Essex County Turtle Back Zoo — Attraction in West Orange

I've done a lot of hiking nearby in South Mountain on the weekends, so I probably had a few negative preconceptions about this place going in - the traffic is always nuts in this area (it's very popular and I don't think I know a single person with kids who hasn't been here at least once) and this is on the smaller side so I assumed there wouldn't be a ton of high quality animals to take a gander at. I wasn't necessarily WRONG about those things, but this was actually a pleasant surprise in a lot of ways.

I came here this past Saturday midday with some top-tier chums and a Meatball Honorary Young Pup. If you're anti young pups and/or strollers, boy is this not the place for you. I saw a few young adult couples but the vast, vast majority were parents with kids. It was a madhouse by the time we met up but they had a very good system of cops directing traffic into the various parking garages - it only took a few minutes to get from the main road into a parking spot, despite having to go all the way up to the top level (I'd definitely recommend going earlier in the day if you have a choice). I might have been the beneficiary of luck/timing but I also didn't have any issues getting out and having to wait for obligatory SUVs to back out of their spots, etc.

This is a very clean, well-maintained zoo. This was one of the first legit nice Saturdays of the year so there was tons of people, and yet it somehow didn't feel too crowded/claustrophobic - the pathways are wide and spacious despite not having as much acreage to play around with and there are also a lot of areas for people to go off-path to eat snacks or just take a break from scoping out the animals.

My favorite animal of all time is the mongoose (it will cuddle with you but also kill cobras if needed), but unfortunately they didn't have one here. As a Plan B, I petitioned aggressively for a visit to Big Cat Country. There were a couple of maps along the way to guide us - it was of course on the complete opposite side from the entrance - but in my opinion were few and far between. They definitely could have used a few more. As I said at the time, there shouldn't be more "You are Here" maps at the decrepit Willowbrook Mall than here. I liked Big Cat Country, but it could have been better. They made the decision to take some of the heavy hitter cats like the lions and cheetahs and put them in the Africa section, which I get in theory, but if you have a literal section you've created for big cats dot dot dot. As a result, we literally only found two cat exhibits once we got over there, though one of them was the cougars that were RIGHT up against the glass. The Meatball Honorary Young Pup was enamored, though efforts to pet these fine creatures were negated by said glass.

My least favorite area was the Shores of Africa exhibit, which featured mostly penguins. Definitely not anti penguin, but it was very smelly in there (like a sushi restaurant that's going to get shut down by the health department in the next hour) and might have been the only area where it just felt like too many people were jammed in there. That might be an exhibit worth enlisting a little crowd control for in the future.

Your mileage may vary on this, but I found the constant barrage of Essex County political shoutouts grating by the end. Boy, do they want to make it clear which local politicos played a part in getting this zoo up and running, to the point where the Africa section is literally called the Essex County African Adventure. Come on. It's a little much. There shouldn't be more pictures of Essex County executive Joe DiVincenzo than the giraffes.

Definitely a cool experience worth doing at least once. I'd prefer to go when it's a little less crowded, and they obviously need a mongoose to spruce up the Asia section, but it's a nice alternative to dealing with the city chaos of...

My mom and I (two adults, no children) went on a day trip to this place and got here as soon as it opened around 10 AM. In about 3 hours, we visited every exhibit except for the essex farm, interactive aviary, the bird of prey section and the train ride. I am a massive animal enthusiast and humane care/husbandry is a deep moral concern of mine. Because of this, I was paying close attention to how this zoo operates. I am pleased to say that this is probably one of the best zoos an animal could end up in.

Staff & Faculties; The staff are all very nice and clearly care about the animals. Employees are very watchful of visitors to the more hands-on exhibits, like the touch tank and butterfly house, and are protective of the animals. The sea lion feeding show was canceled because the seal wanted to rest; I think that decision shows where the priorities of the staff lay. The catering staff were even very nice. Catering in the Zanzibar was good. It was an average cafeteria with lots of fast food and snacks but made for an appreciated rest stop during the visit. Bathrooms are located near the entrance, in the cafeteria and in the Touch Tank exhibit building.

The Animals; Enclosures are clean and have lots of enrichment for the animals, containing toys, shelter, and naturalistic habitat decoration. The only abnormal behavior I took notice of was a black bear pacing around its enclosure. However, the bear could've been waiting for its breakfast from a keeper, as the zoo had just opened. Aside from that, all the animals appear healthy and content. There was no other stereotypy or distressed behavior to speak of. (notes regarding the pictures; the wolf pictured is geriatric, and as such looks a little beat up naturally from his age. the hyena pictured did have access to shelter, it just happened to fall asleep in that peculiar spot.) I noticed a lot of animals would also come over to "entertain" visitors, looking at them through the barriers, begging for food, or doing "tricks" for them. This was especially the case for the gibbons, penguins, prairie dogs, and giraffes. Some of the stingrays of the Touch Tank were also friendly, approaching visitors and seeming to enjoy being pet. It was all very adorable :) (please treat the animals with respect and encourage your children to respect the boundaries of the animals aswell. don't be a jerk.)

Conclusion; All in all, this place gets double thumbs up from me and I have zero complaints.

(pictured are; prairie dog, wolf, hornbill, spotted hyena, giraffes, dwarf alligator, turtle, monarch butterflies, gibbon, african penguins and a pelican, flamingos, komodo dragon, tree skink, and...

This is one of the largest zoo I’ve ever had the chance to visit. Essex county turtle back zoo is huge and during these uncertain times, is well prepared to handle people while abiding the guidelines in regards to social distancing and masks. There were signs all over to not touch the glass walls and maintain appropriate distance. Even before you enter, there was this large tent to check your body temperature.

You have to buy tickets online and the price for an adult is around $17 while for kids it’s $14 for general admission. They also have a membership which would have different pricing (please do check online because prices may vary). You also have to pick your time of arrival and can’t be late than 30 minutes of your posted time of arrival on your ticket. The online ticket process was a little broken when we tried but we still managed to get a few when everything was working. Also, they close at 3pm so you might want to plan a day trip accordingly.

Let’s talk about the zoo itself. It’s huge and has lots of places to explore. There were flamingoes, lions, bisons, sea lions, chickens, horses and everything else that you’d expect from a zoo. They have a reptile only place as well as underwater viewing of sea lions which were fantastic. There were also a lot of places that weren’t open for the public due to the ongoing pandemic but rest assured, you won’t be disappointed to explore tons of other places and animals within this zoo.

The food options were limited (as expected) and to be honest, weren’t at all good. We went to this Savana cafe to try something out. To begin with, we didn’t have a lot of options since by the time we went at around 2pm, the staff told us that they were closed and the food that was on display was the only thing they could offer and so we got what was left there - chicken tenders, fries, grilled chicken burger and hot cocoa. The food was soggy due to the pre packaging and wasn’t that good. The only good thing out of this was the hot cocoa. If you’re planning to have a dine in experience (which you shouldn’t given the current circumstances), you will be disappointed.

Overall, this is great place to enjoy with family and kids and will entertain you for hours. If you’ve never been to a zoo and want to experience one, this place should be on your...