Blank Park Zoo
Zoo · Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa's only accredited zoo, on forty-nine acres in south Des Moines, holding an indoor rainforest Discovery Center, an African section, an Australian walk-through, a great cats complex and a sea lion and seal pool. It is a mid-sized city zoo rather than a national one, and its real advantage is that it is compact enough for a family to finish without anyone being carried back to the car.
7401 SW 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa, 50315, United States
⚠ HOURS CHANGE WITH THE SEASON AND THE WINTER ONES ARE SHORT: roughly 9:00 to 17:00 daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, and 10:00 to 16:00 from September through May — a late winter arrival leaves barely two hours. Adult admission is typically about $15-$25 with reductions for children and seniors, and winter admission is cheaper because less is on show. Free parking. The Discovery Center is an indoor rainforest and is open year round, which makes this one of very few attractions in this folder that still works properly on a January afternoon. In cold weather the outdoor African and Australian species may be indoors or off-show entirely.