our questions. another member showed us how wirey the tail of a giraffe is. kids would love this place. adults would learn some things but I feel like it's more of a zoo to bring kids. I wouldn't visit by myself. I don't think it's as appealing to adults to come alone. there's also free parking which is nice.

Awesome! Best zoo in NJ with lots of new exhibits (sting rays, penguins, turtles) the buffalo, bears and wolves come right up close. And a train ride for the little ones!

Just a wonderful place. Kids love it, adults love it. It's expanding and just all around beautiful!!!!

Always love the turtle back zoo. Not too big, fun close to the animals attractions. I've taken all for of my kids here for the past 16 years and they've all loved it. Is this enough text characters to get my credit? Who knows, but I do know we love the turtle back zoo.

We love this place. So many different exhibits it really does become a full day. It's not as big as the Bronx Zoo but it is more than enough! We have been coming here for years and have NEVER had a bad experience. Always worth the trip so don't skip this one with your family.

Very clean place animals well cared for. Social distancing is practiced here.

Wear a good pair of shoes are sneakers because you have alot of walking to do.The train ride was very nice.I enjoyed all of the animals that i saw.
Some of the exhibits were closed until the fall being the seals.
If you need help there are people walking around to help.I really had a nice time.

I think they are getting ready for more animals!!!! I seen them surve

The kids loved it. Prices are reasonable. Minimal crowds when went. Staff are very friendly. What's not to like?

Wasted trip. Place was absolutely packed and it didn't look they were enforcing covid guidelines.

I was surprised how big this zoo was. I expected it to be small like just a petting zoo. It would have been better if they had more of a variety of food there. My favorite part was riding the small choochoo train which took us around. The ride is about 15 minutes long.

It's one of the best Zoos for kids near Jersey City.
The paths are clear and takes around 4 Hrs. for entire zoo.
The locality is beautiful and you can take a walk around the nearby lake as well.

Public transport connectivity is not that good with New York City/Jersey City.