Cougar Mountain Zoo — Attraction in Issaquah

I took my almost 4 year old twins on a sunny Sunday last weekend & had a blast. Even though it was the first sunny, warm day of the year, it was easy to find parking close to the entrance.

As compared to larger zoos in our area I found Cougar Mountain much easier to navigate, exhibits were well planned out, the animals appeared well cared for, the grounds were well maintained & spotless, & it was so much less crowded & chaotic that my kids were actually able to focus enough to learn about the animals instead of struggling with sensory overload. I appreciated the signage, for example, that asked visitors not to do things like howl at the wolves, as they would find it, “meaningless & irritating.” The animals are set further back in the exhibits but are much easier for everyone to see.

I was also delighted & impressed with the staff, all of whom I watched going out of their way to engage with as many visitors as possible. They were enthusiastic, eager to share their knowledge, & seemed happy to be working there. We walked out at the same time as one of the staff members, who continued answering questions & talking to my kids as we walked to the car. The staff are what really “made,” the experience for us.

Highly recommend the Tiger Tunnel add on. When it was clear my kids were a bit too young & excited to listen to facts the gal that did ours quickly switched gears, getting down on my kids level & pulling out model teeth & claws to keep them interested.

The last thing that stuck out was the gift shop. It felt like an after thought instead of the focal point, & even though I did buy each kid a stuffed animal as we left, it wasn’t like walking into a toy store I couldn’t get my kids out of, & if I hadn’t pointed it out, I would have been able to leave the zoo without them even noticing it. Even the gentlemen there made a point of talking to my kids about the animals they had chosen to taken home.

I’m not sure why this place at times gets a bad rap. It cost half of what a trip to the trampoline park does & we had such a blast. I would say five stars, Cougar Mountain Zoo, our family thinks you are...

Visited the first of December. All of the enclosures are much too small for the sanity and comfort of these wild animals. In the small space allotted, there is not enough stimulation. Lots of exhibits "out of order." Even the tropical birds, but we heard a parrot, so I wonder what the reason was for keeping that exhibit closed.

The tigers paced the tiny enclosure constantly. Looking at patrons, eyes begging to be let free. So many of the animals had pleading eyes.

The wolves had more space, but not enough for them. There is a small amount of land with a blackberry thicket behind their enclosure, I can't help wondering why the wealthy zoo patrons won't purchase it and make a little more room for their existing animals.

The cougars tried to hide from the public....their enclosure also way too small. Even the emus don't have enough room.

One crane obsessively pecked at a joint in the fence, obviously trying anything to escape. You can see in my video that it hears a loud noise and stops for a few moments and looks around, then goes back to it. I hesitated a long time before posting this, because I know the cranes will probably be punished for this behavior by changes being made to their enclosure.

The visiting reindeer were too many in too small of a place, and as another reviewer said, the environment nothing like their natural one. What we think is cold in the PNW is warm to them, maybe even hot.

There is an owl and a hawk in stunningly small enclosures. Cruel. You can see most of the enclosure in my photo of the owl. I realize that is probably not where they live all the time, they are just in those for display to the public (I hope), but the owl is sitting on the ground. You can't fashion some sort of branch or stump for it to perch on?

I love animals, but it hurts to see them suffering so. Even if they cannot be released into the wild, they should be in a sanctuary situation. The entire zoo should hold maybe one or two of the species like tiger, cougar, wolf...they need lots of room. This zoo is the equivalent of a human living in a small hotel room and...

My 4 year old son and I went and had a great experience. We attended during Reindeer Festival but after Christmas so Santa had returned to the North Pole. The zoo is laid out to utilize every part of the small campus. We have never been to a zoo that allows you to get so close to animals. There are signs posted at each enclosure warning you about what the animals could do, so stay back. Hopefully people do not ruin the joy of getting close by not heeding the signs and changing the zoo's practice. My son loves tigers and we saw 3. We also saw all 3 cougars and 4 wolves. Whenever we visit other local zoos the big cats have been difficult to see and I rarely get to see wolves. The exotic birds had "flown south" for the winter. There is another area where you get up close with alpaca, mule deer, cranes, swamp wallaby, emus, and a porcupine (who was sleeping). You can feed many of these too, just heed the signs about which to feed. Sadly we never saw any lemurs, they were all inside and sleeping but the viewing area looked great to watch them on active days. The zoo is clean and there are wonderful viewing areas to be able to sit and watch your favorite animals. There were a lot of staff around who interacted and observed. The restrooms are simple and typical of a park. The gift shop is very small and mostly filled with stuffed animals and flimsy plastic toys. The biggest draw back was the parking lot. This was probably due to it being Reindeer Fest but the parking lot could not handle the amount of vehicles and navigating to the academy adjacent to the zoo was odd and tight (felt like you weren't supposed to). It was winter break so I found parking near a maintenance shed. We might go again but only if I was going to be in the area or doing more in the area, it was about a 90 minute...