The Como Zoo & Conservatory in Saint Paul is a beloved destination offering free, year-round access to a diverse range of animals and stunning botanical gardens. Visitors can explore everything from big cats and primates to tropical plants and seasonal flower shows in the historic glass conservatory. Perfect for families, this Twin Cities gem combines wildlife, nature, and education in a beautiful, accessible setting.
Garden
Como Zoo & Conservatory
Before heading to the Mall of America, we hit up this awesome Zoo and Conservatory. I forgot we made plans to visit here but was 100% on board to still check it out. When we arrived, it was busy as all get out. There were a bunch of Pride events going on in the park area. There were a few events going on in and around the Conservatory. We had a heck of a hard time parking and I was just about to give up when a spot opened up!
We headed in and checked out the conservatory first. I won’t go into too much detail but the conservatory is beautiful. I wasn’t aware there were was a Japanese Garden attached to it. Tim was super stoked to check it out and I gotta say, it was gorgeous and possibly my favorite part of the whole area.
We headed over to the Zoo and man, what a zoo it was. With it being a Saturday, free admission and all the events going on in the park, the place was swarming with so many people. We were able to see pretty much all the animals and exhibits but it was a struggle with the crowds. In spite of that, we enjoyed our visit and I would very much like to go back on a slower day (and when we didn’t have Mall of America plans) so I could really take in the zoo and properly see the animals.
This is an abbreviated review compared to my normal ramblings but sometimes its better to see something than to read about it.
They do have a penny press machine and some medallions to buy right outside the gift shop. The penny press supplies the penny for you. I, of course, got all that I could.
Parking is free. No actuab entrance fee… But they do have a suggested per person donation.
The Spring flowers on display were beautiful. We walked around and saw all the animals. I do feel bad for some of them. the polar bear was just pacing back and forth in one spot outside. The monkeys were entertaining, and the Sparky show was fun to watch. We saw everything ( except the wolves were far away and hiding). We spent about 2 and 1/2 hours there.