This place is awesome, and I really hope we can make our way back someday because the trails are beautiful to hike and we spent about an hour trying to find as many of the old animal medallions as we could, but I think some of them have been lost due to time, weather, or bad people stealing them. It seems to be maintained by volunteers only, so some of the paths are a little overgrown (watch out for thorn bushes), but we still had so much fun and it's honestly just very cool to walk through this old zoo from the 1920s - 1930s! While you're on your way out here, make sure to read the history of why the zoo closed down (mystery!) and take a picture of the map at the entrance to help you on your mission to find the various animal medallions. I hope you have better luck than we did, but maybe we'll be able to come back and find more! There are bathrooms, a playground, and a decent amount of parking. You can also get a nice view of the dam and the lake while you're here, just make sure not to cross the boundary into private property, according to some tips I read online they're kind of sensitive about it but we didn't experience any issues on our visit! read more

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This was not as cool as we had hoped - especially based on the hype we had heard. Don't get me wrong - it's a fine stop if you're near Cisco - but truly, all there is here are a few rock walls, some bent iron bars, and a couple of cavelike enclosures. The trail itself is paved in some areas and rocky in others. We tried to take the loop, but took a wrong turn somewhere. The nearby park and dam were interesting. read more

Old Zoo Nature Trails - Hiking Near Me - TX, Texas

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It's a secluded beautiful hike just off of the main road. There were a half dozen other families there while we were, mid day Saturday. There's an on site, well air conditioned bathroom with changing tables adjacent to the playground, which is central between the entrance to the trails and the dam. There's a small gravel parking area at the entrance, another by the bathroom. There are picnic tables and trash cans outside of the trails and around the playground, with one by the cages. I should have worn my hiking boots but did fine wearing tennis shoes. There's many prickly pear cactus, thorny vines, gravel and loose rocks. Step carefully. The paths are marked with small wooden arrows nailed to trees and the paths are well worn. We went off trail more than once and always ended up back on trail easily. It's an uphill trek from the parking lot, partially paved 50 years ago. To get to the cool stuff, you need to step through ditches, under tree branches, or across large rocks. Every family we saw had small children in tow. I'm glad we finally made the drive out there and we had a good time exploring. read more

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So I'm a huge fan of the lost abandoned places in history, so when I heard there was an abandoned zoo, I had to go check it out. This location is on a tiny street that you might miss if you're going too fast on the highway, so be on the lookout for it. There is parking right next to the trail and off to the side near some bathrooms. They don't have toilet paper, by the way, so you should bring your own. The trails are not really "paved" but rather the remnants of old paved pathways, so they are rocky. There are a few other walking trails that take you up to the dam, but I didn't get that far up. We ran into a local who showed us where the largest pool in the USA was, too. The zoo, though, is a pile of rocks covered with tagging and broken wire gates. It's still really cool, but there is broken glass everywhere and gargantuan steps. You will get a workout climbing them. Bring a walking stick if you're not good with those. There are also some decaying structures, but be aware that the roofs are caving in, so be careful and use common sense. read more

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Pretty cool trail, but definitely come prepared to hike! I think it would be beginner friendly because I barely hike and I didn't croak, but it was still more of a walk than I anticipated. Make a day of it and stop by Cisco's downtown area after you hike. read more

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What a great find. Back during the pandemic ( that's over right?),I saw an article about an old abandoned zoo in a small west Texas town. Sold! I love anything,old, abandoned, deteriorating etc. I finally got a chance to check it out and it's really great. Literally a zoo built in 1925, was closed and abandoned at some point. Left for nature to reclaim,locals stepped in making some trails through the oak studded, beautiful hills. Just north of the tiny town of Cisco,you step back in time decades when you leave interstate 20. Well worth the side trip and could be a fruitful day trip from Dallas Ft Worth. Go! read more

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