Love this zoo! Very cute! However think the birds could have better enclosures somewhere for them to fly around.

Review Visit: April 11th, 2012 Penguins, peacocks, chickens, oh my! Henson Robinson Zoo is located in the heart of Abraham Lincoln country. So, it makes sense that there is a zoo that has all it's animals wearing black hats and Lincoln-style beards. Actually, that makes no sense at all. Lets try that again. Henson Robinson Zoo was the destination for Matt and I during the early days of spring. When the warmth of the day is enough to make exploring possible and not miserable. I picked Matt up and we headed out to explore the capital. We got to the zoo around noon, parked, paid our admission, and got hyped to see some animals. I don't remember much about the zoo layout. I do remember a few different things. One. Peacocks and chickens walking around like they own the place. Yep, they had live animals walking around, strutting their stuff. No, they didn't have bears walking around, though that would be one heck of an experience. There were some peacocks strutting around, showing off their tail feathers. I never thought I would see a peacock up close and in person, let alone one I could pet. Whether you should attempt to pet the, that's up to your discretion (and probably some zoo rules). Two. Racing a wolverine is something I can mark off my bucket list. Upon visiting the wolverine exhibit, Matt and I noticed this creature was hyper and running up and down the edge of it's viewing area. Me, being the person I am, decided to mirror it's movements. The wolverine and I ran up and down the exhibit for a solid 5-10 minutes. Back and forth. Back and forth. Matt ended up recording some videos of us racing. I included a photo below where you can see me in motion. My current WordPress plan doesn't allow me to upload videos or else I would include one as well. Since I don't remember much else from the zoo, that leaves me without much else to say. There was a big water exhibit near the entrance. That is where the penguins were. They were fun to watch waddle around and swim around. I would suggest checking it out if you have an itch for a zoo. Maybe you can even race a peacock or pet a wolverine during your visit... or something like that. read more

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Pretty decent sized zoo. It does cost but its worth the price, I love all the family events they have as well as learning opportunities and a big playground for the kids! read more

A great little zoo. The animals were all out and their enclosures seemed well maintained. The only negative was they were selling fish food, but there were no fish in the pond. read more

Went back for a 4th time; I'd gone several times with my kids. My kids are grown - this time my wife and I went on our own. Spent just over an hour. We got to talk to the zookeepers. We even had the attention of some animals. As before, a wallaby saw us and decided he didn't want anything to do with us and hopped away. One of the birds was talking to us. The goats loved getting fed. Zoo is best for younger kids. This time we went in the summer (last time was in March). Not crowded. Animals are all easy to see. Great playground for kids. read more

I was not expecting much from this zoo as I've been a couple roadside petting zoo's and that's what I thought I was walking into. This is actually such a cute little place. It is quite well maintained and all the animals look healthy and were active the day I was there. I look forward to bringing my kids back to see it too. read more

Henson Robinson Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Springfield, Illinois

If not for the small size of this zoo, I'd definitely be a star higher. The animals were all very upfront and close in their exhibits. Only 1 or 2 of them were behind something or otherwise non-visible. They also have a nice assortment of animals with a couple of exotics that are really worth seeing. The entire zoo can be covered in an hour, leaving ample time to do other things in the area. The only drawback is this zoo kinda leaves you asking for more. read more

Henson Robinson Zoo - working on more animals for the zoo - Zoos Near Me - Springfield, Illinois

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Very nice little zoo just south east of springfield. While on vacation we needed something to kill a couple of hours, so off to the zoo we went. Like o said before small but nice zoo with very accommodating staff. Makenzie told us a lot about her little monkey friends and the ladies in the gift shop/concession were very helpful. I would suggest this place for anyone who likes a zoo. Don't forget to drive Lake Shore drive around the entirety of lake Springfield, it is a very plesant drive. read more

Henson Robinson Zoo - One of my monkeys at the zoo. - Zoos Near Me - Springfield, Illinois

Fantastic ! This place has a nice variety of animals and a very friendly staff ! Right across from a lovely park !

The staff here is amazing. We were able to watch the Red Wolves get fed, roam their area, & saw the pups that were a month old. Had a 4 yr. old & 11 yr. old that were amazed at everything here. Choo choo ride was great for both of them too. Will be going back. A little hidden gem. read more

Went last weekend with our grandkids visiting from out of town. Have not been there since my kids were young understand that winter is coming but I was VERY disappointed in what's there at any price. Lots of workers but not as many animals Someone needs to take this on, nice to have but kids would have had as much fun at a park. read more

We really enjoyed this place. Not crowded and inexpensive. The opportunity to get close to some of the animals was fantastic. Really enjoyed the giant turtle and the otters. It only takes about 90 minutes to tour the entire zoo. read more

My grandparents used to live across the street from this zoo. As you can imagine, I spent many summer afternoons here as a little one. This zoo is pretty nice for a small-ish town. They have penguins-which I love and a great petting zoo. The peacocks used to end up in my grandparents yard all of the time-which I thought was very cool. Worth a trip out to the lake area, which is very pretty. read more

Cute place. We saw what we could while wearing ponchos in the pouring rain...we're adventurous! Seemed well maintained and had really nice staff members. Nice enclosures for the animals. Big park out front. Picnic tables available all around. Would return another day without rain ;) read more

Great zoo for Springfield. Not huge, but more than expected for a small city.

Adorable small zoo. We live near many large spend $100 and your entire day there zoos. This was not in the same league but had so many great things to offer. Cost was completely appropriate. Zoo and animals were well cared for. The best part was that instead of spending the whole trip strapped in a stroller, our toddler could walk! He loved being able to run up to each cage and check out the animals. Bring quarters to but food to feed the goats (and to make your squished penny if you collect those). This was the perfect stop on our way out of town. We enjoyed seeing the baby spider monkey and listening to the peacocks call to each other across the zoo. read more

Adorable little zoo. Love the free range peacocks! We are always looking for interesting stops on our road trips. You could see it all in 30 minutes but we stayed for about 2 hours both times. AZA members use your card for free admission :) read more

Definitely worth stopping if you're in the Springfield area. Smaller zoo (only took us about an hour to walk around), but they have some unique animals and you can tell they're taken care of well (always a fear of mine when you hear about the smaller places). There are some fun animal sculptures scattered throughout the zoo, you can get closer to the animals than other zoos and it's not a bad price at all...just over $10 for admission for both my husband and me and $1.25 for a soda. Only thing I would recommend is maybe go a little bit later in the season when more animals would be out, but it was even worth it now. read more