It's summertime and the living's easy. Why not spend the night at the zoo, drifting off to sleep to the hoots of owls and the growls of lions? Zoos across the country host overnight sleepover events where kids and their families, Scout troops, and school groups can pitch their tents, snuggle in their sleeping bags, and get a behind-the-scenes look at zoos after hours when the crowds have gone home.
Visitors pitch tents at the Houston Zoo
Most zoo overnights are aimed at a local audience; oriented toward kids; typically provide dinner, a late-night snack, and light breakfast the following morning. Some may focus on a particular theme or animal (conservation, adaptation, African elephants, animals of the Bible, for example), and range and price between $30 and $139.
As I compiled this list of U.S. zoos putting on such fun events, I discovered, to my delight, that a lot of U.S. zoos organize overnights and put their own spin on them. To make sense of things, I contacted Allen Nyhuis, co-author with Jon Wassner, of America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide (The Intrepid Traveler, 2008) to get a feel for some of the best zoo overnights. Here are his top five picks:
1) Probably the most attractive-looking program has to be at the San Diego Wild Animal Park's Roar & Snore Camp (in Escondido, CA). They have a camp of tents set up overlooking SDWAP's gorgeous East Africa Savanna, with its many antelope, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, and more. The rows of perfect tents look authentically like one of those tent camps you've seen in the real African safari camping resorts in South Africa or Tanzania. This camp is near the park's Lion Camp exhibit, so campers usually wake up to lions roaring.
2) A lower-budget ($35/person) option would be the Binder Park Zoo's Overnight Safari (in Battle Creek, MI). The safari is entirely in the zoo's Wild Africa section, which we find amazing in its African realism. This zoo exhibit is modeled after an African national park, so I can imagine that sleeping there would have the same feeling.
3) Some zoos have overnight programs with a chance to sleep in some very interesting buildings. At the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, you can sleep in the Manatee Springs building and fall asleep watching the peaceful creatures. At the Minnesota Zoo, overnighters tuck in at their Discovery Bay building and doze off watching either dolphins or sharks. Here in my hometown, the Indianapolis Zoo offers the same -- a chance to sleep within view of dolphins, sharks, or even jellyfish.
4) At the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, you can fall asleep watching gray wolves in their rustic Wolf Lodge, a replica of a 19th-century trapper's cabin. You might also get the thrill of hearing them howl at night.
5) At the Fort Worth Zoo, their Outdoor Explorers Overnight program includes using a compass to find your way around the zoo and fishing in a stream early in the morning. You'll likely stay in the excellent Texas Wild! exhibit area, learning about the animals and habitats of the Lone Star State.
Six more fun overnights await after the jump!
Visitors pitch tents at the Houston ZooMost zoo overnights are aimed at a local audience; oriented toward kids; typically provide dinner, a late-night snack, and light breakfast the following morning. Some may focus on a particular theme or animal (conservation, adaptation, African elephants, animals of the Bible, for example), and range and price between $30 and $139.
As I compiled this list of U.S. zoos putting on such fun events, I discovered, to my delight, that a lot of U.S. zoos organize overnights and put their own spin on them. To make sense of things, I contacted Allen Nyhuis, co-author with Jon Wassner, of America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide (The Intrepid Traveler, 2008) to get a feel for some of the best zoo overnights. Here are his top five picks:
1) Probably the most attractive-looking program has to be at the San Diego Wild Animal Park's Roar & Snore Camp (in Escondido, CA). They have a camp of tents set up overlooking SDWAP's gorgeous East Africa Savanna, with its many antelope, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, and more. The rows of perfect tents look authentically like one of those tent camps you've seen in the real African safari camping resorts in South Africa or Tanzania. This camp is near the park's Lion Camp exhibit, so campers usually wake up to lions roaring.2) A lower-budget ($35/person) option would be the Binder Park Zoo's Overnight Safari (in Battle Creek, MI). The safari is entirely in the zoo's Wild Africa section, which we find amazing in its African realism. This zoo exhibit is modeled after an African national park, so I can imagine that sleeping there would have the same feeling.
3) Some zoos have overnight programs with a chance to sleep in some very interesting buildings. At the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, you can sleep in the Manatee Springs building and fall asleep watching the peaceful creatures. At the Minnesota Zoo, overnighters tuck in at their Discovery Bay building and doze off watching either dolphins or sharks. Here in my hometown, the Indianapolis Zoo offers the same -- a chance to sleep within view of dolphins, sharks, or even jellyfish.
4) At the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, you can fall asleep watching gray wolves in their rustic Wolf Lodge, a replica of a 19th-century trapper's cabin. You might also get the thrill of hearing them howl at night.
5) At the Fort Worth Zoo, their Outdoor Explorers Overnight program includes using a compass to find your way around the zoo and fishing in a stream early in the morning. You'll likely stay in the excellent Texas Wild! exhibit area, learning about the animals and habitats of the Lone Star State.
Six more fun overnights await after the jump!
Continue reading Catch Some Zzzs at the Zoo.
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