Family Fun at the Cape May County Park & Zoo in New Jersey

Back in early September the entire family headed for a day of fun at the Cape May County Zoo in New Jersey. This zoo is a great one to visit if you are vacationing down at the Jersey Shore. You can get to it easily from Atlantic City, Ocean City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Wildwood and Cape May.

The Zoo is totally free but they do ask for a "donation" at the gate...we usually drop in a twenty dollar bill, sometimes more as it's a beautiful zoo to visit. The parking is free and there is a lot of parking available. If you are looking for handicapped parking spaces, they are towards the front of the zoo, near the entrance.

Before you get into the actual zoo...you will find a cafe & grill where you can pick up a bite to eat and/or you can shop the zoo's gift shop. The gift shop has a lot of nice items...but I do feel they are really over-priced, so I rarely buy anything in there.

Beautiful Peacock at the Zoo

Once you get through the zoo's gates you will visit a lot of bird exhibits (parrot, toucan, owls, peacocks, guinea hens, etc.) and then you will hit the barn animals where the kids can feed them. You will find goats, a cow, pot-bellied pigs, chickens and a few other barnyard friends.

After that area we went to see some of the zoo's many primates. They had ringtail lemurs, various types of monkeys and a red lion faced tamarin. Visiting the primates is one of our favorite areas at the zoo since we love the primates! I am hoping that in the future the zoo can expand and get even more primates for us to see! Right past the primates you will find some pink flamingos, the ducks and the beautiful swans!

We went into the indoor bird building and I have to admit...I wasn't impressed with that. It really stunk bad in there the day we visited because the birds are FREE to roam and fly around. You will find several different species of sea birds in there and a few turtles roaming around.

We then went on to visit the cheetah and the lion. My grand daughter was scared of the lion when he roared but once she saw Rocky the Tiger...well, let's just say she wasn't scared any more! She loves tigers and Rocky was up and playing with a gigantic ball that they had in his pen. He is one beautiful big cat!

The snow leopards were one of our favorite animals to see...especially since the mom snow leopard had two beautiful babies a few months ago. Wow...they are beautiful but on the day we were there, mom wouldn't come out but the babies did!

Red Panda at the Zoo

Walking further we finally ran into the red panda, ostrich, camels, giraffes, bison and the zebras. I love animals that are native to Africa so I really enjoyed this part of the zoo. Luckily for us...these animals were up and about and we got to see them pretty close which was really neat. I have always loved sitting and watching the zebra run around but on this particular day...they were busy eating!

The Zebra at the Zoo

We eventually came upon the reptile building and inside there you will see various types of lizards, snakes, turtles, etc. Personally, I don't go in there as I am petrified of snakes so I wait outside for the family to return. Near the reptile building you will find the 2 big black bears, the alligator and the big HUGE turtles! OH MY GOSH, those turtles are super big and were taller than my grand daughter!

This is a really large zoo that is beautifully laid out! You will want to allow at least 3 1/2 hours of time to go through the zoo and see all of the animal exhibits. The day that we visited they were not crowded at all and it was a beautiful weather day.

The Beautiful Giraffe at the Zoo

The Cape May County Zoo is open year round, except on major holidays. Their hours of operation vary throughout the season, so visit their web site for additional information. If you are handicap and need to rent a wheelchair, you can do that at the gift shop before you enter the zoo.

I do recommend that you eat before visiting the Cape May County Zoo because I feel their food & beverages are expensive and their food isn't very good (my personal opinion). There are pavilions right outside of the entrance gate so you can pack a lunch and have a family picnic to save some money and there is a playground where the kids can play to burn off some energy.

Your family will love visiting this zoo and we make a point to visit it at least twice every year. Enjoy your day!