ross park zoo

andreamZ4370OP

Ross Park zoo is a great little zoo for a small town. They have an amazing selection of animals for the area that it's in. There's even lions tigers and bears. And a lot of good birds.

jaykk11

This zoo has animals that most zoo's do not have. There are some of the usual but several unusual species. Play area for the kids, a snack bar and a souvenir hut. Small but fun family friendly zoo. In an area of children's activities.

eproper11

Binghamton is a fairly depressed area and not very populated, however you can find a quaint little zoo in this city. Ross Park Zoo is fairly simple to navigate and get around as it is primarily one large long loop with little side areas of exhibits/animals. There are not many food or shopping choices other than bare minimums. Animal Highlights include the Andean Bears, Tigers and Leopards, Red Wolves, and small Rainforest House. Cheap admission makes it a worthwhile stop if nearby but not worth a trip for only the zoo.

AudreyO41

Other than it being extremely cold our visit went exactly according to plan! I had set up a close encounter with the red panda so my sister's boyfriend could use their painting activity to propose to my sister. She was completely surprised and it turned out amazing!

missbiddy2014

A real zoo lover, I entered Ross Park Zoo with modest expectations but was very pleasantly surprised. A nice one-mile trail leads you to each animal habitat where you are unusually close to the animals. I went in the morning and the animals were delightfully active. It was a real treat to get to see the snow leopard jump up on the fence, the wallabys nibble leaves, and the Asian tiger roll around on his back like a giant kitten---all within just a few feet of me. If you enjoy watching animals and taking a short hike, this is a great venue. The only negative was the less-than-friendly staff...but the four-legged animals saved the day.

41ThomasT

We recently made a return visit to an appreciably improved zoo. The setting is beautiful with exhibits presented on the side of a fairly significant hill. Walking shoes are essential. Recent otter pups were a real highlight. The wolfs in their expansive hill side site was well equipped observation platforms.

N6580DDmarys

No wonder the Binghamton Zoo lost its AZA accreditation. The staff is extremely rude, they think they are there to joke around and text, while animals look sad and malnourished. There's not much to see or do, you can walk the Zoo in about a half hour. It's nothing like it was 20 years ago when the Zoo was alive. What a shame what its become..

NjMoma2

This is a cute park with some unexpected animals - tigers, meerkats, a snoring bear. It was perfect for a 2-hour visit on a hot Sunday afternoon. It is hilly, however, so if you're pushing a stroller, you'll be huffing. The bathroom is quite clean and there's a lovely little playground up above the bathrooms when you first get there. Great for our trio of 3 active 9-year olds and even the non-plussed 14 year old had fun.

JudyC272

My family and I had a fantastic time on 9/9/14! We scheduled the wild encounter with the red pandas in advance and had so much fun feeding them snacks by hand. We also helped with some enrichment for the day taking time to place and hide bamboo for them to find later. The red pandas Mei-Li and her son were very friendly and gentle with the kids. We were able to watch them paint as their enrichment activity for the morning. Sarah and Ian were very friendly and informative! As a group we had a lot of fun making fantastic memories with this wonderful experience! I think the price of $100 for 3 of us to interact with the red pandas was very reasonable and 15% of the payment going towards the fight of the red pandas' demise in the wild. I have been to many zoos across the US and am happy that this zoo had this opportunity available! The zoo itself is smaller but impressive as the 5th zoo in the US. I highly recommend the wild encounter to anyone interested!

curlieq20

The walkways are horrible, especially near the bird exhibit where it dramatically slopes off near the railing. Pavement is constantly at a slant. Someone could easily twist their ankle if they're not careful. The only semi-decent pathway was the Native American trail. The zoo is very run down and lacking animals. The last time I visited and during this visit, the wolves were taking a sabbatical both times. Where did they go? Staff wasn't friendly when we arrived. We had to ask for the promotional event. They were not welcoming. We checked out the souvenir shop before we left and the woman in there was miserable. She was too busy on her iPad to talk to us. Obviously she didn't care about selling anything. I wouldn't waste my time going. For little kids it might be nice to go on the carousel or check out the story book garden, which are both outside of the zoo. I wouldn't recommend this zoo. I'd rather drive to Syracuse or Utica to see their zoo.

Kithcart6

Tucked away into the mountainside of the south side of Binghamton, this little zoo is a nice destination when there really isn't anything else to do in town. It's a nice walk at a little over a mile circuit with decent exhibits of a moderate variety of animals. Great for small children, especially since the children's Discovery Center is located in the same lot as the zoo. Big cats, huge birds, wolves, and penguins among others satisfied a yearn for a look into the wild. Simple but effective.

CharlotteWtoddlers

Since my young children still nap, I love the scale of this zoo. Lots of animals, not many really large animals. You can do the whole thing in a couple of hours and have a picnic lunch at the playground or the pavilion.

thomascM6684ZF

We recently made a return visit with my girlfriend's grandson. Like a lot of people say, it is a small zoo. You do a little bit of walking along semi-steep paths but it isn't too bad. The bigger animals (tiger, wolf, so on) seem pretty passive but then again it was pretty hot the day we went. Still a good visit to see the smaller animals. One disappoint was the penguin and otter part. I thought we would see a little more of them playing in the water. The otters were playing in the water but it was very hard to see them when we went to the observation area below the surface. Still it was a good trip and be sure to hit the free carousel on the way out.

babs067

I read reviews this year because I haven't gone in years, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm glad I didn't listen. This place is such a nice place to walk and learn for small children. We took my 4 year old grandson who was never at a zoo. He got to feed goats, see lions, monkeys and a bear without fighting anyone for space. I am so appreciative that there are still family places to go without a high cost and sooo very enjoyable. We had a great time, and then played in the playground. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE INVOLVED !!!!!

396valeriev

The zoo seems like an extension of the park. When you first arrive all you see is playground so parking was a little confusing cause you have to go down the hill to get to the zoo. Not a full size zoo cause they don't have all animals but what they do have are cute. Spent about 3 hours walking around and the kids enjoyed it especially the carousel. Good deal for the price.