ZooMontana — Attraction in Billings

Wedding Venue Great, reasonable price to rent the venue for a wedding ceremony and reception. Genuinely friendly, prompt service from coordinator and staff. Wendy confirmed all event details with me at appropriate times and everything was set up exactly the way I requested day-of. Multiple people were available on-site next-day to help us load out quickly! Wendy was flexible on rehearsal when we had a mix-up and needed to reschedule last-minute. Rules and expectations were made clear in the contract. The zoo staff took care of the tables, chairs, arch, and trash. The Homestead House has all the ZooSchool supplies pushed aside for us to use the space as a getting ready room. The Sensory Gardens were stunning on 9/30/23 with plenty of greenery, flower blooms, running waterfall & fountain, and green grass. The Pavilion was spacious, private enough, and easy to decorate. The provided lights were enough to keep it lit well into the dark night. I got many compliments on what a convenient and beautiful venue. Parking was plentiful for guests, loading/unloading, and vendors. Inclement weather curtains were set up in case of rain, and closing them did help with the breeze and more privacy.

Boo at the Zoo The entrance line was long but processed quickly - within 40 minutes, and it's always a great price to get in for non-members. The event was great! And all the normal Zoo animals, trails, activities were...

This place is great! That said, you have to understand where you are going and what you should expect. This is not the San Diego Zoo, nor should it be. This is a zoo in a small town and is the only zoo in Montana. The grounds are extensive and the walking paths are wonderful. They are generally plowed in the winter. Also, most of the paths are protected from the wind, which is great in Montana. The botanical gardens and other landscaping is beautiful, but much of the zoo is intentionally kept in its ''natural'' state, which means indigenous weeds and other plants.

The zoo has gotten better every year for the past 5 years or so. It is peaceful and large. You can always find a secluded place to just sit and think/read if you want. The animals are interesting, but if you are looking for elephants and giraffes, this zoo is not for you. ZooMontana is not trying to be a zoo with hundreds of exotic animals. There are a couple of exceptions, most notably the tigers. The tigers often walk right past the glass and you are literally a foot away from them. I have never had a better view of a tiger at any other zoo.

So, a great place to walk and bring your family (there is a pretty large playground area as well), and it is one of my favorite places in Billings, but just understand where you are going and what the zoo is trying to achieve...

My friends thought it was on the smaller side, but I thought it was just right! We spent almost two hours looking at all the animals and had a great time. Bring a few quarters for feeding animals!

It seems like this zoo prioritizes quality (enclosures, quality of animal care, etc) over quantity. This is probably not the most profitable approach for them, so I really appreciate and respect that they choose to operate in this manner! And I hope they are rewarded in the long term.

Also, at only $12/adult I felt it was a very good deal.

We got to see them feed the red pandas! They are so cute.

The new fish/whatever else exhibit is beautiful and massive! They were doing final testing on it when we were there. I’ll be coming back to see it when it is completed - it looks incredible.

The only enclosure that didn’t feel S-tier was the bison enclosure. The viewing platform is great, but they didn’t seem to have much shade. It looks like they tried to plant trees but they didn’t take.

Every other enclosure looked really good for the animals and had great views for us people.

Overall, I’m very impressed by this zoo! It really feels like they’re doing everything right. Thanks for the experience...