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
18000 Google Reviews
We love going here! The animals are visible, and today, they were alert and engaging in their areas. The trails are nice, and it’s easy to find your way around and not get lost. They have animals, a conservatory, a bonsai gallery, a Japanese garden, and more. The plants are so beautiful! Get there early to find close parking, or if you have time to spare, that’s even better. The zoo is surrounded by many park areas with safe walking paths to the zoo.
It IS smaller, but the use of space is amazing. Design, decor, and spaces are beautiful. The view of the animals were very close for many of the exhibits, and the polar bear size differences were exemplified when seeing them up close next to each other while in the inner building and they were feeding.
This is such a great place? We love to walk around and enjoy being around exotic parts of nature. Free admission and beautiful viewing areas make this a fantastic place for a day out or a stop during a day off.
Best Zoo in all of North America!!! WHY, free for ALL. Donate if u want. No pressure. Enjoy all. Rich and Poor together. ALL EQUALS AT COMO PARK, CONSERVATORY, WORLD FAMOUS MERRY GO ROUND (enclosed) +++plus Kiddy ride park for kids 1 yr to 6 yrs olds. bunches of fun for all. Total price for family of six for say 2 hrs of fun at Como Kiddy Park kid rides?? Best guess on my part ( based on ride prices in May or 2025 – $65-95 for 1-2 hours of fun.) Great price for amount of fun compared to hotels with fun park pool, hot tub and yick y toilet seats, fun gi infested communinal showers. (yikes) better just save lots and lots of money and go to Como Kiddy Park. Bonus free zoo, free conservatory, $4 rides at world famous Merry go Round. Close picnic areas, Close Fancy Restaurants or cheap fast food if in a hurry. Really, can u think of any where else in all US, Mexico, or Canada, that has anything close to quality of buy as Como Park. If u do, let me know…because I don’t think anything beat Como Park near St. Paul, MN, United Statium, Excel Center, Science Museum, St. Paul Historical Cathedral over looking all of St. Paul, Capital Buildings, and Mississippi River Front. Take your most expensive camera. YOU WILL NEED IT. GUARANTEED.
Como check out a very cool conservatory and a pretty cool zoo.
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.
It’s a basic small zoo..not a lot of animals… We went on a Hot day so the animals looked like they were tired 🤣 but it’s decent. A good place to go on a simple date with the kids or your date. The carousel was fun and pocket friendly. You do get to feed the giraffes.
Great place, beautiful plants! I loved the animals even though it is a little sad the small spaces they have live, especially the polar bears. They seem pretty stressed and unwell. The place is free, but I think it needs to be a little cleaner. I didn’t see a lot of staff members. Maybe they need to hire more people. It is beautiful and perfect for your kids. With that being said, stop being so cheap and donate money 💰 🤑 💸 !!!!! These animals need it, and the place obviously needs it. Cheap people: I watched people come in for about 15 minutes, and none stopped to donate. That is unbelievable to me. Anyway, I will definitely come back and donate more. Hopefully, they will find a bigger space for the bears and the giraffes.
Always a great place to visit. We went on a Friday in April. Busier than I expected, 3 buses parked there when we arrived at 10am ( when they open).
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.
