Como Park Zoo & Conservatory
Published on HivePostify by @byzantinecat · Sat Aug 22 2026
Sup!
Recently, I traveled through the Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul) on my way to western Ontario. Before heading up to Canada, I was able to visit two zoos - the Minnesota Zoo and the Como Park Zoo (sometimes shortened to the Como Zoo). I actually went to the Minnesota Zoo first and spent a lot more time there, but I will blog about the Como Zoo first since it was smaller and thus easier to write a post about.
Here are my Minnesota posts:
K1: Como Park Zoo & Conservatory (this post)
K2: [Minnesota Zoo](https://peakd.com/travel/@byzantinecat/minnesota-zoo)
There is no Minnesota backlog at the moment!
All of the pictures in this post were taken by me except for the map of the zoo. If you want to use any of my photos, please contact me to first obtain permission. Of course the copyrights to the art itself belongs to the appropriate artists, who I have credited/referenced.
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COMO PARK ZOO & CONSERVATORY
1225 Estabrook Drive St. Paul, MN 55103
Website: https://comozooconservatory.org/
Hours:
The day after Labor Day – April 30: 10 AM – 4 PM May 1 – Labor Day: 10 AM – 6 PM
September 9 – April 26, 2027: The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory will be open until 6 PM on Mondays
Cost (as of 2026): FREE!
While admission is free, Como Zoo does request voluntary donations of $8 for adults and $5 for children. The system reminds me of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, CA which is also free but suggests donations.
Parking is free as well.
Estimated Time: 1 hour. You can add another 30 - 60 minutes if you are also visiting the conservatory and another 30 minutes if you want to see some of the free shows or talks.
I spent 1.5 hours which was more than enough to go through most of the zoo twice. I did not have the time to visit the conservatory - I'll stop by the next time I am in town. And I only managed to make one of the talks.
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SUMMARY
Como Zoo is a small zoo with an attached conservatory and a small amusement park ("Como Town") for kids. The zoo portion only has a handful of animals, though there are several exotic ones, and can be fully toured in under an hour. I didn't have enough time to visit the conservatory. I did walk through Como Town and all the rides are for small children. It actually reminded me of Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose, CA, which is a hybrid zoo + kid's amusement park. I would rate Como Zoo as an average 2 stars mainly because it is free. If it were a paid zoo, it would probably be closer to 1 star because the zoo portion is so small and might not be worth the hypothetical admission price.
My favorite part of Como Zoo was surprisingly the art. During my visit, there was a special Washed Ashore exhibit full of giant animal sculptures made of plastic and other marine debris. The zoo also has a lot of Sparky sea lion sculptures from a city-wide event a few years ago. It was fun exploring the zoo and discovering each of the Washed Ashore and Sparky sculptures!
As for the animals, the highlights were the tiger, sloth, and sea lions. The primate house is surprisingly good. And I got good pictures of the cougar and excellent pictures of the caecilian amphibian - at other zoos, the caecilian is often hard to see due to murky water.
Several animals were not viewable including the lion, snow leopard, orangutan, ring-tailed lemur, crowned crane, Galapagos tortoise, gray seal, and harbor seal. I heard a few other patrons grumbling about how so many animals could not be seen! I could just barely see the arctic fox. The zoo has several older map displays which show wolves, ostrich, and dall sheep but those are no longer at the zoo and the most updated online map does not include those animals.
While Como Zoo has various free activities throughout the day, I was only able to attend one. My original plan was to spend 3 hours at the Minnesota Zoo and then drive to Como Zoo in time for the 2 PM Tiger Talk and the 2:30 PM Sparky Show but I ended up spending extra time at the Minnesota Zoo because it was larger and a paid zoo. I'm sad I wasn't able to see the Sparky Show, but I was able to see the Minnesota Zoo's sea lion show which was excellent.
I was able to attend the Gorilla Program, where a knowledgeable zoo keeper talked about the gorillas. It was easy to find and there was a good loudspeaker system, so that even people outside the building could hear what was being said.
Here is where Como Zoo lines up compared to other zoos:
5 stars:
- San Diego Zoo (San Diego, CA) - Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL) - Taipei Zoo (Taipei City, Taiwan)
4 stars:
- San Diego Safari Park (San Diego, CA) - Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (Cincinnati, OH) - Oklahoma City Zoo (Oklahoma City, OK) - Milwaukee County Zoo (Milwaukee, WI) - Houston Zoo (Houston, TX) - Oakland Zoo (Oakland, CA)
3 stars:
- Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL, Free) - Zoo Atlanta (Atlanta, GA) - Buttonwood Park Zoo (New Bedford, MA) - Butterflies of Cape Cod (Bourne, MA) - International Crane Foundation (Baraboo, WI) - Henry Vilas Zoo (Madison, WI, Free) - Indianapolis Zoo (Indianapolis, IN) - Sacramento Zoo (Sacramento, CA) - Santa Barbara Zoo (Santa Barbara, CA) - Fort Worth Zoo (Fort Worth, TX) - Fort Wayne Zoo (Fort Wayne, IN) - Zoo Knoxville (Knoxville, TN) - ZooTampa (Tampa, FL) - Busch Gardens (Tampa, FL) - Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens (Los Angeles, CA) - Detroit Zoo (Detroit, MI) - Virginia Zoological Park (Norfolk, VA) - Virginia Living Museum (Newport News, VA) - Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, MN)
2 stars:
- Audubon Insectarium (New Orleans, LA) - Audubon Zoo (New Orleans, LA) - Sarasota Jungle Gardens (Sarasota, FL) - Save Our Seabirds Wild Bird Learning Center (Sarasota, FL, Free) - San Francisco Zoo & Gardens (San Francisco, CA) - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, CA) - Franklin Park Zoo (Boston, MA) - Capron Park Zoo (Attleboro, MA) - Taylor-Bray Farm (Yarmouth Port, MA, Free) - Racine Zoo (Racine, WI) - Ochsner Park Zoo (Baraboo, WI, Free) - John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids, MI) - Potter Park Zoo (Lansing, MI) - Antalya Zoo (Antalya, Turkey) - Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito, CA, Free) - Santa Ana Zoo (Santa Ana, CA) - San Antonio Zoological Society (San Antonio, TX) - Cameron Park Zoo (Waco, TX) - Dallas Zoo (Dallas, TX) - Caldwell Zoo (Tyler, TX) - Peoria Zoo (Peoria, IL) - Miller Park Zoo (Bloomington, IL) - Scovill Zoo (Decatur, IL) - Potawatomi Zoo (South Bend, IN) - Como Park Zoo & Conservatory (St. Paul, MN, Free)
1 star:
- Cosley Zoo (Wheaton, IL) - Stone Zoo (Stoneham, MA) - Timbavati Wildlife Park (Wisconsin Dells, WI) - Binder Park Zoo (Battle Creek, MI) - Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (San Jose, CA) - CuriOdyssey (San Mateo, CA) - Columbian Park Zoo (Lafayette, IN)
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LARGE CATS
The tiger's name is Bernadette (Bernie). She was born September 14, 2016. She likes rabbits for food and dislikes when breakfast is done. Her previous home was the Oregon Zoo.
Amur Tiger Panthera tigris altaica
Cougar Puma concolor
(Not a cat but the porcupines are housed with the felines).
African Crested Porcupine Hystrix cristata
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GORILLA FOREST & PRIMATES
Western Lowland Gorilla Gorilla gorilla gorilla
(Not a primate but the sloth lives in the same building and not in the tropical exhibit).
Hoffman’s Two-Toed Sloth Choloepus hoffmani
Tags: #travel#travelblog#wanderlust#stpaul#minneapolis#minnesota#zoo#animals#art#giftshop