Micke Grove Zoo — Attraction in Lodi

We love the Micke Grove Zoo! The enclosures are spacious, and very natural. The zoo keepers strive to keep the animals active through toys and objects for the animals to explore. The grounds are really lovely, with lots of shade, pretty landscaping, some picnic areas, and a play structure for kids.

When we visit with our 6-year-old, we stay several hours: We always start with the zoo (about 1 to 1.5 hours), then we have a picnic under the gorgeous oak trees right outside the zoo. Next we wander through the Japanese Botanical Garden (my son loves crossing the little lake on the stepping stones), and then we do a ride or two at Fun Town, followed by some play time on one of the many large playgrounds within the park. This is one of my son's favorite ways to spend the day. It's inexpensive, there is loads of shade during the summer, and we squeeze in lots of different activities! You can get a zoo membership ($60/year for a family), that gives you free access to Micke Grove Park, the Micke Grove Zoo, AND also to the Folsom Zoo. It's an excellent deal, and we've done it for the last 3 or 4 years.

Back to the zoo: Many county zoos primarily have animals that are native to the area; I LOVE that the Micke Grove Zoo has many exotic animals, including a gorgeous snow leopard, adorably playful tamarin monkeys, lemurs, and a really cool bird called a curasow that makes a sound like a bomb dropping in one of those Looney Tunes cartoons (seriously - EXACTLY like that!).

If we want to continue having access to such enjoyable small zoos in our area, it's really important to visit them. The zoo has had financial cuts, and I plan to volunteer to help ensure that it can stay open, and continue offering a fun educational experience to future generations in the San Joaquin and Amador...

Micke Grove Zoo is a small zoo. You can breeze through it in 15-20 minutes, so relax and take it slow.This is not an overwhelming zoo.

I'm not sure visitors notice the large signs standing that read : Quiet Coyote/ Quiet Zone the animals do not like loud noises. I noticed San Francisco also has signs saying Shhh... Quiet Zone. I like it! The sign is for everyone, not just screaming kids ( loud parents saying," he's looking at you , Oliver," " Are you awake?" ) Lol ...lol Currently there is no gift shop and no concession stand, they're closed. Instead there is 1 soda machine and 1 candy machine ($1.50) . There is a bathroom 5 stalls ( I wish people flushed toilets ) / 2 sinks, no mirror, and 2 hand dryers. The employees are very pleasant and peaceful.

Enjoy strolling peacefully through the small zoo and use your inside voice, there are others also trying to be considerate of your experience.

Note: ( from their website and in the newspaper ) Micke Grove Zoo is involved in and has successfully breeding several threatened species, which include bred golden-lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia), Chilean pudu (Pudu puda), and waldrapp ibis (Geronticus eremita), marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), and western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata). Other species such as the Prevost’s squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii) and the cape thick-knee (Burhinus capensis) have also bred successfully at the facility. Park entrance fee before the Zoo is from $5.00-$12.00 Holidays it is $10.00 Zoo Fee for adults $5.00 ( including Seniors...

The Japanese garden was 3 star. It's smaller than expected and you can easily walk around in less than 10 minutes. Highlight of the garden were the big koi fish.

It was the memorial weekend and they charged us $10 parking. I inquired at the entrance about the high cost. Usually it's $6, they said it's special holiday even though it was Sunday and memorial day was on Monday. Not worth it if you plan to go for the Japanese garden only.

And the Japanese garden opens on certain hours. Tea house is located in the heart of the garden. It was closed.

1 check-in

The park is outdated and understaffed. The staffs were friendly and if they saw a line on a certain ride, they would jump onto that rid to operate. Most of the time you'll notice the ride is ideal.You'll have to wait until the staff is available to operate the ride.

My daughter was excited to go on the rides. For a two year, all she cared was any rides. At the fun town, the first ride she wanted to go was the train ride. She kept complaining it's going slowly. But she had fun.

Rides were $2. And if you get the package deal which is 10 rides for $18.

On the carousel people had to make sure the weight was even otherwise hard for the carousel to move. The rose garden is very relatively small. But they had beautiful roses. I wish they had more roses. My favorite roses were...