Looking for a zoo close to Morris County, NJ

February 14, 2005 7:23 AM

Instead of hosting a big Easter dinner, I've decided to take my one and a half year-old son and sixtysome year-old mother to the zoo. I live in the Morris County section of New Jersey, and don't want to spend most of the day in the car. What zoo would you recommend to me, that would keep my son's attention while offering some handicapped amenities? Bonus if it has an elephant. My son loves elephants.
posted by FunkyHelix to Travel & Transportation around Morris, NJ (11 answers total)

Faced this same problem last year and the answer is the Bronx Zoo. The zoos of New Jersey are exceptionally lame. The Bronx Zoo drive is tolerable (an hour or so each way) unless the traffic is tied up on the George Washington Bridge.
posted by MattD at 7:30 AM on February 14, 2005

Best answer: The Bronx Zoo is, from what I've seen, reasonably wheelchair accessible -- virtually all paths with modest slopes, although some exhibits do have stairs in unfortuante places from the standpoint of accessibility. (Not the elephants, though.)
posted by MattD at 7:32 AM on February 14, 2005

Response by poster: The party going is three women and a baby. Is the Bronx Zoo safe? I think I remember a news article saying someone was mugged in the bathroom.

What do you think of the Philadelphia Zoo, and is Turtle Back Zoo really that bad?
posted by FunkyHelix at 7:39 AM on February 14, 2005

Turtle Back Zoo is a zoo created be people who don't know what a zoo should be. The best part about it is the train, and even that's a stretch.
posted by MsVader at 7:42 AM on February 14, 2005

Philly Zoo is awesome. It is a little of a drive, but it may be closer than the Bronx Zoo, when all is said and done. I used to have a membership there, and they have rocking elephants.
posted by adampsyche at 7:56 AM on February 14, 2005

Best answer: I second the Philly zoo. It's the best zoo I've ever been to. I think it's the oldest zoo in the country if I'm not mistaken? It's wheelchair accessible, and they also rent them there. Gorgeous zoo, nice people.
posted by iconomy at 8:29 AM on February 14, 2005

The zoos of New Jersey are exceptionally lame.

It's too long a drive for FunkyHelix, but I would like to point out that the Cape May zoo is a) decent and b) in New Jersey.
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:35 AM on February 14, 2005

Best answer: The party going is three women and a baby. Is the Bronx Zoo safe? I think I remember a news article saying someone was mugged in the bathroom.

I hail from the wilds of rural Maine, and when we visited the Bronx Zoo last year I felt perfectly safe the entire time. I'm sure you could, if you dug around, come up with an instance or two of crimes or muggings at every major Zoo (and Amusement Park) in America. We found it to be beautiful, fun, easy to navigate, and, best of all, we could actually see the animals.
posted by anastasiav at 8:51 AM on February 14, 2005

The Bronx Zoo is very safe. It's well secured and in a fairly good neighborhood by Bronx standards.
posted by MattD at 9:53 AM on February 14, 2005

I recently moved to NYC and have visited the Bronx Zoo four times since I got here, because I like it so much. It is perfectly safe. It is the largest zoo in the country, the flagship zoo for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and consistently ranks as one of the top ten zoos in the country and the world.
posted by event at 10:52 AM on February 14, 2005

Best answer: The Bronx Zoo is certainly the best zoo for miles around you and not to be missed. It can be a bit overwhelming, though. My favorite zoo, especially with very young children, is the Central Park Zoo. It is small and won't take more than an hour or two to take in the whole place, including the very good children's zoo. As for elephants, I don't think they have any, but I think most areas are wheelchair accessible. Bonus, it is in Central Park, Manhattan, one of the very nicest places on Earth.
posted by caddis at 1:28 PM on February 14, 2005