Zoo Knoxville — Attraction in Knoxville

We have been to many zoos in many different states and so far this is a major favorite. Zoos we/I have been to include the San Diego Zoo( by far least favorite), Pittsburg Zoo, The Smithsonian National Zoo(another favorite), the Columbus zoo and Aquarium, The Maryland zoo, Catoctin Wildlife Preserve in MD, and Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in PA. Catocin Wildlife Preserve and Lake Tobias are both small but nice zoos and between those two, Lake Tobias is our favorite because of the safari ride where you get to be up close and personal, even feed many animals including White Bison and Watusi Cattle. The main reason the Zoo Knoxville is a favorite is because of how close you get to the animals and the fact you can SEE them. This is by far the best view I've ever gotten of a lion, red panda and otters. The lions had a glass enclosure that had two younger, but very large lions only about 4 feet away from us. The red pandas were only about 4 feet away as well and the otters played with my children and several other children as well. Swimming as the childen ran back and forth in front of the glass or playing catch the hand/foot when my children sat in front of the glass. I'm sure they have days where they don't feel like playing, but I'm glad they were in the mood when we were there as it was a blast to watch. The fact that many animal enclosures have glassed in areas where people can get "into" their enclosure with them is awesome. However I wish they were alittle easier to get into and walk around in as they are very hard on someone with disabilities like me. Walking hunched over or crawling is very painful for me. They maybe just for kids, but hey isn't there a kid in all of us? The Smithsonian zoo beats this one in a couple areas, the elephants and orangutans. At the Smithsonian Zoo the elephants are closer and have a walking area around a very large part of the zoo. This is not only great for them, but for people wanting to see them as well. The orangutans have a rope area above where you walk under them that just has to be seen to fully understand. The shows here where you can get close to animals such as owls and hawks is also great, of which the Zoo Knoxville did not have. The Zoo was well thought out with many areas to view the animals which was really great and appreciated. Note though that we went on a day where there wasn't huge crowds and we do that on purpose every place we go if possible. Too many people and I don't care how well thought out a Zoo is, you don't see anything but the backs of other people. The animals MOVED and played with people and each other. A monkey loved my husbands cowboy hat and played peek a boo with him! A lady that was there said she never saw them do that though, so don't expect that one! The animals were alert and active, which is a rarity at zoos. The day wasn't extremly hot though so that also had to be taken into account. The animatronic dinosaurs were also AWESOME! I've never seen them up close and they were very realistic and really cool. All and all a great Zoo and you can tell the animals are well cared for because of their body language and level of activity we had a very good time and didn't leave until our...

All in all, a fun zoo! From the main entrance, the left half is mostly Asian fauna, kid's attractions, and Appalachian history/fauna whereas the right half is primarily African fauna, amphibian exhibits, and reptile exhibits. Also, the left half has steeper walking and the right half is flatter which is kinda interesting because that fits the average topography of the animals' natural habitat, so that was really cool. Also in theme was shading. The right half has less shade like the savanna and the left half is more forested. However, plan your route accordingly because the hiking on the left side of the zoo can wear you out pretty quickly.

The food there is filling, decent quality, and fairly priced which was most unexpected. They sell aluminum Aquafina water bottles which can be refilled at fountains around the park, but there aren't enough water bottle filling stations in my opinion. Unfortunately, a third of the stands were closed, so most people were jam packed at expensive restaurants at either end of the zoo with very long lines. I recommend getting food either 1) near the entrance with Starbucks drinks and carnival snacks or 2) halfway down the right side trail of the zoo which has a big open astroturf area across from it for kids to run around with a shaded eating area for parents to take a breather. Pro tip: bring swim suits so kiddos can wear themselves out at the water park too. There's a stand in drying station across from it!

Now while I had a fun time by myself, there were some disappointments. I seemed like a 10th of large to medium-sized exhibits were unfilled or the animals were hiding from people and were difficult to observe such as the giraffes, tigers, lemurs, and red pandas. Maybe there were specific times that they were scheduled to be outside and I missed them, but I don't know. Also, a quarter of the right side was under construction or planned for renovation, which is good for future me, but not fun for present me.

All of this being said, I had a really fun time and wearing myself out romping all over the zoo was worth the $27/adult price. BTW, when you park there, just park in the massive parking lot on the left. A shuttle takes you back and forth between there and the entrance. If you have a stroller, meh, the walk isn't that bad and the sidewalk is very wide and well shaded. Also, bring sunscreen and get your passes online to skip the...

I normally don’t leave such negative ratings but I was extremely disappointed in our visit to Knoxville Zoo yesterday! We live 4 hours away and made a special trip up just to go there. I don’t get to go on many trips anymore because I’ve had cancer and going places isn’t easy but I thought this may be something I could do for fun, with my family, on my mobility scooter. We ordered our tickets online to save time with check-in. We had to look around to figure out where to even scan tickets because there were no signs coming in from the parking area to tell where to go. The girl who scanned our tickets didn’t seem to enjoy her job and didn’t offer us a map but the guy on the other side was much friendlier and noticed so he offered my husband one. Upon entering the zoo, we noticed quickly there was a lot of construction going on and a lot of the exhibits were empty. We stopped at many and never seen any animals. It was pretty warm so we figured some were in the shade but the viewing for shaded areas was either blocked by construction or just nonexistent. The animals that had indoor areas for shelter had very limited viewing areas also. I think aside from the reptile exhibit I was able to view giraffes from afar, with construction blocking a large part of that and I could see the gorillas at a distance even though they were in the indoor part. My family was able to see the gorillas closer but because of the stairs bringing people walking down into the viewing area, getting a mobility scooter over there was too challenging. We were able to see the macaws also but pretty much all the rest of the exhibits were either empty or unable to view from the amount of construction. I understand that construction leads to improvement but visitors should be able to enjoy the visit by seeing what they came for. I looked for many animals that they were supposed to have but never got to see them. I was greatly disappointed! We’d have been a lot better off to have stayed local and visited Greenville Zoo or Riverbank Zoo, both of which offer much better viewing and way more animals. Even the Rainforest Adventures in Sevierville...