Surprised by the the amount of large animals they had. Lots of spots that kids can interact with…read moresome animals (feed them). The staff I saw and interacted with were very nice and friendly. My daughter had a ball and would definitely come back here again.

What a treasure! This family-owned zoo is populated by a lot of rescued animals, and their…read morephilosophy is to save animals injured in the Wild, or taken or surrendered from folks who had them illegally, unable to care for them. All the staff are incredibly knowledgeable about all of the animals in their care. A standout was Nick, who shared the backstory of the gibbons, the sloth, and others, we learned so much from him in just a few minutes! They are currently seeking status that will allow them to apply for grants, and they have a donation box to help them improve/increase one of the bear enclosures. If you can visit, definitely do so. If you can donate, so much the better!

Have small kids, so took a little time to visit this small zoo. We ended up being blown away. Sure,…read moreit's small, but with plenty of local animals and active staff. Honestly, that's what made the biggest difference: have you ever been to a zoo where the staff, as they are working, turn and have conversations with the patrons? Also, there was a short talk/presentation about turtles - my kids loved it! They asked so many questions and because they were local animals, we could then look for turtles - my kids now love turtles as much as volcanoes!! Also, they had a monarch butterfly egg monitoring project going on, and it was exciting to see staff go out with mirrors in the weeds to count eggs. It's hard to articulate how unsung this place is. Incredible experience, mainly due to the accessibility and welcomingness of the park staff!

Other than this zoo being very small, I had a great time with my family today. The workers are all…read morevery friendly and as I would ask questions about the animals to the people I was with, there are workings walking around who would answer my questions the second I asked them. They have a great handful of enclosures that are habitats with several animals - for instance, there was a lemur habitat that had tortoises and a fowl. They also had an enclosure that had Scarlett ibis, ducks and an anteater! They also have a gift shop that was on the smaller side, a petting zoo where you can pet the goals and a snack shack. Great place for young kids - who don't require a large attention span to get enjoyment out of the zoo.

Awesome! First time back since I was a kid and had such an amazing time! So much has been updated…read morewith some of my favorite sections including the primates in the Rare Animal Conservation Center, the Orangutans and Lemurs, the Reptile and Amphibian House, Flamingo Cove, the Hippos and Rhinos. It's perfect for kids of all ages! It's fun to watch people feed the Giraffes with the "Giraffe Experience." Oh, catch the penguins swimming and meerkats out for play!!! Philadelphia Zoo has done a lot, improving the living spaces for the animals, since the less humane cages. As amazing as it is that Philadelphia Zoo is America's first one, also on the grounds of the zoo is The Solitude Mansion - a late 18th Century residence apparently built by William Penn's son, John Penn. Who knew? There is so much to see and enjoy at the Philadelphia Zoo! Can't wait to come back more sooner than later! Recommend you check it out!

I'm sure I've been there many times before and somehow many not have provided a review. This time I…read morewas there with the family. It's good to purchase the tickets in advance. My daughter set it up and made entry very easy as well as parking. The zoo is very child and handicap friendly. There are areas where kids can pet the animals. They also have an Outback area, lions, tigers, bears, reptiles, rare animals, etc. The highlights for the family included the giraffes, hippos and primates. We were a bit disappointed with the bears (only one bear around), the penguins (only 6?) and the Outback area. Emu's are OK, but where are the kangaroos? I think we saw a Wallabe, but it was laying down away from everything. Many of the animals hide. The primate area wasn't like that. Some of the baby monkeys were adorable. And then there's the big gorilla. Don't want to mess with him! There are a couple of gift shops which are worth visiting. For food, you can find a Chickie's and Pete's truck as well as other food trucks. You can also find beer and vodka selzters on the trucks, PLUS there's a Beer Garden.

This spot is kids paradise. I planned most of our day here and my kids still didn't want to leave…read more I typically saw this spot whenever I rode the Strasburg Railroad. We typically would do their Christmas Train, and rarely got back to Lancaster in the warmer months. As soon as I planned my latest summer trip, I knew it had to be on the itinerary. This place has it all from gigantic slides to gold mining sluice areas to a mini kids village that mine couldn't get enough of from the mini vet office to the drive in theater. It was really impressive. From here, you can make your way up the hill where there is a restaurant, a coffee kiosk with a delicious coconut water cold brew (wild!), and plenty of shaded sections with swinging chairs. You'll find paintball, basketball, skee ball, a pedal cart for the family, launching devices. I mean, there is a lot! The place is large so it never felt overly crowded. Come with water bottles. Even with the shaded sections it gets hot. They have water fountains by the bathrooms.

Such a fun farm to take your family. I've been coming here…read moresince my daughter was about 4 years old- she's 14 now. Everyone we come, it does not disappoint. It's such a great time. Buy tickets online- tickets are cheaper. If you go during the week- it's cheaper too! They also have 50% off for active military and veterans, which is a great deal! They have all kinds of games, tug of war ropes, a play area/little town for younger kids, pig races. Some nights they have fireworks or bands. If you come- the corn maze is a must! All types of food vendors like burgers, fries, chicken fingers, ice cream and apple cider donuts. You can spend hours here and not get bored. They also have for pit and picnic table areas you can rent out and they provide logs and sticks so you can roast marshmallows or hotdogs. Definitely recommend this farm.

Parking is not a problem! Friendly staff and helpful with things! Animals are fun and friendly to…read moreyou! I loved the cows and the goats because they were very calm! The chickens chase you all the time lol so that's fun! If you don't have anything to do in your free time, come here!!

Rude staff!!!!!! Skip this place unless you enjoy being insulted at the door…read more I had read reviews about the rude man at the entrance, and unfortunately, our visit confirmed them. When we arrived, my husband explained we were a family of five, including our baby who is 9 months old. Instead of simply charging the admission, the man looked at my daughter and said, "Wow, she looks big for 9 months." This was not an innocent observation--it was a shady, backhanded way of suggesting we were lying about her age so he could charge us. For the record, my daughter is absolutely 9 months old--small for her age, no teeth, not walking, sitting in a stroller with a pacifier. His comment was unnecessary, insulting, and immediately set a negative tone. If the policy is that everyone pays--even infants--then state that clearly. Don't make rude remarks about a child's appearance or insinuate dishonesty. I even offered to pay the $6, but instead of being straightforward, he backtracked. For a place that depends on families visiting, this kind of treatment is unacceptable. If you choose to come here, be prepared for a rude encounter before you even get inside. We won't be returning, and I would not recommend this "zoo" to anyone who values basic respect. To the owner: your mouth is bad for your business, friend.

I can't believe it took me so long to visit Longwood Gardens, but I finally visited with my husband…read moreover this past weekend, and I can now agree with everyone who recommended it me - it's incredible. Longwood Gardens is a public garden, but it has to be one of the best in the country. It's huge (more than 1,100 acres) and incredibly beautiful. We arrived around 11:00 am on a Saturday, and it was already getting crowded. Be aware that Longwood is popular! If you arrive during peak hours - especially during certain times of year when they have special attractions, like around Christmas - it will be crowded. You might even have to park in a parking lot further from the visitor center and take a shuttle. But at 11:00 am on a Saturday - the first day of August and quite hot - we had plenty of parking available to us in the main lot when we arrived. We pulled up our tickets, which we had bought ahead of time online, and walked right through the visitor center to the gardens. Given it's so large, there are several areas to visit. We decided to do more of the outside areas first to visit them before it got hotter or more crowded. Then we had brunch at 1906 Fine Dining and continued exploring the areas closer to the restaurant. The highlights of our visit were seeing the Italian Water Garden, the Flower Garden Walk, the Chimes Tower, the Eye of Water, and the Waterlily Court. All of these spaces were incredibly beautiful. Depending on the time of day you visit, something else I'd say that cannot be missed is the Main Fountain Garden Performance. Booming classical music came out speakers I couldn't even see while the 1,719 jets of the main fountain put on a show to the music. It was incredible - completely amazing. (This is running daily at least through November 1, 2026, and when we were there it ran about every 2 hours.) If you're there in the evening, there's the Illuminated Fountain Performances on most Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (also through November 1, 2026). (There are a few more summer nights with fireworks shows at the fountains this year, so if you're interested in that, check out their website for the dates.) We had a lovely lunch at 1906 Fine Dining (separate review for that) - but there are other options for dining if you're looking for something more casual or less of a splurge. I really enjoyed exploring the gardens for the first time. Something I look forward to is that Longwood changes with the seasons. Summer isn't my favorite (I'm grumpy in hot weather), so I look forward to visiting in spring (flowers!!!) and fall (colors) - even winter. It was still a wonderful experience in summer, even if a little hot for me. But Longwood is a treasure. Now that I've been, I look forward to returning.

Longwood Gardens in the summer is absolutely gorgeous! We spent about 3.5 hours there on Saturday…read morebut easily could've roamed for longer--we saw the main fountain garden, east and west conservatories, children's garden, waterlily court, chimes tower, eye of water, canopy cathedral tree house, and Italian water garden. The fountain shows are super impressive--I would highly recommend timing your visit to see at least one if you're there on a weekend (we saw both the 11:15am and 1:15pm, they each last about 10 min. You can view from the main conservatory overlook area benches or down by the biggest fountains by the pumphouse. They play music and it's just incredible. There also are tons of water falls everywhere! Very nice and well maintained, not buggy. Everything is beautiful. There were tons more to see but we grew hungry! I would just caution to eat beforehand as the food options here are overpriced (think $7 for a bowl of soup)

Love this place a very old zoo they need to charge so they could fix the place up more it's nice…read moreouting for kids and have lots of events through throughout the year

Very nice free zoo that has quite a variety of animals and birds . Animals are well cared for and…read morethe zoo is clean . It takes about 45 minutes to walk around and see everything, perfect for small children and also senior citizens. We've been coming here a long time , please leave a donation when visiting if you can .

Today was a beautiful day to visit this place. My husband found out they were opening up for their…read moreFall festival which included a petting zoo that included chickens, pigs/hogs, goats, Llamas, donkey, ponies, horses, rabbits, and turkies. The cost was not bad for the whole family, and kids under 2 are free. There were several various vendors, ice cream truck, taco food truck, and grilled food for sale. Parking was good and easy. My god-daughter enjoyed the pony ride. We definitely enjoyed the entire day here. My god-son fed and petted a few animals.

Took my kids horseback riding and it could have been a better experience. I'll start off by saying…read morethere's plenty of things to do at Hawks Hollow Farm. Plenty of beautiful horses, a petting area, a tree house & a park. We reserved time for the pony ride and petting zoo but it felt like we were rushed through our experience. The women who helped us immediately seemed frustrated because they overbooked 2 large parties along with our reservation, her vibe didn't feel welcoming because of their lack of organization. My kids did the pony ride literally 2 rounds (they wanted to keep going) then they had about 10 minutes in the petting zoo. That costs me around $60 & they do not take credit cards.

Didn't know about this zoo before, but my boyfriend's mom invited us to come last Wednesday night -…read morean org she's apart of rented the zoo out for a Family Night Out. A bit of a drive when coming from the city but was a great time, especially for our little one. They only had certain experiences and areas open during this time since it was after normal operation hours. We got to feed the giraffes, see a red panda and other animals. The playground area and carousel were also open for the kids to have some fun. One of the security guards ended up coming over and chatting with us for a while. Very kind man that told us about some of the different exhibits they have during the day, busyness of the zoo in the summer and holidays, etc. We're hoping to come back again sometime in the near future, possibly during the holidays since it was mentioned the special exhibit/experience they have for Christmas time.

This Zoo is pretty new, and visiting on memorial day was free, Yay!! It is pretty small zoo but…read moreplenty places to sit down, eat and rest. Free parking is nice, but on a crowded day, you have to circle around nearby area for street parkig. While seeing all these animals was cute and fun, I do think they need to work on efficiency for certain areas...like train ride, barn, Habitat HQ etc. They had way too many people inside the buildings and the line was not moving at all. I think the entrance fee is bit high for what they have to offer (usually $31 with advance booking).

Had a great time at Rosebridge. We did Piglet Cuddling and the Farm tour and met so many friendly…read moreanimals.

We were looking online at 'activity' farms (animal husbandry-horseback riding-bees, etc) in the…read morelocal area and came upon the Rose Bridge Farm. Rose Bridge is a sanctuary and working farm on land once owned by William Penn. Since 2013, the farm has become a 'forever home' for over 300 animals. Many of the animals are rescues from dairy farms, livestock auctions or other scenarios where they were at risk. They have several different activities, we opted for the Farm Fest, which combined several of the activities. The Farm Fest includes a mini farm animal husbandry tour, baby animal cuddling time, hands on craft activity, a beverage bar and an outdoor fire pit. It lasts about 2 hours. There were many parents there with children, but also adults like us by themselves. There are two times - 4-6 and 6:30-8:30. We went on the 4:00 tour. It was great! It was very interesting hearing how the animals came to the farm - it was so heartwarming to hear the stories of saving so many animals. However, I wasn't expecting the 'cuddling time' to be so much fun. We started with the goats - so friendly! They were nuzzling and 'pawing' us - I sat down and several came to me and wanted to be rubbed or held. I even had an opportunity to feed a baby goat its milk bottle! We interacted with pigs, sheep, a beautiful thoroughbred horse and a donkey! It was a very special experience! Afterwards we all went to a large barn and made crafts - specifically little planters we decorated, added dirt and seeds (large selection of flowers and vegetables seeds) to take home as a little souvenir. We had a dinner reservation so we left before the fire pit activity. Overall, it was a wonderful experience to be with these farm animals and to support such a worthwhile project.