Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens
add photosReferred to as, “the World’s Most Beautiful Zoo,” the Santa Barbara Zoo is the area’s #1 visitor attraction. Situated on the grounds of a former estate built in 1896, it comprises 30 lush hilltop acres across the street from Santa Barbara’s most popular beach.
The Zoo is home to 160 species of mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. More than 400 animals exhibited in open, naturalistic habitats including Asian elephants, Western lowland gorillas, Humboldt penguins, snow leopards, African lions, and many more.
California Trails, dedicated on Earth Day 2009, is $7.5 million exhibit that showcases endangered and threatened Golden State species including rare California condors and tiny Channel Island foxes, among others.
“You must visit the zoo, even if you have to borrow a kid – or go without one… truly a local jewel,” raves Hometown Santa Barbara.
From the website:
Strollers for rent at the Gift Shop
Single stroller $5
Double stroller $8
Wagon $7
Barnyard
The barnyard is home to Navajo-Churro sheep, San Clemente Island goats and Guinea hogs, which you can feed with specially formulated pellets available for purchase at the Explore Store adjacent to the barnyard.
Food cost: $1/cup. Visiting the barnyard is free.
Carousel
Our youngest visitors will find the carousel a treat. A Dentzel original, the carousel features hand-carved exotic animals.
Cost: Children (up to 48" tall) $1.
Giraffe Feeding
Get up close and personal with the tallest residents of the Zoo! Hand feed Baringo and Masai giraffes and have the experience of a lifetime. Feeding schedule is flexible based on the animals' behavior and therefore not guaranteed. Check at the admissions gate for times upon your arrival.
Cost: $4 per person.
The Kallman Family Play Area, located across from the Zoo Train station, is full of fun stuff for the little ones. Pretend you're a dinosaur and hide in one of the 'dinosaur eggs'; be a spider as you crawl across the giant rope web; or, slide or roll down the perennial favorite ant hill. Tip: Bring your own piece of cardboard!
Zoo Train
Don't miss a ride on the Zoo Train! Two C.P Huntington trains that circle the perimeter of the Zoo delight visitors of all ages.
Cost: Adults & Seniors (13+): $4; Children (2-12): $3.50; Children under 2: free. SB Zoo Members receive $1 off.
24 Reviews for Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens
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3 families found this helpful
"A Great Wildlife Experience and I'm not Just Talking About the Animals!"
We visited this zoo while we were in the area with another family of four with kids the same age as ours. Those kiddos sure appreciated the chance to see gorillas, giraffes, flamingoes and all sorts of creatures! The highlight of their visit came when they happened to catch a snake eating a large rodent as we walked by. It was so gross and they were so riveted. Thank you SB Zoo for the Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom moment! Yuck!
The kids other favorite attraction at the zoo involved cardboard. If you've ever heard a parent say that they don't need to buy expensive toys for their kids, they just need to give them the cartons or boxes they came in, you'd understand why if you visited here. The zoo installed an artificial turf covered hill kids slide, ski and scoot down on cardboard pieces. I saw two kids running at the hill looking like they'd struck gold after discovering a cardboard box they toted behind them.
Parking is $5 but admission is free if you're a Happy Hollow member.
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0 families found this helpful
"Santa Barbara zoo."
I love this zoo because it is the perfect size for small children. There is plenty to see but not so much that it wears everyone out. There is also a wonderful little train that my boys love. My favorite is the gorillas! There is also a fun hill that kids of all ages slide down on cardboard or anything they find that slides well. This is a great way to keep the kids busy getting their energy out while parents get to rest a bit. We will likely make this a yearly trip for us.
1 family found this helpful
"Fun Zoo"
This is a great zoo for families. There's transportation available, the train, which cuts down having to walk quite as much. There's lots of fun animals, especially the cool Orangutan hut area. This zoo sometimes isn't too populated, which is nice as well if you can hit it not in the summer time.
0 families found this helpful
"Don't miss the giraffes!"
Such a sweet, quaint, high quality zoo! We love visiting the SB zoo and never miss the giraffes and being able to feed them! Just watch out for their tongues, they are long and purple! The climate is always wonderful and never hot, which ensures that you get to see lots of animals! This zoo is also the perfect size for young kids - you can easily see everything in a few hours!
1 family found this helpful
"One of my favorite zoos!"
There are so many things I love about this zoo. My parents live in Santa Barbara. First, I love that it's a relaxed atmosphere probably because it's never really that crowded. I will admit I've never been on a holiday weekend, however. The landscaping is beautiful.
It's a small zoo. My daughter's favorite part is riding the little train around. She first enjoyed that before she could walk and loves it just as much now that she's 3. You can bring a picnic lunch, no problem. There are tables spread out around the zoo and tons of grassy space.
The only cons I can think of are that there is always a part (only really noticeable on the train ride) that's being worked on. If you go for the morning, plan to eat lunch there. We tried to leave to eat lunch at home. You exit the zoo near their concession area. My daughter was hungry and saw people eating french fries. A huge tantrum followed!
1 family found this helpful
"Beautiful Zoo"
This zoo has a wide variety of animals. Is lush and beautiful. Great venue for weddings and parties. It is kept clean and beautiful and they even added a new play area for the kids! Make sure you go on the train ride before you leave the gardens!
0 families found this helpful
"We keep coming back!"
Our little family loves the S.B. zoo! We drive up from the L.A.-area to visit, and it's well worth the trip.
The zoo is small enough to navigate without getting too tired (our daughter is 20 mos, so we aren't yet at the "my feet hurt!" stage. She gets to ride in the hiking backpack.) but it is large enough to have a nice collection of animals.
First, the animals: we love that for a smaller zoo it does have lions, elephants, giraffes -some of the biggies! Our daughter is a little too young to scout out for, say, the little brown fox in the mostly wooded enclosure, but there are plenty of big and/or easy to view animals.
The condor enclosure is spectacular; on weekends guests can buy a handful of giraffe chow and feed them from a balcony over their pen; and there is an Amur leopard! (anyone who has the "Planet Earth" series of flashcards will find this entertaining.)
The zoo's grounds are parklike and well-landscaped. You don't have to walk for miles and miles (uphill) to get from one exhibit to the next. There are plenty of wide open lawns and picnic areas, and you can bring your own lunch and snacks which is great if you don't want to pick up something from the cafe (which is strategically placed near the entrance, you must walk past it to get to the animals, and, if you have older kids you must give in to demands for hot dogs...)
What I like best is that it's a great destination for families with toddlers. The kiddos can learn about the animals; the cages, pens, enclosures are not soooo far away behind safety rails that you can't see anything, and it doesn't cost a fortune for admission.
The little train ride around the zoo is worth it -once.
Negatives: The carousel is seemingly never open.
There isn't a proper petting zoo/farm: there is a pen with some sheep, goats and pigs and you can poke their noses through the fence, but it isn't at all like the farm at the San Francisco zoo where you have free-roaming goats nibbling at your coattails. I think the kiddos would really enjoy a bigger farm exhibit.
Also, their desert tortoises are very, very naughty. Just tell the wee ones that the one tortoise is simply climbing on the other fora better view...
0 families found this helpful
"Nice day outing for family"
Just visited yesterday, what a busy day and a fun outing. More toddlers and pre-schoolers were in the zoo than any other population, in my opinion. Everywhere you looked there were three footers walking and running about. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the visit but I was pleasantly surprised with the wide variety of animals from the EWE exhibit of snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlers to the classic giraffes, elephants and lions. It was a great one day adventure for the family. The zoo was a little over capacity though with limited resources. Food was scarce and long lines were a familiar site that was observed.
My suggestion would be to go during the week on school days unless you like tons of people. Parking is also very limited. So go at opening time if you want to park in their parking lot. Otherwise by 12:30 the parking lot was filled and closed to new parkers.
If you are a local I would highly recommend the annual pass, that’s what we did. For $80 it allows two adults and the children or grandchildren of the adults. So it is a great deal. It also gives you free parking, which otherwise costs $5. They also have other membership options depending on your family structure. The beauty of this to it the reciprocal benefits with about 120 other zoos and aquariums.
Finally, this zoo has a train. I do not believe that it is wheelchair accessible so we did not do the train option. The train also has an additional $5 charge. This is also a very hilly zoo, so the elderly will want to rent an electric scooter to get around.
0 families found this helpful
"Great, Manageable Zoo!!!"
You couldn't find a more perfect place for a zoo!!! Basically steps away from the beach, down the street from a Merry-Go-Round, and an additional park!! Before I get started on all the wonderful points about the zoo, my only drawback is the cost of going. This includes admission, the train ride, food, and if you stop by the gift shop. But onto the great stuff! This is a great museum if you don't want to be overwhelmed. The main path is basically one big circle and you see all the animals. They have great views of the animals and many different vantage points to see them so it doesn't feel too crowded.
Been there multiple times when there is a nice breeze coming off the ocean and sometimes you can see the ocean from inside the park!!
There are also large grassy areas where you can see and enjoy lunch or the shows. There is also a kid play area where they can climb and chase their friends to their hearts content.
The food is okay, it's the usual zoo food and can be pricey. I have actually split the kid meals with my boys because the portions are huge for kids. I believe you can bring in your own food but please check their website for that.
You can also feed the giraffes at certain times as well which the children love.
Now the location can't be beat!! You can make a weekend out of going, going to the beach, walk the pier and such.
Loads of fun for the family!
1 family found this helpful
"Great place for the entire family"
My entire family enjoyed this place. My son had fun seeing all the animals. He especially enjoyed feeding the giraffe. You can spend a good part of the day here. There is an area where the little kids can crawl up a man made hill. My son kept climbing up and down it. We did not have any trouble finding parking - they have a good size parking lot.
0 families found this helpful
"Great family outing..."
We just love coming here...its a place that my family can stretch their legs and enjoy so much that this place has to offer. This was our first time to visit this place and we cant wait to come back! A wonderful alternative to an amusement park, get there early and you will find close parking :)
0 families found this helpful
"Great Day Trip!"
The Santa Barbara zoo is the perfect size for families with young children, and is an easy drive from either the Central Coast or the LA area. It's a favorite meeting spot for us and our friends from LA. Stroller-friendly paths, a wide variety of interesting animals, a unique play area, and Santa Barbara's beautiful beaches just a few blocks away.
0 families found this helpful
"Wonderful Santa Barbara Zoo!"
This is a great zoo to take the kiddos! It's just big nough to be interesting to parents and kids, but small enough that you aren't completely exhausted upon leaving.
They have a little train that travels the perimeter of the zoo and provides views of animals that aren't available on the walking trails, so make sure to ride the train.
Food inside the zoo is typical fare: pizza, sandwiches, salads and some fried-type food. Decent value for the money.
The zoo has a couple giraffes, elephants and big cats!
0 families found this helpful
"Great Zoo"
This is a great zoo for children of all ages. Our 20 month olds really enjoyed it. We rented the strollers from the zoo so that we didnt need to lug our double stroller on our vacation. They were reasonably priced. Our twins loved the train ride and the giraffes. They have healthy snacks for purchase throughout the zoo.
0 families found this helpful
"Feed the giraffes"
We visited the Santa Barbara zoo last spring when Bob the Builder was visiting. I have to say it was a very small zoo and a large portion of it was under construction. There was a sandy area for the kids to play on and a ride on train that takes you around the zoo. My favorite part was feeding the giraffe's. You can buy two "biscuits" for $4. You are up on a platform where the giraffes can reach right over and take the biscuit from your hand. There are times when you can't feed the giraffes or they simply aren't hungry. Overall it was nice, not too big to overwhelm the kiddos.
1 family found this helpful
"Great little zoo"
It might be small, but it is great. This is one of the cutest little zoos with plenty to see. We loved the giraffe w/the crooked neck, and are sad that it has gone. But we feel blessed to have known it. The one drawback to the zoo, is the little train. It tends to break down quite a bit. So I would suggest waiting to the end of the day to try & ride, so you have seen all you can in case you waste your time in line.
0 families found this helpful
"Fun little zoo"
This zoo may be little, but it still has tons of animals. It also has a lot of shade. When we went there were tons of mcaws which are my daughters favorite. All the animals were out even though it was a hot day except for maybe three of them. The only animal we had trouble seeing in its cage was the red panda. I would so go again.
0 families found this helpful
"Beautiful Zoo!"
This zoo has got have the best view ever! From a good deal of it you can see the ocean! This is a very clean zoo. They have a wonderful in park play area for when the kids get tired of the animals and need a break. The train ride is great too! It goes all the way around the park and the conductor gives you some brief info on each animal you pass. While they don't have as many animals as some other zoo's, what they do have is pretty impressive.
1 family found this helpful
"Fun Zoo! "
I really liked this zoo. When I went, it was for a bachelorette party, believe it or not, so I didn't take the kids. :( However, I did scope it out for fun stuff to do. I loved the reptile tank, the small train, and the lion habitat and know they would score big points with my 5 year old. They were remodeling a lot, so I know it will be even better when it's done.
1 family found this helpful
"Santa Barbara Zoo"
Great zoo. Has a train, play area, animal feedings including giraffes. For a few extra dollars, you can feed a giraffe out of your hand. Go early if that is on your list. They aren't as hungry later in the day. Make sure you take a stroller (or rent one for the little ones) as you have hills to walk and the animal areas can feel spread out. Tip for the play area, bring a piece of cardboard or get a lunch tray as you walk in for the play area. Sliding down a small manicured grass hill is a highlight for my 4 year old (think kids sitting on a sled or snowboarding). Yes, they have lots of animals too :)Beware if you plan on buying lunch and the zoo is very busy. I believe they are building a second lunch area but there was only one on our visit a few months ago. Have an early lunch if the zoo is busy. Take your SF Zoo membership for 1/2 off (I'm pretty sure).
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