A wonderfully charming small zoo near Illinois State University. Most importantly it is a accredited zoo with its employees being unionized. So that you know that the animals are cared for in the best way and so are the employees. Considering the size of the zoo they have a good variety of animals and the enclosures are well-maintained. It's the type of zoo you could go to with your kids spend about an hour or so and get a good quality zoo visit without breaking the bank.

This was a cute, on-the-smaller-side kind of zoo, but it was a great size for our 2 year old. There were 2 events going on: the beginning stage of a chalk drawing competition and that was pretty neat to see competitors drawing throughout the zoo. The second event was an endangered species game where you write down any animals that have an endangered animal poster hanging up nearby and you get a prize for turning them all in. It was a fun and easy extra interaction to do with our toddler. The downside to the chalk drawing competition was that some of the pads were blocked and at times, walkways were getting congested while trying to walk around and avoid stepping on the drawings as they were being drawn. They had a really cute carousel that was closed for the season as they do some much-needed repairs, but it was still a bummer our son couldn't ride it. Despite the scorching heat (upwards of 90°), most animals were still out and visible! Only 4 or so exhibits were empty. We had a wagon we were rolling around with us and all together, saw the entire zoo and probably about an hour and a half. It was pretty well kept and clean, so that's always a plus. We drove from over an hour away to check this zoo out, but we likely will only come back if they have a major event like specialized classes, Halloween party, etc. There was a decent variety of animals for a zoo of this size, but we live too far away to justify making the drive when we have other zoos available that are closer to where we live.

Very small inexpensive zoo. Staff is friendly. Animals are out and active.

I love the amount of shade through out the zoo! We also had a lovely picnic lunch outside and then the kids played at the splash pad.

It was a decent experience. Across from it is Miller park , which has a water splash and a nice play area for the little ones. The kids loved it . The price is very reasonable, this is a smaller zoo so not as many big animals. Staff were friendly and this little zoo looks well kept and was very clean and the restrooms are clean and smelled sanitized. Small zoo, however what they did offer kept my little ones attention