Charlotte does not have a zoo of its own but there are two great zoos within a day trip’s driving distance. About an hour and a half south, Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia SC is a great, walkable, super family-friendly option. Or roughly an hour and a half northeast, the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro is a more spread-out zoo with larger animal habitats. Both offer slightly different experiences but great family fun.
Looking to spend some quality one-on-one time with my youngest, we decided to go to the North Carolina Zoo. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, admissions were limited and advance ticket purchase was required. There were two buckets of tickets available – public-entry and member tickets. The limited public-entry tickets were tough to come by and I had struck out trying to buy them on several successive weekends. I ended up buying a membership in order to have access to the member tickets. At $84 for a family membership, it seemed like a decent deal, especially when you figure in reciprocity with other zoos and aquariums. Once I had purchased a membership, I still needed to reserve tickets for a specific day and time but there was no additional charge and the tickets were more readily available than the general public tickets for the same time slots.
The zoo is broken into two sections – North America and Africa – and each section has their own parking lot, although the Africa parking lot is only open from April through October. Parking lot shuttles are available from April to October as well, and there is a year-round in-park tram service that runs between North America and Africa, with a stop at Junction Plaza in the middle.
The zoo’s website states that the in-park tram averages a 30 minute wait time so plan your use of it accordingly. It runs from 9am until 30 minutes after closing. Wait times at the end of the day can be significantly longer so I recommend taking the tram when you first arrive to the other end of the zoo and walking your way back to the side that you parked on.
We started our visit in Cypress Swamp in the North America section. We had recently visited the Everglades so it was tough to compete with the real thing, but the exhibit had a pretty path through the swamp where we spotted alligators and snapping turtles.
From the swamp, we headed under the bridge to the marsh. There were some birds and turtles here but not a ton of animals. It was still a really pretty area to walk through, both for the scenery and the artwork.
Up next was the Rocky Coast, home to arctic foxes, harbor seals, and – our personal favorite – polar bears! We loved that you could watch the seals from both above and below water. They loved to swim right past the underwater window. We only got a peek at the sleeping arctic fox but got a great view of the polar bear. He reminded us of our dog with how he circled around in his bed to find his cozy spot and then settled in for a snooze. He was so cute!
Continuing along through North America, we passed through the Streamside habitat on our way to the black bears. Interestingly, the North American River Otter habitat was blocked off in what was the most surprising covid-19 social distancing enforcement I have seen during the pandemic. Apparently several otters at others zoos and aquariums have become infected with covid-19 so the NC Zoo blocked off access to the viewing platform of their otter habitat.
We caught the black bears right at feeding time and watched one enjoy his red meat before continuing on to the prairie to see the elk and bison. The zoo has a large variety of art work on display around the grounds but the American Bison statue is definitely one of the largest sculptures. After another family finished taking their photos, the dad was kind enough to stick around and give JB a boost up so he could take some pictures on the bison. (And I even saw him lingering to make sure JB got down ok and didn’t need any help – so sweet!)
The Desert habitat was a really interesting one to walk around. Outside the dome they had an ocelot, as well as some gorgeous desert landscaping. Just don’t touch the cactus! (You’d be surprised how many small children I saw reaching for them.)
Inside the dome was really cool – figuratively speaking of course. There were tons of cool lizards, snakes and tortoises. And we loved the birds just flying freely around. (One apparently swooped over my head while I was taking a photo of my son!) The porcupine was a big hit too
After the desert we headed into the Africa section. My son is an aspiring primatologist so this was the part he had been waiting for. We spent a lot of time in the gorilla habitat, watching the troop explore the area. There was one who seemed to like sitting right up near the glass and made direct eye contact with my son (and seemed to be looking somewhat longingly at his Dippin Dots). I think my son could have spent the entire day here but we knew there were still chimps and lemurs and other primates ahead so we continued on.
Up next was Lemur Island. We watched the lemurs jump and climb around, with the exception of the guy below who could not be bothered and just wanted chill on a rock.
The chimps were up next but they were apparently busy doing their own thing somewhere out of sight because we couldn’t see them anywhere. We decided we could come back later and moved on to the lions, zebras, ostriches, and giraffes. The zebras were a little shy but the lions and giraffes were all out in full force.
The elephants, rhinos and antelopes were all out wandering the Watani Grasslands Reserve. The elephants were a little bit hidden behind some rocks but we were able to get some good peeks at them. And the rhinos were far away but a good zoom lens on your camera can work wonders! I love that the animals have so much space to roam at the NC Zoo and certainly do not begrudge them finding spots farther away from curious onlookers.
After that we decided to give the chimps one last try before we left. This time there was one hanging out right by the window. JB interacted him with quite a while before we started heading back to the car.
We made a brief stop in the Forest Aviary on the way out. It was a really pretty place with a lot of cool birds and plants.
We had a great visit at the North Carolina Zoo. While I am a huge fan of Riverbanks Zoo, I think there are some areas where the NC Zoo really excels and stands above Riverbanks. First, I love the size of the habitats for their animals. The property has a total of 2600 acres, only 500 of which are developed, making it the world’s largest natural habitat zoo. It’s great that the animals have more room to roam. But while this is wonderful for the animals, keep in mind that it means you may not always get to see all of the animals up close or even at all. I think it is a worthwhile trade-off but little kids may be frustrated to not always get a good view of the animals.
I also love that the zoo is a point to point path so there is very little potential to miss things or a need to double back. There are a few very small loops but in general, you pick a direction and go that way and you won’t miss anything. Other zoos with multiple routes and loops can be tricky to navigate and you often end up missing things because there is no natural flow. The flip side to this, of course, is that it is a long route and you are fairly committed to it once you get started. So again, for smaller children this might be a little more difficult to navigate. The tram helps but you still have to get to one of the three stops to utilize it.
We’ve been to the NC Zoo several times, including when our kids were younger. All of the things that make it better for the animals make it harder for young families (and older adults). There is a TON of walking involved, which is difficult for young kids, and it is very hilly, which is difficult for parents pushing strollers. It is a wonderful zoo but parents just need to understand what they are getting into so that the whole family doesn’t end up frustrated. Your kids may end up tired and cranky like mine were when they were 5 and 3 years old in the first photo below, instead of happy and raring to go like my 11 year old was today.
Overall I highly recommend the NC Zoo, especially for older kids. It is well laid out, has pretty grounds with an interesting variety of animals and habitats, and gives the animals more space than most zoos, which I really appreciate. Riverbanks probably gives you more bang for your buck with young kids, but I think the North Carolina Zoo is a better overall zoo.
