What an amazing adventure! Purchase tickets in advance online or at the small drive thru hut upon…read moreyour arrival. We saved $3 per ticket by purchasing online! Kids under 3 are free-- also have additional prices for active duty military and seniors. Feed bags are very generous and an additional $4 per bag. Animal information brochures are provided with ticket purchase and show interesting facts and information about many- but not nearly all- of what you will see. The drive through park is a bit shorter than some when comparing to others around Texas and you are encouraged to throw feed and not hand feed. But the boardwalk and activities in the middle section (called Explorers Retreat) more than make up for it. The boardwalk has an additional walk through area where you can feed and view more animals and you can grab another animal brochure in your way in. This area is stroller and wheelchair friendly. The explorers area also has other fun activities like food trucks, gemstone mining for $10, feed Puzzles the giraffe for $4 or $8 depending on the feed you choose, a bar, porta potties, a gift shop, and free petting zoo. Though many of the additional activities cost $$, the boardwalk walk through and petting zoo is free and included with your ticket purchase and it's definitely worth getting out to explore. Gemstone mining was $10 and included a gem card and a large bag of dirt and gems to clean in the moving water table. Marilyn, the woman in charge of this area, made it more than worth our money by drawing out the activity and engaging the kids. She really added to the experience. Feeding the giraffe was fun but quick and could have used some more positive interactions, facts and information about giraffes from employees to enhance the experience for the kids. You are able to drive through as many times as you want after buying the day pass and we took advantage, driving through 3 times with our two bags of food. Pro tips- change drivers and seat positions during each new drive through for different perspectives, bring cups to separate food and give each person their own cup full, bring cameras and binoculars. We absolutely loved our experience and would have purchased season passes if they were a little more affordable. We can't wait to go back!

We went here for a vacation get away outside the city. The animals were so pretty and the staff was…read moreall so kind!

Excellent tour. Great place to take your kids!!! Awesome customer service!! They take care of their…read moreanimals!

We arrived at the advertised opening time of 9 only to be told they now open at 10 for winter hours…read moredespite being summer...ok. The zoo is very small. There is a small indoor section with a few rats, rabbits, a snake, a turtle and not much else. Outside there were more exhibits but either the exhibits were closed or the animals were already hiding from the heat. I did like the hawk and the whistling duck. The small walkways near the emu were closed and all in all there wasn't much there to see. You won't spend more that 35 minutes here. The parking was a small lot and was near the Pumphouse which was nice

A decent small town zoo. Not a fan of the quarters for the animals at my last visit. Small children…read moreare fascinated, but, not really a great zoo for older children, teens or adults. Zoo floods whenever the river rises and I'm sure it takes a lot to keep it in any kind of shape.

Happy 713 Day!…read more Getting out of the house was easy when a ticket to the zoo is $7.13. 10 o'clock was not early enough to arrive because all of the lots were already full, and latecomers were circling like vultures. Parking at the Centennial Gardens is a lifesaver, just a brisk walk, 15 or so minutes. The zoo itself is so engaging and currently expanding: there's going to be a rhino viewing area that's set to be finished by 2027. The only real villain of the day was the weather. When it wasn't intensely humid, it was raining like God was trying to power wash away our sins.

This zoo I quite enjoy with its shady trees when the weather can change from humid to rain storm…read more The exhibits look well taken care of with happy animals. The new sealion exhibit is very nice as you can get a great view of them glide over you. The giant river otters with their crazy antics sliding on the small creek inside their river display. The food is ok, but I rather eat before or after since there many fantastic options around this part of Houston. I recommend at least checking it out for a quick journey into the wild in the middle of Houston.

Small and neat spot…read more We try to hit a local zoo wherever we travel and this one was such a good find. The staff here were all so kind and welcoming which made the whole experience even better. Of course the train was a must for me lol and it did not disappoint. We caught a glimpse of almost every animal which is rare for a smaller zoo. The birds had us laughing and there are some really gorgeous wild cats here. It even started raining on us and nobody cared. Somehow made it more fun. Fun fact: this is actually a rescue zoo, not a traditional one. Most of the animals here were saved from other facilities or private owners and given a second home.

We enjoyed this animal sanctuary, it wasn't a traditional zoo. It's a non profit that takes rescues…read moreand we were surprised by the large animals they had - several large cats. There were several awesome peacocks roaming around. We enjoyed the reptile area as well. It was very hot when we visited so we didn't stay long. I didn't notice any concessions here so bring water if it's hot! The drive to this zoo is through the hill country and was really beautiful. It is a little ways from Austin though so keep that in mind; I think it took us about 30 mins from downtown. We realized we were pretty close to Salt Lick bbq in Driftwood from here, so we went there for lunch.

Such a fun place and the person doing the tour was nice and passionate about reptiles. My kid…read moreloves snakes and this was a nice close place to check out all sorts of snakes and reptiles and it was a super Fun tour and was great to check out the town of Bastrop afterwards. Close to Austin and very interesting tour. Enjoyable and a must see and will be back! Highly recommended!

This place was so much fun! My bf took me here because he knows I love animals of all sorts. And I…read moregotta say it was such a pleasant surprise I'm drawing a blank on the owners name, I believe it was Tim, but he was so helpful! And clearly very knowledgeable about all the animals in his zoo. You could just tell how much he loves those animals and you can see all the work he puts into caring for them. Very awesome dude! There were lizards of all kinds, snakes, tortoises, and even some crocodiles which I did not expect! There are so many animals comfortably hidden away in this cute little zoo. You wouldn't think it bc the outside looks so small, but once you get inside you see that the place is filled with exotic looking creatures of all walks of life! We were the only ones there at the time, probably because we got there as soon as they opened lol But the owner made sure to show us all the animals and point out the ones we couldn't find ourselves. He took us on a sort of guided tour of the place while he fed the animals and cleaned the exhibits We later learned that most of the animals were either pets of his or were rescues which I thought was pretty amazing I recommend this place if you love animals like I do, have kids or are looking for a fun little place to spend an hour or two! And they even have a gift shop :)

Absolutely amazing experience! Very knowledgeable staff variety of animals! Holly recommendedread more

The animal encounters we're good if you can find someone to do it but the enclosures we're nice…read moreand the animals seemed happy

In summary, I think this is absolutely an amazing place that everyone should try to go to at least…read moreonce. Location: this is near bryan, texas and is taken care of by Aggies. I think that this also has something to do with their veterinary program as well. Service: the only people that you really interact with are the people that are going to take your ticket or that you buy food from. I will tell you. It's a okay experience, not overly crazy welcoming, but there's nothing I can complain about. Views: so this is why it's so amazing. Is every time I thought we were gonna have no animals come to us alot of animals came to us or some animals would I ignore other cars but totally came to us. Sometimes we had to work to draw them in other times they chased it down. There were very few cars in the park at that time.I 'm not sure if sunday is just a low day to go, but I thought it was great for us. My favorite thing was feeding the giraffes.I will tell you, it is incredibly expensive and you should just buy one cup and continue to get a refilled. They make you spend nine dollars on a super crappy cup. The refills are six bucks. I think that's kind of crazy for the price, but other than that, that is my only complaint.

Such a fun and exciting adventure!!! Staff were super knowledgeable, friendly, and eager to help…read more The grounds are super clean and you can tell the animals are well taken care of.

Personally I think this zoo should be closed down and the animals should be rescued. There was…read moredebrie all over the place chemicals and bleach everywhere. Rotting wood on the animal enclosures. Turtles so dirty they had moss growing in them. The owners dog growled at my five year old myself and my mother. When I told her she said it was a nice dog just don'tapproachhim becausehe can ne naughty and he was laying very close to the exit gate. The bear enclosure was so overgrown it's hard to believe it was there. The deer pen was held shut by literally a screw. The monkey cage wasn't even locked. A breaker box was opened with wires exposed. Outlets at baby level also with exposed wires. Bathroom house had rotted floors and sinks. The entrance ramp to the park was rotted and falling apart. It honestly is lawsuit waiting to happen. Enter at your own risk.

I purchased tickets through Groupon and it was a good deal. Ticket included a food bag to feed…read moreanimals. I liked location a lot, it's out of way, off 290 and almost in country area. I love that fact and driving was nice part. They have kengaroos, including baby, talking parrot, beautiful wild cats, lion, rino, lemurs, alligators, turtles, wild pig, and lots of deers and other small creatures. The best part was a big old owl by the entrance. Before leaving the property we stopped to look at him, and he was making noises. He was interacting with us. They have small playground and restrooms on site. I would say for us an hour was enough to spent in there.

I didn't know what to expect from this place. Some science centers are kids-only affairs (despite…read morenot being billed as such) while others have more to offer visitors of all ages. Fortunately, the Austin Nature & Science Center ended up falling in the latter category. The main building houses an assortment of bones, shells, and rocks (as well as an axolotl tank) and another building is home to various reptiles. Outside areas include a dino pit (where kids can dig for fossils) and several animal enclosures. What makes the latter unique is that the animals are rehab/rescue cases. They include everything from a bobcat to a porcupine to a 34-year-old one-eyed owl (!!) and more. Granted, Austin Nature & Science Center does offer more for a younger crowd, and it isn't particularly easy to get to by bus, but it's hard to argue with a chance to take in flora and fauna for free.

Great FREE option in Austin for kids!…read more One of the best parts is you can see an axolotl (two, actually) in their visitor center building. Then you can head over to the birds of prey, the reptile/fish building, and the animal enclosures. There's also a little lake and a large sand pit (dino dig). There's a cool room in the visitor center that has all sorts of nature items (bones, dead bugs, shells, rocks, etc.). You can bring in your own stuff to trade! Is it a huge amount of things to do/see? No but for a free attraction, it's pretty great. Parking is across the street -- lot is shared with Zilker Park and all the nearby attractions so it can get busy.