Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara

This is such a nice, small zoo. You can easily see everything in a few hours. The train is a nice little tour around but costs extra. There is food available, but it's overpriced. Easier to just bring your own. Food and picnic in one of the many beautiful areas if the zoo. There's a fun playground for the kids with a sliding hill (slide with a piece of cardboard). Warning: it's hard to get the kids to leave!

For a smaller zoo this place is fantastic. The animals all seem very healthy and happy. The staff is very friendly and also attentive to your questions. The giraffe feeding experience is so neat and informative. The train ride is so much fun for the little ones. The inside park is a must stop and plan to spend some time there because the little ones love the grass slope slide as well as the entertainment arena next to the park. They also recently updated the Gorilla interaction area that is very fun for children 5 and up.

Great little zoo, full of charm. You can do the whole zoo in about 2/3 hours. They have great exhibits covering reptiles, insects, birds (penguins as well), gorillas, lions, giraffes, alligators, leopards, elephants, otters, turtles, piranhas, and dinosaurs 😉. I know I may have missed something...They have a cute little train (you need to pay extra for) that takes you all around the zoo. The kids love the green hill they can slide down on. Again, great little zoo that I have never found crowded and is always a pleasure to visit.

A beautiful small zoo that's cool to walk through. Lots of open grass and picnic tables to enjoy lunch if you choose to bring one. In the morning there are a ton of moms with their strollers and toddlers about. It's worth it to do the giraffe feeding and we appreciated that there were other animals we could feed for a nominal fee.

This is a great little zoo. Whole zoo is walkable in a few hours. Highly recommended for small kids. Great play area. We especially loved the "ant hill" where kids of all ages can slide down the slope on pieces of cardboard. Also, try the gold "panning" area near the explorer store.