henson robinson zoo

This provides a pleasant afternoon for families with young children. If you are familiar with "big" city zoos, this will seem quite small.

This small zoo is very kid friendly especially for ages 8 and younger. We visit several times a year and its never crowded - except for the wonderful events they offer. If you want an intimate zoo experience without the business of the larger zoo venues, this is the place. Bathrooms are clean and parking is easy. Snack shop, souvenir shop, train, playground and picnic patio are available on the grounds. Across from the zoo is a large park, playground and Lake Springfield. Keep your expectations low, and you'll have a great time.

It's safe to say the Henson Robinson Zoo is not going to offer the same experience as say the St. Louis Zoo or Brookfield Zoo. With that out of the way...Henson Robinson Zoo is a nice little zoo to take the kids. Plenty of active animals to keep everyone busy. My family enjoys the red wolves, owls, monkeys and lemurs. See the animals. Play at the park. Enjoy a good half day outing. You've seen everything by the time the kids are getting cranky. Plus, the Christmas lights at the zoo are neat.

This is a small zoo that does a tremendous job! Very inexpensive and great employees! If you need to kill a few hours you won't regret it regardless of your age.

Where are all the giant cats? The Giraffe? The ZEBRA? If I wanted to look at horses, ponies, and a donkey I could drive through the country. Small enclosures for the animals and they look sad. Also, the geese tried very had to eat my French fries. Maybe I'm just too old for this zoo and I expect too much. Maybe animal planet has me spoiled.

Aging zoo. Just depressing with mostly empty habitats. Yes, Springfield is a small town but the disrepair of this zoo is inexcusable.

We take the grandkids every year when they are in town. They are little - 7 and younger so they enjoy the train and the peacocks. The zoo is small and just about right for them to see everything without it being too long of a day. It's a nice outing.

This is a cute little zoo. Very good for such a small city. It is limited in what it offers, but it makes the best of it. Good for kids as there are a lot of "hands on" activities for the little ones.

We were lucky enough to go on a day that was free to all which started our visit out right! This zoo is very small, but the animals they have put on a good show. All the habitats area good size for each animal and most animals are at least in pairs. You are able to feed the goats and there isa pond where you can feed the koi, however the geese try to get to the food first. We were fortunate to go on a day when all the animals were out and active. From the wolverine hamming it up to the new baby gibbon learning to play outdoors, it was a great time. Very little walking between exhibits which makes it the perfect zoo for people of all ages. Again, this is a small zoo so it does not have the large animals usually seen at a zoo, yet there is a charm which makes this zoo a must see!

My daughter is studying to become Veterinarian - so this was a must stop for her. I wasn't too sure what to expect from some of the other reviews, but I like to keep my mind open, knowing that this cannot possibly compare to big city zoos. The local children were there in costume, trick and treating at various stations around the zoo. I think many of the animals were alert because of the volume of highly excited foot traffic and we were pleased to be able to see that the exhibits while small were busy with animal activity and kept clean. There were several exhibits of species I had not seen elsewhere (as we go to many zoos). The zoo isn't large at all and even at a leisurely pace we were finished in about an hour. If you're in the area, stop in...I'm sure that the you'll get back your admission price for the pleasant stroll...but more importantly, know that it goes to help for the care of the animals. While I wish they could all remain free to roam in their native lands, I know that zoos maybe the only place to see animals in the not too distance future...which is very sad.

Not a lot of animals but we did have a fun time feeding the birds and fish. Train ride was OK - could have taken a different trail instead of going the same way twice. All in all a nice time.

My family and I actually visit this zoo a lot. It's small but enjoyable. They have a nice habits for the most part. They have peacocks, ducks, and swans that they let roam around the zoo and a really nice pond were you can feed the birds. They have a little "train" that you can buy tokens to ride, which I is my two year old's favorite part. The "train" is actually a little car that looks like a train that pulls you around the zoo twice. They also have a nice little playground and picnic area inside the zoo. My only complaint is that the diaper changing station in the women's restroom is very close to the entrance and since they don't have a door anyone walking by can see you change your child's diaper.

We stopped by the Henson Robinson Zoo looking for something to do on a Sunday in Springfield. The zoo is somewhat small but overall very fun. It was not crowded at all, so we were able to spend quite a bit of time watching the animal.

The zoo was really interesting to see with animals that has information about what their future holds.

We arrived at the Springfield zoo a little worried that it was going to be a bust. It was very small and it was raining. It turned out that both of these things worked in our favor for a great experience. The small zoo still had an array of animals. The zoo was set up in such a way that we could see everything in a little over an hour with little walking. The animals were surprisingly close making it easy to observe them. The zoo was almost completely empty of other zoo goers, but the rain had cooled temperatures which made it pleasant to stroll through and I think the animals felt the same way. In fact, the only animals playing opossum were the wolverine and the opossum. We were especially impressed with how active the gorgeous pair of cougars were. This is a small zoo, if you visit expecting a large, fancy zoo, you will be disappointed. However, if you visit expecting a pleasant couple of hours interacting with animals (and maybe learning something), this is the zoo for you. A couple more tips: Great zoo for children because it really focuses on learning and its small size allows them to enjoy the animals without getting tired or bored. Cooler weather= more active animals. Only $5.50 for adults, so it's a great value. If you're in the ares, I highly recommend checking it out.