Summerfield Zoo is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to zoos. It's located amid a vast stretch of…read morecropland, and its location/entry point aren't indictive of an attraction. To be frank, it looks like you're going to someone's farmhouse. There is very little parking, so you know the place doesn't cater to many people at any given time. The animal enclosures border on basic - no frills here. Underneath all of these quirks is a well-run small zoo. There are enough animals to amuse most young kids and a sizable percentage of parents/adults. Some of these animals are par for the course (goats, camels) but others are zoo elites (hyenas, wolves). I's a great place to spend an hour or so, followed by a ten minute trip to Belvidere for lunch or snacks. I think the most important aspect is that despite some of the negative comments posted in the past, the animals are all heathy and in great shape. Perhaps I ought to defer to all of the animal behaviorists and psychologists who have shared their prognoses on Yelp - there are quite a lot of them it seems - but I do not believe the animals here are "depressed" at all. There is quite a lot of anthropomorphizing going on and it's unfair to the proprietors of this facility. All this place needs is some jazzing up of their facility, if only at the entrance, to offer some "character', as it is pretty devoid of that at the moment. Hopefully with some more funding that will happen down the road. Most importantly, it's a fun place to visit some healthy animals and that's really all that matters.

The animals are very cute, it's been a while since I've been and I'm not quite sure what they have…read morethere anymore

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!

This was such a cute outing with our friends! Our toddlers had a lot of fun walking around and…read moreseeing all the animals, as well as playing at the park. There was a splash pad too, but we didn't make it that far unfortunately. You could easily spend a couple of hours here! Good suburbs gem

The animals are visible and cared for . We saw staff taking care of the animals, the enclosure…read morelooked clean, some animals were off site for the season but enough for my toddler to enjoy.

It wasn't until this summer that I learned that we have an amusement park right here in the…read moresuburbs, not 30 minutes away. I guess since I didn't grow up here and it's not really geared toward adults it makes sense. We got a chance to visit this season before they closed and it was so much fun. As the name suggests, it's Christmas/Santa/winter themed. The daily price is high, but next year I think we'll be buying a season pass and hopefully can balance pool pass and amusement park visits. My daughter had so much fun with her friend here. And there's more than I expected! The rides were good, and though there aren't a ton of them they are solid and enjoyable. I rode a few, and I wasn't sure they'd be fat friendly. The Route 66 ride was fun; it reminded me of Tomorrowland Speedway, but with cooler cars. And the fire truck ride was a unique one; though I don't have a lot of amusement park experience but I didn't expect to see a fire truck that takes you over to a fire (gas powered) and lets the kids aim their hoses to put it out. There's a petting zoo, with pigs, alpacas, goats, sheep, and so on. You can buy a cup of feed and they will be your best friends for real. There's also an aviary, where you can buy a feed stick to encourage the birds to come pick from. We spent a lot of time in both those areas, and the kids really got a kick out of feeding the animals. After going on a bunch of the rides, we went to the wading pool. I didn't realize how extensive it was--it's a very large pool area, but the water is only a few feet deep and it's a zero entry pool. I thought it would be much smaller, so I didn't bring a suit--but luckily my friend did since you can't go into the pool unless you're properly attired. There were various slides and I think my kiddo could have spent hours there. But the day was cool and there was a bit of rain, so we only stayed a short while. I'm really looking forward to going more often next summer, letting the kiddo enjoy the pool much longer. Parking is free--at least as of 2026. There are concessions, and you're not supposed to be able to bring outside food, but somehow my friend snuck some in so YMMV.

This place was a very fun and family amusement park. My 3 year old was a big fan and she did not…read morewant to leave The location was very easy to find. It is conveniently located off of I90 and Dundee. The parking lot was pretty good for its size and, while we did arrive right when they opened, we had no issues finding a parking spot. Plus, as we were leaving, we saw a lot of open spots. The place does have a few restaurants but the food is decent for what it is. It will not be a 5 star groumet meal. We had the pizza and it was delicious. It reminded me of a school pizza growing up and a little bit of Sbarro. It filled us up and our picky 3 year old loved it so that was a bonus. We also went to a different location to get freshly squeezed lemonade and iced coffee. Both were delicious and perfect mid day snack during sunny afternoon The bathrooms were clean enough. The rides were fun and staff was very friendly. At the end of the day, we stopped and greeted Santa. I loved this experience since he was very patient and kind to our daughter. And it was very personalized. I was under the assumption was simple, and pose for photos but no... he talked to her and read her signs as to how comfortable she was. I appreciated Santa so much since he could tell she was getting a little scared and nervous. Overall, it is a fun place to be especially as a child. This one visit convinced us enough to become season pass owners as we left the park. We will be back in the near future.

I've been here multiple times with my family. It's a nice small zoo, but the first time I've been…read morehere with the new setup this year. If you're in the area and you need a place to bring your little ones highly recommend. We can at bad time while it was lunch time and the workers needed a break but always a good walk as a parent and a lot to see.

Went to Randall Oaks Zoo for the first time today for a birthday party. We didn't go to the zoo…read morepart but we were outside in the park and garden area and it was lovely! They took us on a hayride to see the grounds and they had a fire for us to make smores. It was a great gathering area and I wish I lived closer, will have to go back to visit. The staff and hayride driver were very nice.

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

Great family owned spot! Very helpful every time I come in with any questions I may have.read more

A young man from Fish Island, Eugene, came to my home and removed a horrible amount of green algae…read morein my 36 gallon aquarium. I learned a lot from him. He showed me the best green algae killer device on Amazon. All is well now!

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.

Wonderful place for families especially little ones. We went here recently and the kids loved it…read more (Private school event) There was a merry go round, train, and huge playground area. There were a variety of animals in the barn area. Kids were loving the baby goats. I'm sure we didn't see everything. Will be going back for sure.

SO much fun. Made the drive from the city visiting family to aurora to check this place out after I…read moresaw some instagram posts about how cool it was. It is truly fun for all ages. My two year old loved the train ride, tractor ride, and carousel. And we also fed the goats, sheep, and alpaca. The map is easy to follow and even though we spent two hours ago we easily could have spent another two here! They have a cute little gift shop too. I saw they were setting up for a wedding here too which was cool! Great spot for families I totally recommend.

It's always so much fun going to the zoo. This is one of the more bigger shoes here in Chicago. And…read moreI think it's the first time I've been here again in like 8 years. I was so happy that I was able to experience feeding the giraffes and that they actually feed them a whole Leaf of lettuce it's a bit of a on the pricey side $15 you get about half of a bunch of lettuce but to be able to feed them the whole Leaf it was amazing because other places you would only get like strips of carrots. We were there a bit early and so most if not some of the animals were all out and that was so nice to see so I did enjoy it a lot. The only downside was the food the food trucks were closed and so the only choice we had was the outdoor one in the cafeteria until we did choose the outdoor one and the line wasn't even that long but the two boys that were there I guess they were new and it was a part-time thing it was so disorganized that we waited almost an hour for our food. The food was okay for Zoo food but I would eat it again it's just the long wait. But this suit was amazing I highly recommend feeding the giraffes I wish they also offered more animal encounters like feeding the goats and whatnot but I would definitely be coming back. Happy exploring!

Having visited zoos in various parts of the USA, I would rate Brookfield Zoo somewhere in the…read moremiddle. It has both strong and weak points. The wide scope of their collection is impressive. The newer and recently refurbished habitats, particularly Tropic World, The Living Coast and The Swamp, display animals in remarkably naturalistic settings that have been enhanced and updated through the years. I visit Brookfield Zoo maybe every 5 or 6 years, and what frustrates me the most is the significant percentage of attractions that always seem to be closed for renovation. Or, for whatever reason, some categories of animals might not be available for public viewing. How odd that this zoo has not had any elephants since 2010 (also, they no longer breed baboons). During our most recent visit, roughly one-third of the attractions were unavailable and some of the public areas appeared neglected, e.g. cracked pavement and uninspired landscaping. The Roosevelt Fountain centerpiece may look impressive from the air, but at ground level the tall weed-like growth pretty much obscures the view. By comparison, the flora at the Milwaukee Zoo is more attractive. A long-overdue overhaul of food services was completed since my previous visit. Graze Kitchen offers a varied menu which includes - surprise! - healthy options. A chicken salad wrap, although not cheap, was actually one of the better meals I've experienced at a zoo. But this venue should have been centrally located; instead, it's an arduously long hike from any entrance gate. Other options, albeit with limited menus heavy on junk food, are more accessible. Outside vendors include The Original Rainbow Cone, which has two food trucks stationed inside the park this summer (ask for directions). The gift shops with their generous play areas for children are very inviting. Although subsidized by tax dollars and private donations, this zoo is expensive. Parking runs $17-$20 on top of admission, which ranges from $24 to $33 (much of the pavement is in deplorable condition). Once inside the park, there are additional fees for special attractions such as the butterflies, the dolphin show, and the Hamill Family Play Zoo. Scooter rental costs $35. Considering that portions of the park are in less-than-pristine condition and several attractions might be closed for whatever reason, the cost of spending a day here is excessive. We rode on the 30-minute Motor Safari tour ($6). We had hoped this tour would include the furthest reaches of the park, but the route was shorter than we anticipated. The aging trams put out a noxious exhaust; replacement with battery-powered vehicles is long overdue. Moreover, the tour guide misinformed visitors by stating that camel humps contain water. Egad, no, they contain fatty tissue (Google it)! Given the great distances that have to be covered on foot, I think it would make much more sense to replace the Safari tour with shuttles that operate on a fixed route every 15-20 minutes, with step-on/step off stations throughout the park (included in the admission price).