I loved this farm /regional zoo. There were sheep's cow goat rabbits chicken llama donkey owls…read more....coyotes and lots of different birds. The employees all seem to enjoy working here and the animals are well taken care of. It was a beautiful day in Illinois and we were allowed to pet the animals at the facility. I even saw some ponies! This is not a typical zoo as there are no large predators but it's cute and well designed that you can spend a good hour or so strolling around. Good for family with small kids!

A very clean smaller zoo. Kids are free and adults cost $12 each. If you are in the area it might…read morebe worth checking out! This is a good zoo to checkout with small children. There's coyotes, deer, cows, horse, llama, goats, chickens, and ducks. It's a little unclear if you can pet anything as the signs say "we bite." Does that mean pet at your own risk? I just assumed don't do it at all. It also wasn't clear if you could feed any of the animals outside a 30 min window that was listed on a flyer hung up.

Friendly people/staff Although the llamas spit a lot :) its a good time for toddlers!!read more

Such a fun little find!! This is a zoo, a park, a little history lesson and an overall great place…read moreto visit!! Best part, FREE!! Now, this is not a huge zoo, but man do they pack a lot of love into a little spot. Food selection of animals, very friendly staff and cute well maintained facilities! Then, there are multiple large parks on site!! Perfect picnic spot for place for large family gatherings!

We came here for the Autumn Fair (September 20, 2025). It was a free event with a lot of fun…read moreactivities: hay rides, kids games, pumpkin painting, demonstrations. They also had other activities for a small cost: pony rides, petting zoo, bounce house. We also purchased food and participated in the gift basket raffle. We were there for at least 3 hours. The park is great for kids older than 4. There's also a water area that is fun for both older and younger kids. The butterfly house was also a hit. Many butterflies landed on us while we were in there. Overall a great place to visit, definitely stop by as well when an event is going on for extra activities.

Star gazing at Peck Farm Park was so interesting. Saw Jupiter and four of its moons. The moon was…read morealso spectacular! The astronomy club has outreached on Saturday of every month, weather permitting. Great experience.

5 stars for Scott Smith's All Animal Expo…read more This is located on the Kane County Fairgrounds, and usually happens around once a month. It's a giant indoor site where a bunch of animals/animal equipment and pet supplies are available for sale from various different vendors. You'll see a bunch of different kinds of animals - dogs, cats, spiders, lizards, snakes, sugar gliders, birds, hedgehogs, rabbits and more! It's a great time if you like animals, and I definitely recommend a visit - very fun and the owner Scott Smith is a very nice guy.

$8 per adult, takes 25 minutes to see. Unless you have kids, then may be worth it. Mostly animal…read morevendors but too many "other" vendors.

Good place to explore with children in Aurora. It turns out to be a bigger place than it looks…read more Phillips Park Zoo is the highlight of this big public park and one of the best things about the city as well. Best thing is there's no admission price. This makes it even more worth it for looking around once, and you can come back as often as you want if planning to come more times. Even though it's kind of small, it feels there's a lot inside and you can be here awhile. It's got an interesting history. The beginnings of the zoo started when it was established in 1915, and a birdhouse was built the next year. Over the following few years the animal collection grew. There were birds, black bears, buffalo, deer, elk, foxes, monkeys, and wolves. In 1933 the birdhouse was destroyed in a hailstorm, and the following year the Brookfield Zoo opened. They chose to refocus on native animals after this. A few years after this, mastodon bones and tusks were found in the park. These were put on display in the zoo. In 1950 a barn was built. The following years included the addition of a water wheel. Farm animals such as goats, as well as birds like swans have their exhibits around these. The more recent additions include cougars, as well as improvements to exhibits for reptiles and wolves. Also the zoo has a few resources for education. The ZooCiety has various activities and programs. Have to say it's a good zoo for the city. It's located in the middle of the park. This is particularly a good one for young children, but it's open for everyone, so it's also okay for adults or whoever.

If you're visiting Aurora when it's nicer weather, this is worth checking out. It's been a min…read moresince I was last here but I wanted to share some pictures and add another positive review. Admission is free. Parking is free and has more than adequate space available. The zoo is closed on Wednesdays. During the summer months, the hours are extended until 5 pm. Fall-Spring, the zoo is closed at 4 pm. Besides the zoo, they have a visitor center, sunken garden, veterans waterfall, etc. Inside the visitor center, they have mastodon bones along with information to read. They also have bathrooms that are clean and well kept.

Great Customer Service. The animals are well taken care of and we will definitely be booking again!read more

Had my 4 year old nieces party S brought baby goats baby sheep, chicken, bunny and little cow,…read moreamazing day such beautiful animals , very best experience higher recommend

My friends and I surprised one of our friends with a trip to Safari Lake Geneva to kick off her…read morebachelorette weekend, and we all ended up having a great time. None of us had ever done a drive through safari before, so it felt like a really unique and memorable activity. When we first arrived, it was a little confusing figuring out exactly where to go to start the drive-through experience. The signage could have been clearer. Thankfully, we visited near the end of their open season and at a slower time of day, so the entrance area was not crowded and we were able to take our time getting started. One thing to be aware of is that the driving trail has a lot of potholes and uneven spots, so you definitely need to drive slowly and carefully. Some sections of the path are pretty bumpy, especially if you are not expecting it. We decided not to buy the animal feed because at the beginning, we were a little nervous about opening our windows, and also did not want food all over the car. Even without feeding them, we still got very close to a lot of animals and were able to pet them through our open windows when we felt comfortable doing so. Throughout the drive, you see animals like deer, camels, llamas, alpacas, bison, antelope, and tons of ostriches and emus. There were also a couple of giraffes and zebras toward the end. The ostriches were definitely the most aggressive and curious. They walked right up to the cars and pecked at windows, which had us laughing and slightly panicking at the same time. We also noticed there was animal spit all over the outside of the car from all of the animals trying to get food from us, despite us not having any. There are not a huge number of different species, and you will see some of the same animals many times along the route, but it was still fun to take pictures and watch how the animals interacted with the cars. Admittedly, I felt bad for the animals because I feel like it could be easy for a car to accidentally run them over. Some animals took a long time to move out of the car's way, and because the safari is just one big open field where the animals can freely roam around, the animals come out of nowhere sometimes. Once the driving part was over, we looked at the other parts of the safari where you could walk around. We saw pigs, little monkeys, donkeys, and more! I love how interactive the experience is and how you can't pet animals at a zoo, but you can here. Pricewise, it wasn't crazy and ended up being about $23 per person because they don't charge per vehicle; they charge per person. Overall, this was a really fun and unique experience that made for a great start to our friend's bachelorette weekend. It is definitely something different to do if you are in the Lake Geneva area, but just be prepared for a bumpy drive and some very curious animals.

We did the safari and had a blast. Took my nephew and mom and we laughed the entire way through. We…read morehad bought plenty of food and boy the animals were right at our car. My only concern was avoiding the horns from scratching the car! The only thing t improve this would be if there were signs up at least saying what sort of animals you may encounter in certain areas. There were several that we were like, what is that?! It was in the 90's when we went so we did the car ride only, not the walking area. So fun!

For a free zoo, this one is surprisingly super nice! It's inside a large park in north downtown…read moreChicago, and you can quite literally just walk in. They have several large exhibits with animals including polar bears, penguins, various types of monkeys and apes, a reptile house, zebra/horse exhibit, bird enclosure, etc. It's really quite big -- even though I was walking pretty fast since I came late (4p, it closes at 5p) it took me the entire hour to walk through the whole place. And that excludes the indoor ape and bird exhibits, since those were already closed for the day! I still felt like I saw a lot, and there were a lot of families with kids etc. who'd clearly made a whole day out of it. I think that's a great idea since there are areas they can run and play while learning about animals etc. They also have a cafe that was already closed when I came but it's nice to have the option to get something if you're spending a lot of time here. Overall if you're in Chicago and have some free time/want to do something that's free, this is a great option to get some steps in and be in a nice park/see the animals!

As others have noted, the Lincoln Park Zoo is totally free. For a free zoo, it's well maintained…read morewith sprawling exhibits both indoors and outdoors. Exhibits include both viewable areas and private, out of sight areas where the animals can choose to spend their time not on display. As much as zoos can make me feel sad for the animals, this was a bit reassuring. The staff doesn't force any of the animals to be on display at certain times. They're free to "roam" within their areas. This does mean, however, that seeing certain animals is not always guaranteed. We didn't get to see the polar bear or penguins, for example. We did get to see lions, several species of monkeys, sea otters, a sloth, a giraffe, a bear, flamingos, and more! We even got to see the zebras with their brand new one-day old baby. Such an incredible sight. Hours can be limited (they closed at 4pm on Sunday) so plan ahead. Street parking can be tough and the paid lot is not cheap.