Day trip from Austin: Cameron Park Zoo (Waco, TX)

As much as we love the Austin Zoo for its mission as an animal sanctuary and the San Antonio Zoo, our children have picked the Cameron Park Zoo as their clear favorite. Depending upon where in the Austin area that you live, Cameron Park Zoo is likely no more than a 2 hour drive so it is a perfect day trip spot. With winter break not too far away, this zoo really is a fun (and relatively inexpensive) way to spend a day with the kids.

Here are the current ticket prices:

• Adults (13+) – $9
• Children 4-12 yrs – $6
• Senior Citizens (60+) – $8
• Children 3 years old and under – free

What our children loved the most about this zoo is that every few exhibits or so, they were rewarded with a playground of sorts. Grammy Nell’s playground is the largest with a tree house slide, large snake climbing structure, a few springy ride-on features as just some of the play things here. It’s a large space for the kids to run off some energy, and even in the afternoon when the park was fairly crowded, our kids were able to play comfortably. Within the Asian Rainforest exhibit, adjacent to the orangutans, there are ropes for kids to climb like an orangutan and chimes that kids jump on the metal panels to activate. Near the bison exhibit, our kids also had fun running in and out of the two large teepees. Their most favorite playscape was the clear slide that had them chuting through the water tank where the beavers are, and for tired parents, there are a few rocking chairs to sit in the shade while the kids go up and down the slide.

What hubby and I liked most about Cameron Park Zoo is that it is large enough to have an interesting mix of animals but not so large that it overwhelms the kids.  Cameron Park Zoo as the name implies is as much park as it is zoo.  The zoo is easy to navigate with umbrella strollers, and the walkways are either paved or wooden boardwalks and ramps. The animal exhibits are set along a loop essentially, and even without ever referring to a map, it is easy to traverse the entire zoo without missing exhibits.

Cameron Park Zoo is immaculately maintained, and each of the outdoor animal exhibits are (surprisingly) detailed for a zoo this size.  Because we just went to the zoo over the Thanksgiving holiday, we experienced it with all the autumn grandeur. The landscaping really is quite nice with the red maples and cypress trees showing the fall colors. It’s not New England pretty, but it sure was nice for Texas.  Cameron Park Zoo has a charm to it that the Austin Zoo and San Antonio Zoo do not have.

The zoo has a policy of no outside food or drinks allowed.  It did not seem like anyone enforced this rule as there were a few families setting up large picnics unless these were prearranged somehow.  The zoo has two cafes, The Plaza Cafe right at the entrance and The Tree Top Cafe which overlooks “the African savannah.”  The Tree Top Cafe was closed this Saturday with just a small concession area selling chips, cotton candy, ice cream, candy, and some bottled drinks.  The Plaza Cafe is a quick service counter where the menu is the standard amusement park foods (hamburgers, corn dogs, hot dogs, pretzels, fried pickles, etc).  It’s not the least bit healthy, so either take that into consideration or eat before or after coming to the zoo.

Overall, Cameron Park Zoo gets the thumbs up as a great day trip from Austin.  We easily spent 3 hours at the zoo and probably would have gone a little longer if not for our toddler needing a nap and the older one needing to eat.

Cameron Park Zoo
1701 N. Fourth Street
Waco, TX 76707
(254) 750-8400

Related posts:

1. Day Trip: San Antonio Zoo
2. Ramsey Park (central Austin)
3. Day or Overnight Trip: Dallas Zoo
4. Day trip from Austin: Sea World (San Antonio)
5. Schroeter Park (northwest Austin)