Dickerson Park Zoo

1401 W Norton Rd, Springfield, MO 65803, USA

Address:	1401 W Norton Rd, Springfield, MO 65803, USA
Phone:	+1 417-833-1570
Site:	dickersonparkzoo.org
Rating:	4.2
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 9

Bailey J

Why 5 stars? Is the best zoo I have ever been too? No, but it is the best zoo for what it is, a SMALL regional zoo. It is nice because to see everything, it does not have to be an all day event. You can go, see all or most of the animals, eat a lunch at its small cafe, and feed the giraffes within 2 or 2.5 hours. The animals are not sickly, I doubt those who say otherwise are experts in the field. The animals might not be out when you come to see them because they can go into their shelters whenever they like. Alligators look "dead" in the zoo because they survive by being invisible in the wild. Seriously, I have never seen an "active" alligator until they are catching their prey. The elephants look like elephants, deer look like deer, peacocks wander because they are not enclosed, and the bear sleep because they are bears. All animals have access to water, you just might not see it because it is in their "private quarters". There are so many young kids working there because this zoo partners with local universities for people to get their PhDs and B.As in a variety of programs like zoology. They are all very talented and care deeply about their animals. Yes, zoos always need more money but they are not going to get more money by reviewers telling them, "Stay Away!", silly thought. This is a small zoo in a town with exceptionally high numbers of families at or below the poverty line. They are good at what they can do for what they are. You cant go to these huge zoos and feed the animals but because of the low number of visitors you can do that here. For that, they get 5 stars from me.

Michael Sepos

My kids love Zoos, we are members at the Hogle Zoo in Utah which is part of the reciprocal agreement with a large list of zoos including this one. We like to visit zoos whenever we travel and have visited many around the country. Our membership usually gets us in for half price at participating zoos. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Dickerson Park zoo improves on the agreement and allows reciprocal members from zoos more than 5 hours away in for free. The zoo itself was pleasant, we went on a Tuesday and there were very few people there. They have a pretty good variety of animals, probably one of the smallest zoos we have been to, but still quite a good variety of animals. My kids particularly liked the petting/feeding area and being able to feed the giraffes. My only real complaint isnt really the zoos fault. it rained while we were there and they stopped running the train. We would have liked to ride it, but it was still closed when we left even though it had stopped raining for a while. Like I said, not really the zoos fault, just bad timing for us.

Brandi Saunders

The best part of the zoo was the free park outside of the zoo! 1/2 the zoo was "closed for construction" the 1/2 that had animals was sad and pathetic. The elephant for instance looked sick! The poor thing had lost so much weight its skin just sagged on her. The deer look as if they are from Etheopia they are so emancipated, you can count every rib from 30 Foot away. You walk more then anything to see a handful of animals. The train ride was a joke all of its own. For $2 or 2 tokens you ride a train that has seen better days in the 1970s. With ride lasting all Of 2 minutes to see " exotic" animals. Also known as ducks and box turtles. For a family of 4 to go and have tokens to feed a giraffe at $4 a person not included in your $12 a person that it cost to enter the zoo. This was a well WASTED $64! Dickerson Park Zoo should be ashamed to call its self a zoo!

Zoe Neal

First of all the zookeys didnt work and I felt like they needed to say something about that on their website. Zookeys use to be my favorite thing. All the animals looked stressed and wanted nothing to do with being here. The train was crap and not worth $2 per person. It was literally like 2 minutes long, and it suppose to be able to let you see the lemurs... Saw no lemurs what so ever. All the animals literally ALL THE ANIMALS were hiding out of site. Felt like we were at a zoo with no animals. This place was just horrible. Please dont even waste your money. Everything was just terrible. The only good thing was..... the food, that I BROUGHT FROM HOME! You guys need to improve your zoo. If youre gonna lock animals up, make them feel comfortable. This place was disgusting! Never ever again!

Morgan Scarborough

We took out 21 month old daughter here and had a great time. This zoo is smaller but full of things to do and keep our daughter busy and entertained. We originally purchased two adults tickets and our daughter was free but afterwards upgraded to a year membership which was only $25 more. Our favorite parts of the zoo were the giraffe feeding area ($4), train rides ($2/per person), and the otters. I do wish the zoo would get the water bottle refill stations but water fountains can be found around. I will say the elephant area ( which are my favorite animals) made us quite sad. You can tell the one elephant was missing company and water to play with but I know they were cleaning it out. We will be back when it gets cooler!

Ginnie McLaughlin

Our family loves this little zoo. The giraffe exhibit is the best. Not only do they have a very successful breeding program (seems like every year theres a baby giraffe), they also allow you to feed the giraffes. The zoo offers numerous educational opportunities for children at a reasonable and fair price. While the price for an individual ticket to the zoo has rose considerably, the best deal is still the family pass. We get a family pass every year. My girls never tire of the zoo.

Clint Bass

After reading a lot of negative reviews I was skeptical about going. Im glad I went, this zoo is not that big, but it is very nice. The animals are up close where you can see them easily, and the giraffe exhibit was great. You can feed them lettuce which at most zoos you can feed them. This was great for my four year old, it took us about 2-3 hours to walk through it which was perfect for her. We will be going back more often on our way to and from Branson.

Hiromoto Shono

My son loves this zoo and we visited here almost every weekend while I was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. The facility is old and some animal exhibits could use some improvements (i.e. fence with ditch instead of cage, an aisle between giraffe and zebra so that we can see them from different angles, but who has that money these days right ?), but overall, a very nice place to bring children and spend weekends. Giraffe feeding area is great.

Ben Relph

There were more animals here than I expected. However, the most impressive thing was the play areas. There are 2 sets of playground equipment outside of the zoo with a pavilion and bathrooms. Then there is another set of playground equipment inside. The biggest downside of visiting was navigating the narrow parking area. Also it is very hilly and I think it would not be a good place to bring someone with limited mobility.