Talk about a smaller zoo punching above its weight! We loved our time here, even if it was unplanned and last minute. We were anxious to head up to the beaches in Michigan, but some very intense Canadian wildfire smoke had the air quality so bad we decided to stay back as long as we could.. should we commit a full day to the Children's Museum? Nah. Go for a walk? Too hot and unfamiliar. What about this fun zoo? Score! It's extremely walkable here, shady in most parts, and very fair prices. Side note, they do zoo reciprocity and as Friends of the Zoo members in KC we got half price entrance. The animals are so close here! It's amazing. Right when we walked out it's like, 'that's the closest I've ever been to a flamingo!" and on it went like that. I enjoyed chatting with an honorary zoo keeper, who I assume was a high schooler. He told me it was his first day, and he was eager to teach me about wallabies and the like. Very cool program where kids get training and hands on experience with animals, customer service, etc. The highlight for me was hard to nail down to one, so we'll go in order: Anteater! What a cool, weird, unique animal. Not sure I'd ever seen one and loved it. And, the obvious choice.. a freaking snow leopard! I've read a book about the elusive snow leopard, aptly titled, "The Snow Leopard." It gave me such an appreciation for these insanely beautiful cats, and to see one here, in Normal IL on a random weekday in July blew my mind. I read more about it and a zoologist at this zoo was very successful with helping breed and support these cats, so it's a good story and not one who was just snatched out of a mountain in Nepal someday. Again, a nice pivot for us and I loved this zoo. read more

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Good place to explore with children in Bloomington. It turns out to be a bigger place than it looks. Miller Park Zoo is the highlight of this big public park and one of the best things about the city as well. Bad thing is there's an admission price. This is worth it for looking around once, and you can also get a membership 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 a circus lion cub was found on this site around 1900, and the city named him Big Jim. After he died in 1912, funds were raised to open the Koetthoefer Animal Building. The zoo began lots more expansion in 1960 with the building that became the Tropical Rainforest Exhibit, and pools were built for sea lions and otters. A lot of animals have come and gone. There's currently flamingos at the entrance, monkeys, the Koetthoefer Animal Building has gibbons, langurs, and snow leopards, giant anteaters, lots of birds including bald eagles, the ZooLab has frogs and insects, several tortoises and there's wolves. It's about $9 admission for adults. They have a program called Junior Zoo Keeper that students can start in 5th grade, and they volunteer to learn and train. Good experience. This is an opportunity for local students. 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. read more

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Been there several times when my great nieces were small! My favorite zoo in the Midwest. Has Peoria zoo beat to hell! Great animals inside and out, small ridable children's merri-go-ride. I love this place and I am 72! read more

All I have to say that I am so glad I had a zoo membership someplace else and was able to get in here for free. Not a very large zoo at all , there was trash outside of the exhibits for the large cats area. The large cats were not outside. The small rainforest area they had smelled atrocious. Definitely not worth the price. There is a nice playground with a splash pad just outside the zoo. We did not go on the paddle boats or mini golf. There is lots to do at the park. Just the zoo left a lot to be desired. I have seen road side tourist animal world places that were better kept and maintained white more variety than this zoo. read more

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Review Visit: April 18th, 2012 Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Miller Park Zoo is my favorite. Why is that? This zoo is perfect in my opinion. Not only is the zoo great but the surrounding area amplifies the area. Around the zoo there is a mini golf course, a playground, the Friendship Bridge and a War Memorial. Plus plenty of space to park your vehicle and a nice walking trail. Ok, back to the zoo. Why is it my favorite? It is small, quaint, cozy yet it is open, spacey with plenty to see. The price of admission is fair. It looks like it is $6.95 to get in these days but I believe it was an even $5 when I went years ago. Either way, it is a good deal. Upon entering, you are greeted with an open path that lets you wander whichever way you want. During my multiple visits, I usually start off going right and work my way through the park in a counter clockwise manner. Without spoiling too much, you can go into a open room with Finches and Budgies flying around. Just make sure you don't get pooped on! In the same building, there are some tank displays with lizards, spiders, fish, and various other small insects and animals. Moving on, there are plenty of mammals and animals to see. Scattered throughout the zoo are bird cages as well. Nearing the back of the zoo will get you some big beasts. I won't spoil which ones you see but if you get there at the right time, you can see the animal handlers feed the beastly animals. Continuing counter clockwise, you will run into the most adorable red panda. I spend way too much time admiring the cute red panda. Moving past that will have you wandering down a path where there are wallaroos that are free to roam an open area. I've never had one come up to me but I am sure they aren't shy of humans. To backtrack a bit, there is another exhibit that mimics a tropical rainforest. It is a small replica display that resembles a tropical rainforest. The animals are free to roam around, so be careful where you step. There is a decent-sized gift shop where you can get your standard zoo stuff. I grabbed a few things on one of my visits. When I checked out, I told the cashier I didn't need a bag and he thanked me for reducing my plastic usage. While I highlighted the key parts of the zoo, I left out a lot of little details so you can discover them on your own when you visit. All of this comes together in a beautiful zoo. Great exhibits, great price, and great interactive areas. As with most zoos, they do take donations. I try to donate every time I visit as I know the price of admission only covers so much and every little bit helps. read more

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This is a great small zoo! It was nice to be able to get a good look at the animals. The staff was awesome. They were around showing off some of the animals and answering questions. There are shady areas for relaxing too. read more

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My daughter (age 6) and I visited this weekend while on mommy/daughter weekend. Our first visit was Saturday, the zoo itself was quite impressive and we really enjoyed it. So much so, my daughter asked to go back the next day. We get there, walk up to the ticket window the lady (I'm using this term loosely) was distracted with something on her phone as we had to wait for her to finish whatever it was before she could be bothered with us. When she did look up, I said, "Just two please", while pointing at my daughter. "That'll be $18", she said. Now the cost for an adult is $9 (13-59), $7 for children. When I questioned her why she was charging for two adults she first said "Oh, I didn't see her." I replied, "That still doesn't explain why you are charging for 2 adults if you didn't see her, as you claim, yet only saw ONE adult." Then she said "I thought you said two adults" to which I replied "if that's true, why did you lead with the first lie? You should have asked for clarification if you were uncertain about what I said." Then she said "Well it's hard to tell age" to which I replied "Especially if you can't see someone, right?" Just refund my $18 so I can go." I then turned to my 6 years, who in all honesty because she's tall for age most people think she's 8 - but NEVER has anyone mistaken her for a whole adult!! And yes, my child is always dressed very age appropriate. I digress, as I was saying, I turned to my daughter and I say "I'm sorry honey, we won't be re-visiting today, or any other day after today, ok. ONE lesson to learn here, is speak up for yourself. Had I not said anything this lady would have overcharged me and if her oversight had truly been a mistake, she wouldn't have offered 3 different lies in response to my asking why she was overcharging me." If I could rate less than one star I certainly would. This shows how one negative experience can derogatorily affect the entire experience. Just the day before, we'd had a great experience, but Julie, Jules or whatever her name is ruined it for us on Sunday. Thank you so much for that incredibly horrible customer service! read more

A very nicely designed small zoo with a very interesting collection of animals. Part of Miller Park, the zoo actively works with endangered species. read more

Miller Park Zoo - Zoos Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Very good zoo given the size of Bloomington. Don't expect a "big city" zoo; yet get better than you'd think. We spent just under 2 hours here. Easy to follow paths. Wide variety of animals: Australian walk-about, tortoise, wolves, birds, goats (can be fed and petted), guanacos, flamingos, otters, tiger, red pandas and more. They have a lunch counter; plenty of tables. Plenty of shade (we went on a warm day), yet also open areas. Great for kids of all ages. read more

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Such a great little zoo! Highly recommend if you live in the area with little ones to get the annual membership pass. It's small enough where our 2 1/2 year old granddaughter walks thru the whole thing seeing all the exhibits without pooping out. And bonus: outside the zoo is a newly installed play area with splash pad with some fun equipment! So, we usually go there afterward with her to really wear her out! read more

Great staff, great zoo. People from Chicago can't be complaining about it not being big enough, obviously it's not gonna be huge, it's in Bloomington. Good size, you can get done with it in about an hour give or take. read more

Landmark Review This is a unique zoo run by the city of Bloomington. We got here late so we had to run through the exhibits. It's located in the middle of a park. There is plenty of parking around if there is an activities going on. We had some issues finding parking and had to walk a long way to get to the zoo. It is seven dollars admission for adults and five dollars for kids. Children under two are free. I am surprised by the animals that you can see here which included lions, kangaroo, tortoise, and seals. This is not a Brookfield zoo by any chance so you won't see any pandas, giraffes, or other exotic animals however it's a great place to visit for families. Hidden deal: Free parking on the park side streets read more

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This zoo is so good for a town this small. Stuck up reviewers from Chicago need to realize that Bloomington isn't one of the biggest cities in the country. If you're so annoyed that it's not big enough, donate. I do volunteer work at Miller Park, they treat me well. They frequently introduce new exhibits and in the summer they have Junior Zookeepers handling animals to show people. Lots of interactive stuff, prices are good, plenty of stuff around it too. read more

Disappointed at the scarcity of animals, the grounds and foliage. Looked like they should be better manicured. Hard to keep a six and seven year old interested with the paucity of exhibitions. read more

From one perspective, this is a really surprisingly nice zoo for being in a small town park. On the other, this is a really depressingly small zoo - small in the sense the enclosures for each animal seemed on the smaller side. I was with my family visiting Bloomington for a wedding and the next day we wanted something to do before driving back to Chicago. I couldn't believe there was an actual zoo in this town - so off we went. It was father's day so I got in free! My 4 year old enjoyed the zoo, even though we live just a few blocks from the Chicago Lincoln Park zoo - which is obviously much bigger. The zoo was just the right size for a semi-quick visit. I share the animal welfare concerns of the other reviewers, but i'm not an expert and am generally not a fan having animals in captivity. read more

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Disappointed on recent visit. So many animals spaces were missing or empty. Animals that were actually there looked depressed, and barely moved. Some cages/water did not look clean, especially the alligator pond. Even the shrubbery (trees, bushes etc.) looked overgrown and unkempt. The lion/tiger area was completely closed off, which was disappointing. Overall, the zoo looked felt like a ghost town. There was literally no life to it. Very disappointed in Miller Park Zoo, shame on the City of Bloomington. Do not waste your time or money here. read more

We went here today with our two kids (10 and almost 2) and both were equally entertained. All indoor exhibits and the carousel were closed (due to COVID), but we still saw a lot. There were arrows leading people around to keep it from getting too crowded and masks were required. It took us about 1.5 hrs to walk through. We'd love to go back when other exhibits are open too. We spent some time at the playground and splash pad afterwards (part of Miller Park, but not the zoo). Very few people at the playground were wearing masks. Overall, a fun half-day activity nearby! read more

Nice zoo. Took maybe an hour and 10 minutes. Easy walking and fun for kids and older people.

After spending more hours here than I can count, I still think of this place as way too small to keep certain species. I was a research assistant taking data on the behavior of a group of animals there. It's hard not to get depressed when you hear them crying of boredom and loneliness and watch their repetitive behaviors that indicate that something is not quite right. It was not fun. :( I'm not against all zoos, but this zoo just cannot provide a beneficial environment for some of their species. read more

This zoo is a tiny little gem. Small, but there a few things about this place that unique and great. The free range kangaroo exhibit. Yes, walk on a designated path among free living critters. Pretty amazing. The zoo does rescue work from people who owned exotics. Some of the creatures here were once someone's pet. Including a bobcat who was an unfortunate victim of a bitter divorce. You can watch the staff feed the large cats. read more

A great zoo for such a small town as BN! Highlights include a tiger, sea lions, a pack of endangered wolves, a petting zoo, firefoxes, huge tortoises, a great up-close learning area for kids, an aviary with budgies and finches flying about, two majestic bald eagles that you can see up close, a koi pond, and of course wallaroos in an uncaged enclosure that lets them walkabout amongst the visitors (though they have 2 joeys now and tend to keep to themselves). The coolest part of the zoo is the walk-through rainforest exhibit. Inside the lush forest they have recreated, you will find several varieties of free roaming rainforest birds (most active in the AM) and really cute tiny monkeys, a sloth (meh), and very active and entertaining catamundis. Some of the birds are really friendly and 'greet' you every time, others are revealed in the treetops to only the most diligent searchers. Prices are really reasonable at only $5 a pop for adults. If you take a 'long time', reading all the placards, ride the carousel and finding every hiding animal, you will spend about 1.5-2 hours at the zoo. You can easily rush thru and hit the highlights in 30 min if the kids are fussy. Memberships are a good deal, local or not, as they provide admission to hundreds of other zoos in the network. If you are bringing kids, one of their favorites is sure to be the show that their senior sea lion, Gremlin, puts on at feeding times (10:30am and 3pm). read more

I have been to this zoo a few times & my Daughter lives in Normal so she goes there often. Through the last 3 years we've noticed the animals having a lot of anxiety. I feel that the animals are not getting enough attention and have some type of anguish they are ALL going through. Either mean people taking care of them or the poor animals are not happy with their environment. Either way someone has to step up and speak for these animals to keep them happy. read more

Great place. Good parking. Has great indoor and outdoor exhibits. Recently took our out of town friends and their 7 year old boy loved it! read more

This is a small town zoo with not lot of space for the animals. Entrance fee is reasonable: $5 for adults so it still makes it a good spot to bring small kids to discover animal species and see them quite close. For the size, they have a decent collection: tiger, monkeys, wolf, eagle, petting zoo, boa...worth a stop for 30 min or an hour. read more

It's fun to go to a zoo you can spend all day at but this isn't one of those. Beautiful little place that doesn't take you long to go through with exhibits all up close and unique. Friendly staff that are willing to answer questions and make things a little more interesting. Big park with splash area out in front of the zoo. Great for all ages but especially for people with smaller ones that wouldn't make it all day at the big zoos. read more

What a disappointment of a zoo! Ever since my child was born, we have been going to the zoo. On every occasion, the petting zoo was closed. We are lucky to see the animals if they are out in the exhibit. This zoo is small and really doesn't have much to look at. read more

For a small zoo, this is a wonderful place. I love the rainforest exhibit so much.

It's a perfect small community zoo with bigger animals than you'd expect! There are lions and sun bears and seals and sea lions. But the coolest was the wallaby area; you just walk in and bam! There are wallabies 2 feet from you in the same space. The sea lion and seal feeding was a lot of fun, and the laughing dogs were a hit with the kiddo too! It won't take all day, but thankfully there is some great playground equipment next door! read more

Cute little zoo. Can't recall the admission price since it was free with our St Louis zoo membership. . For a 2 & 4 year old it was perfect. The rainforest and australian exhibits were the faves. Careful though , you could get pooped on in the rainforest! Birds are flying free in there. I felt sad for the lonely sea lion :( no concessions only vending machines. And there is a great park across from the entrance complete with a splash pad. read more

Really enjoy this zoo and park. It is perfect for pre school aged children. Nicely kept grounds. Big old trees.

I have watched this little small town zoo grow up. Started going before I had kids. Brought my kids as they grew up. And my most recent visit was with my boys as teenagers. It is a little gem. In a park that is a gem unto itself, with so much to do in the park as well. read more

The idea of a zoo in a town the size of Bloomington-Normal is a bit wild, but I was very impressed. I went to Miller Park Zoo several times as a kid, but I hadn't been in a decade. They have brought in several exhibits and animals, that you would not expect to see in that size zoo. The coolest animals were the Malayan Sun Bear, Gibbons, and the Snow Leopards. My wife was constantly asking if we could take the animals home. Though it is small it deserves 4 stars for what it is able to bring to this community. read more

This is a nice sized zoo for families with small children. It has just enough to keep their attention, and not get too tired. My suggestion would be to add a farm animal exhibit to show the animals of Illinois Agriculture. read more

Local zoo that does very well with the room that they have. Family membership is worth the money!

Tiny tiny little zoo. Great I am sure if you have kids. Lots of daycare groups there.

What a crappy first impression. Front desk admission lady must not feel like working on this beautiful day because she had bad attitude and rolled her eyes the whole time taking to me. Zoo is nice but she ruined my day. read more