Turtleback Zoo Reviews

This place is REALLY coming along quite well!!! My family and I had a blast

Love this zoo. Childhood to now Adult still love this zoo.

A few of the exhibits were closed, the hand sanitzers in the sting ray are were all empty. Giraffe area was over crowded and the employees didn't enforce the social distancing.

Awesome place to come during covid. Even on busy days it is nothing. Great place for kids to run and be kids and experience animals. Even as an adult I d enjoy coming here with no kids just to be outside.

PLUS free admission if you bring stuff to donate!

total win win being outside, kid friendly, lots of space, lots of different things to do and experience!

Well maintained. Gr8 for kids. Carry hats with you. Outside food allowed. Place to sit,relax and eat.

Nice place to take your kids and spend time. Buying a yearly pass can save you alot.

Great little zoo... It's been around forever.... I used to go there on class trips and I'm 47. Every child in the area should experience Turtle Back Zoo once in their life.

Love this place! Beware it gets pretty crowded later in the day especially on weekend and nice days.

We tried celebrating my sons 1st birthday here. We had never been to TBZ, so we didn t know what to expect. Before we arrived, I was bummed that we weren t able to book a picnic table (or any other area) because of them being booked out . Only to arrive and see they have an abundance of open tables (also covered), that we could have decorated and celebrated without inconveniencing other guest. And this is with the Zoo being busy!
Either way, we all had an amazing time. Parking was easy, the weather was great and the animals were out of their closures for us to see.

Outstanding. The greatest place to take grandkids, and grandpa.

They have a lot of activities and the personal help you a lot. I love the penguins

On our second year long membership, and this is a great membership to have. Best money spent probably ever. Fun for the whole family. My daughter loves it, as do I. Very affordable and a great activity. Can't say enough good things. I love that they have a sea turtle rehabilitation center as well.

Amazing! The children enjoyed every minute at it. I definitively recommend it.

Awesome loved it..not too much walking and they are adding more exciting things looking forward to it

Great place for all ages. Closes too early on Sundays

Just an awesome place to visit. You need to be there to witness the atmosphere, can't be put into words.

I came for the Christmas Lights spectacular. It was very nice. This is a great event for families. The parking is free. The admittance is free starting at 5 p. m. Overall a great time. The train ride wait was toooo long! The carousel is $2.00 . Adults ride free with their child/children. Hot chocolate is $3.00. Smores are$5.00. I took plenty of photos. Enjoy Merry Happyholidays. Thank you Essex county. They really care. Kudos to the law enforcement who kept the traffic flowing.

Well decorated and nice architecture and that's it! You don't come here for that, you come to experience natural habitat. The animals were too far off fence after fence and were barely visible. The animal collection isn't that good either. For this experience $19 per person is overpriced. Not worth it!

Great size of zoo for small kids. Loved the petting zoo area and the short distance to walk to each area. Bird Aviary was near but wouldn't pay to feed them...too many people do it and the birds are full and don't go to any of them. Parking was free and that was a bonus. Washrooms could have been cleaner.

A huge variety of animals and definitely a great place to bring a date or the family. The goat feeding is very fun, the wolves are awesome and touching stingrays is an awesome experience for all ages. Would highly recommend.

Wonderful place to come with the family. Inexpensive and fun for all.

Love turtle back. They keep adding new attractions, have wonderful member events and the sea turtle rescue. Membership prices are reasonable. They also have summer camps, kids programs, brew at the zoo events for adults, Halloween and holiday events and so much more. Definitely check it out no matter it out.

Who would have known such a gem. Best during the week

The place is pretty nice. But you pay for the entrance and then inside you have to pay again if you want to do different activities that they offer you, for example: there's a carrousel ( you have to pay with cash), or feed animals... And the ticket it's not cheap. Now, my advice if you go with your children and you don't want to spend more money... Talk to them before to get in. The only free activity it's to take a ride with a train (which is pretty cool for the kids) but if the zoo is busy, can be a long line and a waste of time.
the worst time to go it's around 11-12pm and also when at the school the kids have vacations.

Very nice surprise to find a zoo very close by me to bad that most of the animals were hiding

It was the best trip i learned new things about a lion and other animal i recommend you come to Turtle Back Zoo

Did not see anyone renting the strollers.. i guess due to covid. We had a great time. Our favorite part was the penguins. Least favorite was the wait time for train ride

Zoo is OK but parking situation has to improve. On a busy day you can expect to be stuck in traffic + looking for parking for close to an hour!!

This is always our favorite zoo since it's close to our house(it's in south orange and close to many places like livingston, milburn, summit etc.) and great for family to spend weekend there. Also for young kids you should definitely try the train.

Immaculately maintained, animals look happy and healthy, reasonably priced.

A bit overcrowded most of the time, but overall it is a great zoo!

We always have fun here ... 1st stop is the train .... next .... all over!! We LOVE having the membership!! I highly recommend it!

Great zoo. Easy to get around and see everything. Animals seem well cared for. The exhibit where you can feed the birds is very cool.

Nice place to spend time with family, kid's love a chu-chu train and because of covid19 the petting section is closed but we had fun anyway .

Not what I remember as a kid. Big parking garages now. The train ride is OK. Looks like they are doing A lot of with and upgrades to the park

Amazing zoo ever , lot of animals and the zoo is well organized and they provide you once you register and pay the entrance fee a map for the zoo and for the activity schedule
Restroom are so clean and no bad smell in any place in the park do recommend. 2 adults 2 kids cost me 41$

Turtle Back Zoo a place i visit almost once or twice a year.God's wonderfull creations and watching the animals which never bores me and my family.My son watches wild Krat and has lots of knowledge abour animals and enjoys his visit everytime.Sharks and sting ray he loves to watch them swim and feel them.The train ride is short but memorable.Sea lion show is very good and watching leopard and cougars has always been fun.Most of these are endangered due to human beings quest for greediness and killed for medicine and other purpose.Sad to see them in captivity which always hurts me but good they are breed in captivity.Parking is free and very well orgainized.Everyone should visit with their children.

Always enjoy our visits here. Great place for adults and children.

Experience: 5/5 - Overall excellent time for what you are paying for... You can easily see everything they have to offer in one day trip and not have to worry about missing out on something.
Animals: 3/5 - If you want to go to see truly unique and exotic animals then this isn't the place for you. There were a hand full of exhibits that were closed but all the open ones have cool and interesting informational plaque about the animals.
X-Factor: 5/5 - Only $15 for the whole day with free parking, you cannot go wrong!! Inside the zoo they have a free choochoo train ride, snake feeding, and touch tank.

Great for little ones to enjoy a day at the zoo. Completely manageable, and every once in awhile they have free days for the Essex County. The only downside is parking is sometimes pretty far , so come early in the morning if you want to see animals awake and also get reasonably close parking. And though It can be crowded, always something to do.

It's a very nice zoo. My favorite part was the train ride, the kids really enjoyed themselves.

Joyful for family and kids, something to do during these trouble times

Only did the ropes course and zip lining, but it was a lot of fun. I gave it 5 stars not because of the actual course and zip line, but because of the extremely friendly, helpful and sincere staff. My friend was nervous to do a lot of the activities and despite being an adult, they were so helpful and kind. Nicest people.

Zoo has a good supply of animals and is family friendly.

Great place to take the kids. It's big enough to keep them occupied but small enough to get through it in a half a day. There's a great play area to take a break. It's constantly expanding.

Lots of updated exhibits and fun new animals. The entire zoo can be seen in a couple of hours, just right for young children.

Nice zoo with nice selection. Would like a bit more of the big mammals.

I liked that zoo very much. There are benches that you can sit on to rest. You can take a quick tour around it with something like a train. There are different animals. You can touch different kinds of fish while they are swimming. I saw things that I have never seen before. The kids can take pictures safely. It is a nice place that you will enjoy.

Cannot say enough amazing things about this place. Giraffe feeding is so awesome. My 2 year old and I go 2x a week in the summers. We use their annual pass and WOW...so very worth what we saved. Just lovely staff, helpful, clean environment and overall a great place. The Christmas lights and Santa specials were a blast. The vendor week, a blast. Sometimes crowded yes but absolutely worth the membership. We have had the best of times there.

Really clean, lovely zoo. Going during the weekdays is really ideal. They have volunteers rotate throughout the exhibits who are really knowledgeable about each species and every single animals themselves. It really brought more magic to the experience by getting to learn more and ask questions. Not saying the signs at the exhibits aren't helpful it's just hard to replace the human touch.

Facilities were super clean and organized, masks required and hand sanitizer was abundant. Well spaced bathrooms too. Really, a beautiful zoo and a fantastic experience.

I rated this 3 stars because I really love this zoo
But I went there august 16th and was amazed by the carelessness during the pandemic. Yes it was a Sunday so I should of known it would be busy but it was raining so I figured less ppl, well I thought wrong. I thought the zoo would care more about there employees safety. Many people had mask below there nose. Many people just walk right next to you and don t keep a distance. I was also annoyed by a worker who was a young guy prob 20 years old he just walked by me with no care and no mask. I am pretty annoyed and left within an hour.

I love this zoo. A nice medium size with a mix of local creatures and exotic. Porcupines to flamingos to giraffes. And expanding again! Plus a lot of interactive features for the kids, and the parts that you have to pay for aren't expensive. $2 for the carousel, pony ride, feeding a giraffe or more. We have a family membership and it's a great free or almost free day.

Love this place for the family, however beware of the stroller hordes. It looked like the Indy 500 with whole waves of strollers and upset toddlers crying. Par for the course. It's nice to have a zoo so close to home but the offerings are sort of sparse.

For example, they have a sea turtle recovery center but you can't see the sea turtles except on a tv monitor. That was a real bummer. Parking is tight and if you aren't there early, expect to be parking on the other side of the pond and walking.

Never thought there was like this, the right size to be able to see everything in the hrs. They are open, different animals and even you can touch the rays. It is a beautiful place to bring your family, I would totally recommend it.

Great fun despite the rain @ Birthday Party for my BF little 5 year old son

Wow, this place is even better than before! Tons
Of stuff to see, great exhibits, and easy to navigate for young families. Our 5 year old was able to walk to whole place (although she was tired at the end) and we were able to get pretty much everywhere with our 1 year old twins in a stroller.

One of the better zoo's in the area. We try to come down as much as possible.

The kids love going inside and looking at the Prairie Dogs. All the animals are easily located and seen. They have several interactive zones like feeding giraffes, butterfly and bird enclosure, pony rides and goat petting area.

Great experience, but the train ride is really short. Moved from St.Louis Missouri where the train ride is several miles long. However, nice staff and great for family or school trips

Too many bees!! I don t have a problem with bees but when they are everywhere and you have children and company with you that are allergic to bees, it s a problem. Every trash can was infested with bees. The zoo has a lot of cans I assume to keep the place clean but makes the bees every where!! The zoo itself is nice. Not too many attractions but it s cute for younger kids and the landscaping is beautiful.

We had a great time, but the zoo is hard to follow. They do have some unusual animals like the stingrays and giraffes that are not at other zoos in the area. The train was excellent. I recommend taking the ride. It is worth visiting.

It was my son's birthday, and we took him there and he had a lot of fun.

Good place to bring kids, admission was free when I went, also play grounds are close by

This is probably the best zoo I have been to in years. They have the big animals like giraffes, lions, penguins, and monkeys, but they also have bears, wolves, bald eagles, sea turtles, cougars and so much more. There is a petting zoo with farm animals and also pony rides. It is just amazing the amount of things here. My 2 year old had so much fun! Also if you are early enough to the giraffe feedings at 11 and 2, you can feed them.

Love it, any aspect of it, animals, attractions, food and fun

Animals very close one next to other. We really liked it including the kids

Not bad. go I'm summer when they don't close things.

Look's better from the street view. Extremely pricey for EVERYTHING. All in all not a bad place to spend a day.