I loved it! Of course it's not the San Diego zoo, it's a local zoo. There were plenty of animals, it wasn't terribly expensive, and it's located right next to one of the coolest parks in North America! Lots of amusement park type foods, gift shops, plenty of parking, and the animals look well taken care of. This is probably a one and done thing for me, but I really enjoyed it! *Military discount thumbs up read more

Had a great time here! Lots of animals to see and they were all relatively active. A few keepers were around if you had questions but it was limited as it's clearly slow season. The viewing areas were all decent and got nice shots of the animals. Merchandise options were unique though I only saw one shop and concession stand at the time so keep that in mind. It's under construction as of December I believe for the farm animals so you do have to back track a bit. The hills are abundant so keep it in mind for the young and elderly. Staff was really friendly as well. Ample parking as well! read more

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we went for the Greenville boo in the zoo. It's about $10 a person non-members. Kids under two are free. It sucks to have to pay extra to trick-or-treat, about three bucks. They also don't provide any bags. I've been to other places with this and they provide candy and small bags. It's very cute. Very well set up. Lots of trick-or-treating stations. Some of the animals are out in summer or not. It's an easy path to follow. A really great time for my toddler she loved it! From start to finish, depending on how slow things go can take you one to two hours. If you go later in the evening, you can see lights, but we went earlier because she has a bedtime around 8 PM. We got there around four and left around 5:30. PARKING can't get tricky. Overall, I would recommend recommended. It was a good time and everyone there was really nice!! read more

Greenville Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Greenville, South Carolina

We went here for the Christmas lights night ticket. If we knew we really wouldn't get to see animals, we would've picked somewhere else to explore. The zoo is small and not very impressive. A lot of the animal habitats had signs stating it was under construction. Probably an important thing to know before going. I will say they don't lack restrooms though. They are all over, and there were ramps making all areas wheelchair accessible. read more

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The Greenville Zoo is located adjacent to a park just a few minutes outside of downtown Greenville. Going in, I knew it was a smaller zoo with a more limited number of animals. It was on par with your average small city zoo, which is more suited for keeping young children entertained for a bit and walking outdoors for adults. Some of the animal enclosures are empty at this time, and the few animals they do have were passed out in a shaded corner rather than out and about, so there really wasn't much to see of interest. I'd say the highlights for me were the giraffes, flamingos, the red panda, and the indoor area that included turtles/reptiles. The gift shop merchandise and souvenir drink cups were quite overpriced, and the shop lacked any low or mid-range budget options. While I did enjoy my experience at the Greenville Zoo, it was overall a pretty average small zoo experience for me, so wouldn't make my recommendations list of things to do in Greenville unless you really like zoos or have young kids that like animals. read more

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Took my nephew here on a semi-blustery, sunny day. Right when you walk in you see ostriches (they are not ostriches exactly, but I forgot their name. "Screaming" something, and let me tell you- they SCREAM) and it only gets better from there! We saw a reptile house, huge giraffes, a red panda, alligator, and owls! Lots more where that came from. The walk is pretty and easy, and not too long (like I said, I took a toddler, and he was able to swing it.) Although, if you need, there are also strollers for rent at the entrance ($7 for a single. Good price imo.) We stopped halfway through at the concession stand, which has coffee thank GOD, lol. There's also a gift shop that's pricey (as you would guess) but has some really cute toys and some clothing options. What was really cool was they have two decent sized parks out front- one seemingly for younger kids, one for older. My kid enjoyed the heck out of them, and there were lots of other kids having a good time. We drove here from Asheville, so an hour and change, and honestly it was worth it. We were a little disappointed that they didn't have some animals that were promised on the site- we really wanted to see the lion, which wasn't home. But there was plenty else to see. If you have little ones, this is a good afternoon activity. read more

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A good zoo if you are local or very close to Greenville. Otherwise it might not be worth more than a 30 minute drive. It is very small. Small enough that my 18month old walked the entire thing. We took our time and sat for snacks. We saw the entire zoo in about 90 minutes (and that is with lots breaks). We knew it was smaller coming here but didn't understand just how small compared to the North Carolina zoo. There aren't a huge variety of animals. There seemed to be a lot of monkeys which was nice to see but their living quarters are on the small side as well. Parking was easy enough to find at open on a weekday. Leaving was a mess though as there is only one way in/out and it's directed by a stop sign.. so if you have someone turning left onto the main road.. prepare to wait. There was a line of 20+ cars at the stop sign when we left. Some of my favorite animals from the trio were the giraffes and red panda. read more

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Fun family trip to the zoo today. We saw so many animals and learned about their native habits. It is May so we were hot so bring plenty of your own water cuz the fountains are hard to come by. Get your walking shoes ready as well. We love though seeing all the animals and even heard the lion roar today. Afterwords there is a public park with all kinds of playground options to let the littles play around. read more

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For a smaller zoo, this place is great! I really enjoyed seeing some animals here that I have never seen before. When we were watching the tortoises, the volunteers were out and we were able to chat with them and really engage and learn so much! Such a neat experience! Definitely plan to come back if I am ever in the area again. I recommend coming in the morning when it's cooler so more animals will be moving around/seen. You can bring in your own food/drinks. Park by the park right across the street for free. Great way to spend a few hours in Greenville :) read more

I was visiting my son in Greenville and decided to check out the zoo. From what I was told, it is never crowded and is a pleasant ,easy walk because it's so small. We happened to show up on a Field trip day of 10 local elementary schools and as you can imagine it was literally a zoo! lol!I liked the giraffe exhibit and also the alligator they have. There was construction in progress and a lot of animals were not outside to see. read more

Greenville Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Greenville, South Carolina

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We had such a good time here!! So many unique animals and bonus - so many baby animals! The zoo is very clean and everyone was so nice. The cost to get it is reasonable. We did not buy any food or drinks, but there was definitely several options. read more

Greenville Zoo - Ocelot. - Zoos Near Me - Greenville, South Carolina

Small zoo that is worth the price. Took my fiancé and I about an hour on a Saturday morning (11am) to get through it. Not a lot of people which was super nice and the zoo itself had a lot of shade. They honestly didn't have that many animals and the ones they did have didn't have much room. There is no space for the animals to run around especially the lions and giraffes which made me really sad. I'd rather see smaller animals that can run than bigger animals who can't run. Would be great to take kids here, but if recommend bringing lunch or eating before because the concessions stand doesn't have many options. read more

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With tickets around $10.00 for an Adult, I didn't arrive to the Greenville Zoo expecting to be transported into the wilderness, but I did expect to be less sad when I left. First, the GVL Zoo is a small local zoo by all counts and it's very apparent from entry to exit. We were in town for a weekend and were looking for something to fill some time, so off the zoo we went. We expected a couple hours of wondering around, scoping animals and maybe catch a show or feeding would be a fun way to spend a Saturday...well, turn that "couple of hours" into 35 minutes and minus the shows/feedings or honestly, any activity, and you have our afternoon at the GVL Zoo. Again, while I didn't expect much I was still let down and honestly, really sad...which is the same vibe I got from many of the animals. The enclosures for ALL the animals, big and small, were really small. The enclosures, unless there are parts that can't be seen from viewing areas were just tiny for the variety of animals they had. The most depressing was the big cat and the giraffe enclosures. Additionally, while the grounds were nicely kept, the enclosures were over grown, and any that features water contained murky-off colored water for the birds and turtles to hang in. We did not encounter many employees outside of the entry attendant. She was helpful, informative and friendly. Another positive, in addition to the grounds looking very clean and nice, was the layout and pathways they had. You loop through the park with directional's and it makes for a very easy journey, and limits any traffic that opposing directions can cause on pathways around parks. lastly, they were surrounded by a great park and some trails. The park was well kept, with paved trails and a lot of playground equipment. Honestly, outside of these few things, I can't really tout anything else. I did notice they are starting to build new enclosures for some of the animals towards the exit, I believe they were for the primates. I hope they continue upgrades, they are certainly needed. I understand how important the zoo is the GVL community and I love what it means to that place, but overall it was a sad experience. I hope they continue upgrades and focus a little more on the enclosures. The location is great and again the grounds, inside and outside, are fantastic. While I am not in GVL often, I do have to say that the zoo will not be making any itineraries for future visits. read more

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Highly recommend the Greenville Zoo! It's a great attraction, especially for kids, and was pretty shaded. Wasnt too hot and they do have concessions available. Tickets online were $10.95 per adult (before taxes & fees), whereas if you bought it at the booth it was $14. The number of animals/exhibits were mind blowing! They had lions, giraffes, owls, pythons, alligator, etc. read more

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It's a solid zoo. Lots of animals and nice exhibits with plenty of information on each animal. It's a nice zoo for a small city and it's worth a visit for $14 per person read more

Enjoyed this little zoo with family visiting from Alabama. Thank you!! We had a blast. read more

Greenville Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Greenville, South Carolina

How is this even named a zoo? It's like one loop of birds, some monkeys, and giraffes. It really was a waste of money. Super disappointed :((( read more

A nice zoo in the area. It isn't a major city zoo but it's a great small zoo that a child has a blast at. The zoo was smaller but it was enough to get the kid out and have a blast. There were a lot playgrounds and trails. It was picked up nicely with hand sanitizer all over. Plenty of shade so mom and dad so honesty it was very nice. read more

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We had a great time at the Greenville Zoo last week! Honestly, it was better than I remembered from last time I was there (about 10 years ago). It's not a huge zoo, and doesn't even compare to one like Riverbanks in Columbia, but it's really fun for what it is. There are a decent number of animals, and they were quite active during our visit. The enclosures are set up so that you have close encounters through the glass with many of the animals. The orangoutang was my favorite! The prices aren't bad, but if you live in the area, I would definitely spring for the membership. It is only $70 for a family for the year. Also, be sure to save time for Cleveland Park, which shares a parking lot with the zoo and has multiple playgrounds. read more

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It took us about 2 hours to walk through the zoo and enjoy some time at the large playground area. They had a Kona ice truck there which was nice to enjoy during the hot day. For the military price of $11 for an adult and even less for a child, this was an inexpensive activity I could enjoy with my grandson. The animal pens were clean and there were refill water stations throughout the zoo. Also, there was many hand sanitation stands throughout and tents with misty water to cool yourself off. I highly recommend visiting this small zoo for a couple hours of fun. read more

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This zoo is just ok for me. It's pretty small and empty in my opinion. Parking isn't so bad and going inside is pretty quick. We did have to purchase online at a certain time to get in. I wish they had some farm animals besides the chickens. My daughter loves farm animals and I was hoping to at least see a goat or a pig. I do like that a lot of the area are shaded and when you leave there is a playground so it's nice to go there afterwards. Sometimes there will be a snow cone truck outside too! I'm not sure I would come back unless my daughter asked to or if we were coming to boo on the zoo. read more

Not how I remembered it. I frequented this zoo many times when I lived here in the 90s and loved it. We had to buy timed tickets due to Covid-19. This was fine, but we were not allowed to enter until the exact time on the ticket. There were very long lines for entry due to spring break the week of April 5-9th. They do say that masks are required for everyone over 1 year old for entry. Maybe 20% of the park customers were actually wearing them. There were very few animals or enclosures to be seen. We breezed through the park in 20 minutes. No concessions were open, the soda machines were all empty, and the water fountains were covered up as 'out of order'. The gift shop was near the park entrance, which is really strange. If you actually bought something, you would have to cart it around to zoo the whole time. I have to wonder where all the animals went. The cost is too high for the experience. Would not re-visit at this point and would direct folks to find something else to do. The park across the way is nice and free. read more

We loved the zoo!! Yes it's small, we spent an 1:45 there (2 adults). Had I had my grandson I would have been there a lot longer. I could have watched the Orangutans all day, so funny. I included a video. It's also totally decorated for Halloween, which was a lot of fun too. Huge playground outside, so if you have kids pack a lunch, they'll love it. The turtle is something too. Lots of greenery and bamboo, we had a lovely relaxing morning walking the zoo. read more

At first, we were not sure what to think because of some of the reviews, but we loved it! There are several animals that aren't at other nearby zoos, the staff was friendly, We were really impressed with the flamingo area and overall would highly recommend! read more

A good if small local zoo. If you are looking for a few hours to burn it is a good option, but don't expect too much the zoo only really has a few exhibits and only takes a little over an hour to see it all read more

Small but nice zoo. Saw all of the animals within 30 minutes. Very affordable as well.

I only give this 4 stars because of these reasons: the place isn't the cleanest, this zoo is very small so it's not worth coming here if u aren't a local, there's always construction but never new things, the animals need bigger habitats. But we do always enjoy the zoo everytime we go and the park is fun! I recommend but there are plenty of better Zoos than this one. read more

Very nice place, the animals were more active than most zoos. It's a smaller zoo but worth the visit.

Hadn't been in years. The $10.95 admission was a shocker. I left sad because I felt sorry for those poor animals in small enclosures. The farm exhibit....the goats and pigs walking on pure cement with straw for them to rest on in the back of the area made my mouth drop.... The area for the kids to play in and enjoy was wonderful. I was happy watching all those little faces....but the animals, sad. read more

I thought the dingiest zoo I'd ever go to in my life was in Lansing, MI. I was mistaken. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, my wife and I decided to go to the zoo. We hadn't heard anything about it, but we figured it'd be a nice way to spend the afternoon. We planned for way too long. As most other reviews will tell you, this place is small, I'm saying the mall is probably bigger than this zoo. I have to admit, I was shocked that the zoo had elephants. Who would have guessed, elephants in South Kakalaki??? Certainly not me. Just to get our $5 worth, we walked the zoo twice, just in case we missed anything. Nope, we got it all, and after 45 minutes, we saw no reason to stay any longer. Plus it was hot as death that afternoon. Save yourself $5, just do the river trail. read more

I love the Greenville Zoo. I've been bringing my children here for years. I hated when Joy the elephant died. There is a huge playground right in front of the zoo. This isn't a very big zoo, you can go through it in an hour or under. The giraffe family is cute. read more

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We came here while visiting Greenville. The price we very reasonable. We've gone to several zoos previously. This zoo is much smaller than any other I've explored. However, they have all of the animals that the Riverbanks Zoo doesn't have, so overall a great experience. And there were a lot of baby animals, which I enjoyed! read more

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Very cute zoo which is just the right size for younger kids. Some of the animals were not visible but there were enough attractions to keep them interested. Very beautiful bamboo forest and overall fun experience. There is a large playground outside for continued fun. read more

We loved this zoo! We visited today and had a wonderful time. It's a small zoo, but we were able to see all the animals very close up. It was magnificent! The reptile section was great and the lions and leopards were amazing. It only took us an hour to get through, but I highly recommended checking it out! read more

Went with my 16 daughter today, Mother's Day. As we are waiting in line the cashier tells the group paying before us Mothers are free. Next group right before us - you're free because you're a Mom. It's my turn and I'm charged full price for me and my daughter. I say I heard you informing everyone that Mothers are free; this is my daughter, I am also a Mom. She says oh it's just Moms with little kids - 15 and under. Ok... Kinda made me feel like I'm thought of as less of a Mom. I also chose to celebrate my day at your establishment. If you are letting Moms in for free why not all Moms. Besides the start the zoo is limited. We saw all animals in barely over an hour. The enclosures all feel cramped and significantly too small for the animal. We won't return. read more

My fiancee and I finally made our way to the Greenville zoo because we were always curious as to where they kept all the zoo animals (we had heard they kept giraffes and lions on site) because there didn't seem to be enough room to keep such big animals. Well they definitely have those kinds of animals there, but in small areas! =( It made me really sad to see a lion and a lioness both asleep on a rock in a small square grassy area. It made me sad to see the leopard asleep in his tiny space. It made me sad when the orangutan came up the the glass window and pressed her face against it and just stared at us for 30 minutes. At least the giraffes looked somewhat happy eating and drinking water and moving - finally some animals that were moving instead of passed out in the hot sun! The price was good; $9 for an adult. I just hope they take decent care of the wildlife they have contained in that small area. I am never going back to a zoo. read more

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Decent zoo for the size of it and they have lots of misters to help cool you and the kids off in the hot summer months. Playgrounds inside the zoo need some maintenance and fixing. They should probably install the sail style shading systems over the plastic animals section as they get very hot during the summer. read more

Zoo is very small but perfect to just spend an hour at. We loved the red pandas and giraffes! Lots of shady areas to stop and rest which is perfect if you have a baby or young child with you (as well as the huge playground outside!) We went around 10:00 on a a Saturday and it actually wasn't too crowded at all. Very clean and well maintained. Only reason for the four stars is there was nothing too exciting and a lot more animals could be added. read more

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A small zoo that shares it's parking lot with a city park. You can be in-n-out around an hour. With that said, comparing it to my hometown zoo (at least 9 times the size, 14 acres vs 117 acres!) the entry price seemed a bit high.....however, if you want to kill an hour looking at a few animals. The only other thing I would comment on is, the young lady at the kiosk sure seemed annoyed that she had to put down her cellphone in order to take our money. read more

My family has a membership to the Greenville Zoo, and we have been probably ten times in the last two years. It is a very small zoo, especially compared to the more well-known zoos. But I have 3 kids, 2 of whom are under the age of 4, so this zoo is the perfect size for my young family. I love that we can go and spend 2 hours and see all the animals. The zoo is very stroller-friendly, with many animals to see and interact with. What I love about the Greenville Zoo as compared to others is that we actually do get to SEE the animals. At other zoos, it is often hard to see the animals, which gets frustrating for the tiny humans. There are two play areas in the zoo if a family wants to stop and let the kiddos get the wiggles out and drink some water/rest before continuing. There is also a covered picnic area by the education center if you want to pack a lunch. Parking is free, and there is a very nice playground and hiking trails next to the zoo. My Girl Scout troop recently did an overnight program, and we had the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes for many of the exhibits, as well as to see how the animals' food is prepared each day. The Education Director, Jennifer, was amazing with my group of 17 girls, and the activities planned were phenomenal. We also met several of the zookeepers and staff, and it is obvious that every staff member has the highest level of respect for the animals that the zoo cares for. Many of the animals are rescues or rehab animals who would not have survived in the wild. It is clear that every staff member takes pride in the good work that they do. I love the Greenville Zoo and look forward to visiting it for years to come! read more