Welcome to MN Zoo

As one of the largest zoos in the United States, the MN Zoo has far more to offer than you would think from browsing their website. There are sections, activities, and animals spread across 485 acres. Between the two aquariums and the animal farm alone, there is plenty here to fill an entire day with the kids.

This guide is for first-time parents at the MN Zoo and for tenth-year season pass holders both. We will cover packing lists (what to bring for a full day at the zoo), food options, and seasonal offerings like the dinosaur exhibit, the splash pad, and playground. The goal is to make sure you have everything you need for the MN zoo and a plan for taking on one of the best zoos in the country.

Our Mn Zoo page for pricing and hours

Your Packing List for the MN zoo

What you bring is almost as important as planning what you will see, and maybe more so. Plans change, and being prepared makes those changed plans run a lot smoother.

Waterwear

We will get into the splash pad in more detail below.

• Water shoes: The surface of the splash pad can be rough on little feet.
• Towel: For drying off between sessions, and for the moment you get them out of the water long enough for one more sip of juice or one more bite of the sandwich you have been trying to get into them for the last hour.
• Swimming suit: I would recommend something with long sleeves for boys and girls both, as there is no shade near the splash pad.
• Sunscreen: Most doctors recommend an SPF of 50 or higher.
• Water diapers: For those still in diapers.
• Wet bag: To keep the rest of your bag from getting soaked by damp clothing.
• Change of clothes: You can always change your kids back into what they came in, but kids are kids: they will either want one more run through the water, or they will grab their dry clothes while they are still soaking wet. An extra set saves you the headache of putting wet clothes back on your child and then hearing about it for the rest of the day. This can’t just be my kid.

Essentials

• Walking shoes: For you and your children. They might love their Frozen sandals now, but a few acres in, when those sandals are rubbing on little feet, you will wish you had brought better shoes along just in case.
• Water bottles: This matters whether you are battling 90-degree heat with what feels like 100% humidity, or 15 below. Staying hydrated is essential. We like this CamelBak that our daughter loves drinking out of.
• Favorite snacks and lunch: Maybe your child has food restrictions. Maybe you don’t want them eating the fried food that places like this run on. Maybe you just can’t stomach the sticker price of zoo food. All good reasons to bring your own. There are not a lot of formal picnic areas, but you can find seating in a few spots to eat what you brought from home.
• Sunglasses for you and your children: My daughter fought us for months about wearing sunglasses. It wasn’t until she realized she didn’t want to look at animals through squinted eyes that she started opening up to the idea.
• A stroller or wagon if you have small children: Our daughter is three and we bring her wagon EVERY time we go. In summer we clip a fan inside for when she wants to cool down; in winter we pack blankets. It extends our time at the zoo and we cover a lot more ground. (The zoo also rents strollers: $12 for a single, $18 for a double, first come, first served.)
• Insect repellent: The mosquito is the Minnesota state bird for a reason.
• Hand wipes and hand sanitizer: After petting goats and cows, falling on the floor in a fit of rage, and touching every surface they shouldn’t, it is hard to get to a bathroom before the request for snacks begins. A hand wipe removes the dirt and the sanitizer, well, sanitizes. This is how you come home with memories instead of a sick kid.
• Hat: This one may be self-explanatory.

Optional

• Portable toilet: The one thing I recommend in every packing list for parents potty training toddlers. This portable potty folds up to fit in a backpack.
• Portable charger: You are going to use your phone A LOT. Taking pictures, checking the map, finding food near you, leaving your kids with the other parent so you can take five minutes and zone out on TikTok. Keep your phone charged and ready for anything.

MN zoo Ticketing & Parking

Tickets

Buying tickets for the MN zoo ahead of time is strongly recommended. You can do it on the website at the official MN Zoo website or through the zoo’s app, on iOS or Android. Purchasing in advance lets you pay for admission and parking in one go. You can usually still buy at the gate, but the zoo pushes hard toward advance purchase, and on a busy Saturday you will be glad you did.

Current admission pricing:

The MN zoo is open 10am–6pm. Members get in an hour early, at 9am. If you have a kid who melts down by early afternoon, that on its own is a decent argument for a membership.

Prices as of August 2026. Check MN Zoo before you go.

MN Zoo Offers Other Discounts and Programs

AZA Reciprocity Program

If you hold a membership at another AZA-accredited zoo, you may be able to get a discount on admission here, and your MN Zoo membership works the same way at other AZA zoos around the country. Worth knowing before a road trip.

A few things to be aware of before you count on it:

• Bring your current membership card and a photo ID, and have your tickets with you when you enter.
• The discount is capped at six tickets per visit.
• It applies during regular daytime hours only, and does not stack with other discounts, special offers, or group rates.
• Exhibits or events that carry their own fee may be excluded.
• Parking is not included.
• Memberships from zoos within 50 miles of the MN Zoo do not qualify for the full discount.

You can find other reciprocity programs by searching for listings on our explore page.

Free to Explore Program

The MN Zoo offers free daytime admission to Minnesota residents enrolled in any of thirteen assistance programs, including SNAP, MFIP, TANF, WIC, Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, Head Start, Housing Support, and Disabled Veterans benefits.

How it works:

1. Verify your eligibility and book tickets in advance online using the Free to Explore promo code.
2. At the entrance, bring documentation for your program along with a photo ID showing Minnesota residency. Any other adults in your group need to show the same address.
3. Online booking covers groups up to ten. Larger groups can call the MN zoo at 952-431-9585.

Parking is not covered, and the pass does not include special programs, events, or ticketed exhibits. Anyone who can’t produce the documentation at the gate will be asked to pay admission.

Parking

The MN Zoo has two parking options: the South Entrance and the East Entrance. Generally, the East lot and entrance are closed most of the time. Since you pay for parking when you buy your tickets, feel free to park wherever your heart takes you.

The MN Zoo Layout

I remember my first visit to the MN Zoo and how deceptive the map was. Looking at it, you get the sense of a small zoo you could finish in an hour. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a lot to see here and a lot of ground to cover. I will break down each area so you can plan your trip around what you want to see. And if you are an adventurer, how to see everything efficiently.

The South Entrance

We will start at the one place you are most likely to come in: the South Entrance. After parking and walking the path lined with animal statues, you will reach the entrance. This is where you need to prepare yourself, because anyone who has been to the MN zoo will tell you the smell can be strong and catch you off guard.

The South Entrance sits right between one of the aquariums and the penguins, so the smell is, well, fishy. Nothing that will send you running in terror, but enough that you will make a visible face the first time. You’ve been warned, and you’ll get used to it, I promise.

Discovery Bay

Discovery Bay is the main aquarium at the MN zoo. Here you will find fish, sharks, and stingrays swimming happily together. You can catch a seal show (tickets must be purchased in advance), spend time at the touch tank, and see coral reef life in the smaller tanks along the way.

This area tends to get crowded, so we recommend parking your stroller and letting this be the one place you let your kids walk around on their own.

This is also where you find access to:

The Treetop Trailhead

Included with MN zoo admission, this 1.25-mile boardwalk sits up to 32 feet above the ground and gives you a panoramic view of the zoo and the surrounding area. It was built on the bones of the MN zoo’s old monorail track, which is why it loops the way it does. The deck runs eight to twelve feet wide with four accessible exit points down into different areas of the zoo, and strollers, wheelchairs, and ECVs are all welcome on it.

It is a great way to cover ground quickly or to take a quiet morning walk. It is generally less crowded than the paths below, and you can use it to navigate straight to the animals you actually came to see.

Splash Pad & Woodland Adventures

Both of these are seasonal. Woodland Adventures generally opens earlier in the year, around April, with the splash pad following close behind. The splash pad has wonderful statues and gives kids somewhere to cool off through the summer months.

Woodland Adventures is a great place for kids to run off energy. There is a small area for younger kids with a slide, turtle shells to climb into, fish to rock on, and a cave to explore. For older children, there is a treehouse-style play structure that lets them run through the trees, slide, and climb.

The Northern Trail

This is where the majority of the animal experiences live at MN Zoo. The path is a loop, so following it all the way around means you won’t miss anything on the Northern Trail. Animals here include camels, lions, bison, red pandas, moose, and reindeer, among others.

On the Northern Trail, you will also find:

Llama Trek

An area where you can walk among the llamas and see guinea pigs. It is dedicated to the Andes region of South America, and you walk among the llamas with no barriers between you, but please do not touch them, no matter how fluffy they look.

Camel Rides

For an additional cost, you can ride a camel. These are usually only offered on weekends and on days when attendance is expected to be high.

Conservation Carousel

The Conservation Carousel sits along the Northern Trail next to the Wild Woods play area. It was hand-crafted for the MN zoo and has 56 animals to choose from, including a tiger, a bison, a rhino and a snow monkey, so expect a full lap around it before anyone commits. There are also two ADA-accessible chariots that seat two, one built around a bull moose and one around a butterfly. Those are the move if someone is too small to ride alone or too nervous to try it by themselves.

Wild Woods Playground

The Hanifl Family Wild Woods is the MN zoo’s newer nature-play area, and it is free with admission. It covers 30,000 square feet of wooded hillside built specifically to be climbed on, crawled through, and dug in: boulder climbs, a climbing horse, a log pile, mazes, slides, and treetop towers linked by bridges.

The whole point of it is that it is a “please touch” space. After a morning of “don’t tap on the glass,” that is a relief for everybody involved.

Wells Fargo Family Farm

Just off the Northern Trail is the Wells Fargo Family Farm. There is a restaurant here. (More about the food at the Minnesota Zoo.)

Here you can interact with goats, sheep, cows, horses, pigs, and chickens. Feed for the goats and sheep can be purchased at certain times of the year. The MN zoo also houses the offspring of these animals, which you can see during certain seasons: baby pigs, goats, and sheep taking their first steps, or baby chicks in the hatchery running around so frantically that “like a chicken with its head cut off” didn’t feel right.

Weesner Family Amphitheater

Back toward the front of the MN zoo you will find the Weesner Family Amphitheater, where you can book tickets in advance for the bird shows. Watch a toucan and plenty of other birds fly right above your heads. Don’t worry, they usually poop before the show. At the Wings Credit Union World of Birds Show, you’ll see birds do things you would never expect a bird to do. Very entertaining for small children.

Important Message for Those With Littles

Heading back toward the entrance and walking the opposite way from the aquarium, you will find a small bee-themed playroom called the Bee Hive. It is a closed area where you can let the little ones run around, and it has a reading corner that is a favorite with nursing parents.

We especially like it because it is the only spot in the entire MN zoo that has a toddler-height toilet. Our daughter has gotten more stubborn about using the potty by herself, and knowing this exists is a life saver.

Tropics Trail

Head toward the front of the zoo, walk past the South Entrance and the penguins, and an incline ramp brings you up to the entrance of the Tropics Trail.

The Tropics Trail is indoors, which makes it the best place in the zoo on a rainy day and the sweatiest on a hot one. The humidity is the point. The path winds downhill through thick green foliage and orchids, and the animals here are genuinely hidden, so it rewards slowing down. Lemurs and gibbons are usually the first ones your kids will spot.

The animals are the draw, but the trail is built around biodiversity hotspots: the places on earth richest in species found nowhere else, and closest to losing them. About halfway down there is a large tropical fish tank with somewhere to sit, which makes it a good snack stop.

Animals on the Tropics Trail include:

• African Fruit Bats
• Baer’s Pochard
• Bali Mynah
• Bennett’s Wallaby
• Binturong
• Black and White Colobus Monkey
• Chinchilla
• Common Shelduck
• De Brazza’s Monkey
• Freckled Duck
• Golden Lion Tamarin
• Great Argus
• Lesser Flamingo
• Madagascar Teal
• Malayan Tapir
• Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo
• Red River Hog
• Rhinoceros Hornbill
• Ring-tailed Lemur
• Southern Three-Banded Armadillo
• Sri Lanka Junglefowl
• Tropical Reef
• Tropical Reptiles and Amphibians
• Victoria Crowned Pigeon
• West African Dwarf Crocodile
• White-cheeked Gibbon

Minnesota Trail

The Medtronic Minnesota Trail is the one people skip, and I think that is a mistake. These are the animals that actually live here, and my daughter asks more questions on this trail than anywhere else.

You’ll find raccoons, coyotes, and gray wolves alongside long-time residents like beaver, otter, puma, and lynx. The smaller Minnesota favorites, the turtles and frogs, are in the trailhead lodge at the start, which is warm and worth knowing about in February. Along the way the trail moves through a run of Minnesota landscapes, from a beaver pond to a northern forest glade to a bird-watching perch up in the treetops.

Along the trail:

• Wolf Woods: Northern gray wolves, viewable from several angles including a rustic log cabin set right in the middle of the exhibit.
• Coyote Exhibit: Rocky ledges at the forest edge hide a coyote den that kids can crawl into themselves. Seeing coyotes side by side with the wolves is the clearest way to understand how the Minnesota landscape has changed.
• The Lodge: Log siding, a big stone fireplace, and animal demonstrations, plus the turtles and frogs. A good place to thaw out.
• Beaver Pond: A walkway with large windows giving an underwater view, and monitors showing what is happening inside the beaver lodge. There is a small wetland area next to it.
• Wild Bird Deck: A large cedar deck surrounded by native trees and shrubs, overlooking the MN zoo’s Main Lake. Feeders draw the birds in, and there are tips posted on landscaping your own yard to do the same at home.

Animals on the Minnesota Trail include:

• American Black Bear
• North American Beaver
• Canada Lynx
• Coyote
• Gray Wolf
• Great Horned Owl
• Minnesota Herps
• North American Porcupine
• Puma
• North American River Otter
• Wolverine

Dino Hideout

This area is seasonal, and it is one of my daughter’s favorite spots in the whole zoo. It features dinosaurs that are motion-activated to roar and move around like the real thing. You can learn about what we know about them today, move different body parts with the push of a button, and see what these animals would have looked like in real life. There is also a climbing play structure and a picnic area here.

Food & Drink at the Minnesota Zoo

The zoo’s campus is big enough that you are never far from food, whether you want a full sit-down meal or a pretzel to get someone across the finish line. Here is what is on offer.

Sit down and eat

• Call of the Wild: Indoors, daily 10am–3pm. The main food court, and your best bet with a group that can’t agree. Burgers, hand-battered chicken tenders, pizza (gluten-free crust available), a fried walleye sandwich, salads, soup, and kids’ meals. Soft serve, Dole Whip, Icees, and cookies for after. Several of the entrees are big enough to share.
• Penguin Café: South Entry, daily 9am–4pm. This is the first thing you’ll walk past, and it is the breakfast stop: locally roasted Peace Coffee, pastries, bagels, fruit, and breakfast sandwiches.
• Wild Java: By the Target Learning Center and the Minnesota Trail. Coffee, smoothies, pretzels, and snacks.

Grab and go

• Lakeside Taco: An Airstream trailer turned taco truck, serving Mexican and Latin American food.
• Graze: For the herbivores. Look for the silver Airstream by the outdoor amphitheater. Vegetarian and vegan dishes.
• Discovery Bay Cart: Daily 10am–3pm. Pretzels, sodas, snacks, and local draft beer.
• Dippin’ Dots Carts: Central Plaza, weekends 11am–3pm. Dippin’ Dots, popcorn, cotton candy, and canned drinks.
• Hopper’s Mini Donuts

Weekends only (and typically closing for the season in late September, so check before you count on them)

• Farmhouse Refreshments: In the white farmhouse inside the Wells Fargo Family Farm, 11am–3pm. Pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, hot dogs, mini donuts, pretzels, Sebastian Joe’s ice cream, and fountain sodas.
• Trail Mix: Attached to the Hanifl Nature Center near the farm entrance, 11am–3pm. House-made trail mix in two flavors, fresh popcorn, grab snacks, and canned drinks.
• T-Rex Cookie Truck: Location varies, 10am–3pm. Assorted flavors of the local favorite, plus snacks and canned drinks.
• Carousel Cart: Directly across from the carousel, 10am–3pm. Pretzels and canned drinks, plus some retail.

Seasonal, currently closed

• Grizzly Coast Café: Near the splash pad in Central Plaza. Smash burgers, Impossible burgers, hot dogs, tater tots, and kids’ meals.
• Grizzly Coast Pavilion Bar: Also by the splash pad. Canned and draft drinks and snacks.

Where the food comes from

The zoo partners with a number of local producers, which is a nice touch and worth knowing if you care where your food comes from. Coffee is Peace Coffee, organic and fair trade. Beer comes from South by SouthEast MN Brewing Co, Surly, and Fulton. Soda is from Northern Soda Company, including two you can only get here: Red Panda Punch and Root Bear. Bread is from The Good Bread Company, and at special events you’ll find Ferndale Farms turkey legs.

Final Thoughts

We hope this gave you a good sense of what to expect from this zoo and helps you plan your visit. The MN Zoo is always a good time and a guaranteed win with children and adults alike. It is a great family adventure, a chance to learn about the animals we share this planet with, and to build some appreciation for them along the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age is this zoo good for? This zoo works for everyone. There is enough here to fill a day for children from two to eighteen, and the play areas, farm, and splash pad mean toddlers are just as well served as older kids.

Is everything closed in the winter? Plenty of attractions do close for the winter, but the main ones stay open year-round. Winter is actually a great time to see the red pandas, and the indoor trails make it an easy day when the weather is bad.

How long does it take to see the whole zoo? Plan on a full day if you want to see everything. Four to five hours is realistic for the main trails with young kids. If you only have two hours, pick one trail and Discovery Bay and leave the rest.

Do I need to buy tickets in advance? It is strongly recommended. You can usually buy at the gate, but advance purchase is faster, lets you pay for parking at the same time, and protects you on busy weekends.

Is parking included in my ticket? No. Parking is $10 for a car or van and $15 for a bus, and you can add it when you buy your tickets. Parking is free for members.

Can I bring my own food? Yes. There are not many formal picnic areas, but there is seating throughout the zoo where you can eat what you brought. Dino Hideout has a picnic area when it is open.

Is the zoo stroller friendly? Can I bring a wagon? Yes to both, and we recommend it. Strollers and wagons are fine on the trails and on the Treetop Trail. If you would rather travel light, the zoo rents strollers: $12 single, $18 double, first come, first served.

Where can I nurse or change a diaper? There are nursing areas near the entrance to the Tropics and Minnesota Trails, and family restrooms with changing tables at the Target Learning Center. Central Plaza and the Farm Granary also have family restrooms seasonally. Guest Services has breast pumps available to check out.

Is there a toddler-height toilet anywhere? Yes, in the Bee Hive playroom near the entrance. It is the only one in the zoo, and it is worth building your route around if you are potty training.

What is the best time of day to go? Right at open. Animals are more active in the morning, the crowds build after lunch, and you will get through the busiest areas before the lines do. Members can get in at 9am, an hour ahead of everyone else.

Is the zoo any good in the rain? Better than you would expect. Discovery Bay and the Tropics Trail are both indoors, and the Bee Hive gives little kids somewhere dry to burn off energy. Skip the Northern Trail and the farm on a wet day.

Is the Treetop Trail worth it with little kids? Yes, and it is easier than it sounds. It is a flat boardwalk loop, wide enough for strollers and wheelchairs, with four points where you can come down into the zoo. It is also the quickest way to cover distance when small legs are done walking.