Como Regional Park — Attraction in Saint Paul

Como Zoo has been and still is a staple in free entertainment for over 100 years for locals here in mn! Great place for ppl visiting too, esp if you vacation on a budget like my family :) lots of opp and options of ways to spend money if u can or want to on food consessions, gifts shops, some special exibits or experiences and the carnival rides which is great once and a while but with multiple kiddos, it can all get expensive quick so having a truly free option to enjoy the park just the same is actually pretty cool as admission is free to public ( cash/ monetary donations accepted and encouraged throughout the park) and ppl allowed to bring own food and beverages from home making it a great option for budget conscious families ... or anyone who needs something to do on the cheap . Good place to bring kiddos and even couples on dates and groups of friends , solo zoo goers . Very nostalgic for myself and many others from around the area who had school field trips and family fun days there growning up. We had a great time this weekend. Only thing that kinda sucked was that many of the midway /carnival rides weren't operating that day and the big playground wasn't open either... maybe short staffed? Not end of world but the kids were kinda bummed and me too since I spent money on ride passes, on top the 20 $ donation we made coming in. This could have been circumstantial... if not maybe try to obtain a few more employees to man the attractions and consessions that aren't free ... at least for peak days and hours? Other than that, fun place for all ages and Def recommend checking Como out if you have never been or if it's...

Como Zoo is an interesting place to spend your day. We enjoyed the bee exhibit! The lovely smell of all the flowers filled the area. Can you spot the bee in the photo? Do you see the spider in the web?

It was a sunny day and many animals were outside. It was fairly warm and most of the animals were resting or hiding in the shade to avoid the heat.

We saw the ducks, flamingos, polar bears, giraffes, zebras, bison, reindeer, arctic foxes, cougars, a tiger, orangutans, gorillas, several types of other primates, turtles, a sting ray, humming birds, harbor seals, poison dart frogs, an anaconda, a rainbow boa and other snakes, a sloth, several fish and many more creatures.

Unfortunately, the smell of urine was strong at several indoor animal exhibits. Besides that we had a great time!

The wolf exhibit was closed. Hopefully it will open again

We look forward to going again and seeing all the plants and flowers in the conservatory as well as...

Due to Covid restrictions you have to make reservations, which was nice because we got there early and parking was a breeze. There are also hand sanitizer stations throughout which is nice. Nice selection of animals, but it's missing the fun that it used to have before Covid. There were no shows and no concessions. It was hot, had I known I would have brought water in. My girls were disappointed in the butterfly garden, as there used to be a bunch of butterflies in there and it was fun to have them land on you. Sadly, there were only a few in the enclosure.....there were more outside of it than in. I'm not sure if it's just not stocked anymore or not done anymore due to staffing. We still had fun! We didn't go through the conservatory as it was only 1 way following the path, otherwise we would have spent more time there (we spent about 1 1/2 hours going...