The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens

47900 Portola Ave, Palm Desert, CA 92260, USA

Address:	47900 Portola Ave, Palm Desert, CA 92260, USA
Phone:	+1 760-346-5694
Site:	livingdesert.org
Rating:	4.6
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 10

Preston Garvey

The zoo is relatively small, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This allows for a great family experience in which the content absorbed in one day is particularly immense. Take the San Diego Zoo for example, huge zoo with lots of variety except not everything can be taken in during one visit due to its size. Even more so, the keepers and volunteers are incredibly nice and informative. But what seperates this zoo from most others is how incredibly open it is. And by that I mean how accesible variois areas are. The zoo features multiple garden paths in which me and my friends call "secret paths" as they are usually off the main concrete path. These garden paths feature beautiful arrays of desert plantlife and natural animals and insects indegenous to the Coachella Valley area. A large zoo usually includes a main path and seperate side paths, this zoo however seems to advertise exploration. The whole of the zoo is within a desert habitat so the theme of an African Sahara or the Californian Deserts is easily and naturally achieved. Beautiful zoo, friendly staff, and a great experience for all ages.

Kate Kolden

This is an excellent facility with the resources needed to properly care for and exhibit a wide variety of desert and savanna animals (and jaguars and goats). The landscaping is well done and includes a number of nature trails. Theres even a couple of hiking trails. This place is mostly kid friendly, but if you have young children, expect lots of stroller/carry time because its very spread out. Also, there are lots of cactuses within easy reach of tiny fingers. The Wildlife Wonders Show is worth seeing. Theres a petting zoo with very patient goats and a great view of the ankole cattle. The gardens have nice, quiet areas and the food is decent and only mildly pricey. If you really take the time to go through everything and read the information provided, the whole thing takes about 4 hours. The staff are friendly both to the animals and the humans, and will happily answer your questions. Admission is $20. Overall, I found our visit to be very educational. If youre really feeling the animal vibe, you can also visit the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center about a half hour away.

Kevin Oberman

First of all, Google has the name wrong. The place is "Thje Living Desert Zoo & Botanical Garden. I have no idea where the "Southern California" came from. If you just look up "The Living Desert", it is even worse. It has the street wrong... Portola Drive instead of Portola Ave., so it puts it at a house in Palm Springs. Ack! Google than shows a review from "last week" which complains that it closes at 1:30! That is only in the summer...June through September. Its open until 5:00 the rest of the year. for some reason people dont spend time there in the summer afternoons when the temperature is almost always over 100F. I find The Living Desert to be a fascinating place with only desert plants and animals. The gardens are wonderful with different gardens for different deserts in Africa and North America as well as several dedicated to particular families of cacti. As for the zoo, my favorites are the meerkats, the giraffes, the Ankole Cattle (huge horns) and the Cheetahs. Thats just a few of the many.

Maksim Yartsev

Неожиданно уютный зоопарк не похожий на зоопарк вообще. Большая часть животных даже не в клетках, другую часть можно кормить с рук. Для посещения с детьми - настоящий праздник. И он небольшой, как в Сан Диего и у вас к концу визита не будут отваливаться ноги и кружиться голова. Ну а миниатюрная железная дорога - это отдельный разговор. Такого вы не видели нигде и никогда. Приехали с детьми - смело топайте в этот зоопарк!

Orange Dude717

Most certainly, I have visited this place before with my class field trip. The fence which is made from oak and constructail like wood can have a lot of splinters, the Desert Gift Shop is most likely to raise prices more than 20% which is too expensive for just something small like a souvenir. And not much animal at the zoo either and the Discovery Zoo near the Ant Farm ask "You must have a parent or guardian to enter". And finally, the zoo only gives us 5 hours to explore the ecosystem and acres of animal. Apparently more people are used to come in the hot afternoon when most animal are awake. So, my final judging about this place is fair and satisfactory but they they need to make this more better. I shall come back here one day to explore the place and see what changes they have made.

D Foley

Christmas 2013 will be the fourth time my wife, the kids and I come to visit the LD, my nickname. I used to come as a child with my mother in the late 80s and early 90s and it was great then. What it has become in the last two decades is truly remarkable. Hands down the best experience we have every time we visit the Palm Springs area and Im looking forward to our trip if only to see the LD. The LD has room to expand and I see a bright future. Highly recommended for those interested in biodiversity, sustainability and the outstanding beauty of the southern California low desert. Great for kids, the elderly, the young, the single really all you need is an open mind and a curiosity in science and nature and youll love this place. Also don’t miss the G-scale train model.

Sarah Griffith

Most of the worlds deserts are represented with both flora and fauna. There is an ever increasing model railroad exhibit with several trains running. Local craftsmen built both the setting and the trains. A large carousel sits nearby and a play park where kids can run. Entertaining animal talks and demonstrations are scheduled several times during the day. There is an active animal clinic to visit and an wonderful plant nursery where one can purchase some of the plants exhibited in the extensive gardens. Lighted seasonal Christmas decorations currently don the trees and shrubs. Beautiful. Those who want exercise can get in a good walk in the exhibit area as well as in the desert. The Living Desert is a fantastic venue. A must do while visiting in Palm Desert and nearby.

Arsen Hovanesyan

Its a good place to go to to see Desert landscape and cactuses... However we had two major problems with this place: number one the wooden bars in front of exhibits provide ample source of splinters for little kids. We saw two little kids get splinters including our own and had very difficult and unpleasant time removing it at the park. wooden planks with splinters and kids dont go together well. Second, The exhibits are not set up very intelligently. Over 80% of the animals we tried to see were nowhere to be found in the exhibit including big animals and the slow animals such as insects. There are too many invisible places for them to hide. There are betterand more family friendly places for you to be spending your hard earned money.

Jessica Bachmann

Einen Besuch in diesem Zoo lohnt sich auf jeden Fall! Es gibt u.a. Jaguare und Giraffen. Der Zoo ist in verschiedene Zonen, nach Kontinenten aufgeteilt. Im amerikanischen Teil gibt es Roadrunner und Pumas zu sehen! Absolutes Highlight sind die wildlebenden Kolibris! Schöne, natürlich angelegte Gärten. Unbedingt das Wildtierkrankenhaus besuchen!

Efraim Petel

The name reflect it already - the desert is alive with so many wild animals and plants. Until you visit here you would not believe how much alive is the big, hot and seemingly empty "desert". Add ti this the verious animals that found their habitat in the zoo, the great way various displays are sett and the nice trails - you get a sitye that is good for the whole family for a full day if not mopre. Try to get on time to catch the Cheetah Run 10AM and time your walk to match the time of the various shows. We love the animal show at the Amphithater at 2pm, presented by two lovely girls and varietry of animal "actors".