Utah's Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City

What a great zoo! It's on the small side but still has lots of larger animals - bears, big cats, rhinos, elephants, and giraffes. It takes some wandering to see everything. The entrance is at the top and the rest of the park is downhill to the right with a portion higher up on the other side of a creek. I might recommend skirting the African Savannah to do the back path first and down to the Asian animals, make sure to hit the small animal building, then towards the street and the bears & seals, then work your way back uphill. Or, structure your day around the day's keeper talks - I managed to just miss all of them! The seal & sea lion training would have been great to see. The train wasn't going during my visit and they are constructing a new "wild Utah" area that the train will circle, so that looks like it will be really nice when it opens. There's a fun carousel that costs $3 per ride and plays pop music (like "you spin me right round baby") and a decent cafe with friendly staff, though there are plenty of better places to eat outside the zoo and nearby. The gift shop is large and fun, in all, it's a great experience!

My family had an awesome time! I haven’t been here since a field trip WAY back when in elementary, now I decided to take my almost 2 year old - he loved it! The entry price seemed very reasonable. It was cloudy and rainy when we went so the animals were more active, there were very few people, and it was much cooler which was great. Everything seemed clean, everyone was friendly, and we just had a good time. The splash pad was also wonderful for that mid-day break. My one complaint may be the food just wasn’t very good, I mean, it’s exactly as expected and tastes like theme park food, which is to say not great.

Still a good zoo for being on the smaller side. Tons of unique animals and for the most part, visible during our visit. It was extremely hot, 100 degrees, so many opted for the shade and just lying around. A nice touch for visitors was the many mist fans spread around the zoo. Few comments: $3 dollars per person for the train is more than it is worth. When it gets renovated, this may be a fair price, until then, charge a $1 or make it free. Outside the first 200 meters on the train, there is nothing to see. The reptile, small animal exhibit was under construction i think. It never explicitly said. For my military people, no discount, however, you can save $2 dollars per person if booked online. Only know this because the lady next to me purchasing tickets was told this by the ticketing employee. Our ticketing girl did not offer up this information to us.

The day we visited it was hot so a lot of animals weren't active. There were tons of baby animals which are always cute and fun to watch. We fed the elephant, which is an additional cost, but worth it for the once in a lifetime opportunity. The train wasn't working when we went which was disappointing. The enclosures were decent sized. I liked how they had the giraffes and zebras sharing an enclosure. I definitely recommend trying the pretzel if you go. It was so good. The hamburgers were dry and overpriced.

I really like this zoo, I've always had a good time here. They've done a good job of expanding their enclosures to give the animals more space and a more natural environment, while also increasing visibility. I really enjoy the African Safari and their Rocky Shores areas. We had a good time and the kids loved it. Unfortunately all of their water fountains are shut off right now, so make sure to bring your own.