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Como Park Zoo is a nice choice for an inexpensive outing with out-of-town guests. Como Park has many picnic areas and playgrounds to add to the fun or visit Como Town Amusement Park. Most of the zoo is outdoors, so you will want to dress appropriately for the weather, but there are several buildings particularly for species that do not naturally live in our Minnesota climate. These are good places to pop into when it rains or if you need to warm up a bit in winter. The Conservatory is also a nice option in these cases.

Como Zoo Now Open – Reservations Required

After being closed due to Covid-19 for several months, the zoo and conservatory have reopened with slightly modified hours – Monday-Thursday from 10am-4pm; Friday- Sunday 10am-6pm. For now, advanced reservations are required.

Virtual Zookeeper Talks:

You can also check in with the zookeepers every Monday and Thursday afternoon at 1:30pm on the zoo’s Facebook page.  Watch these LIVE zookeeper and gardener talks as they are released or watch on your own schedule here.

Como Zoo Hours and Prices

Como Zoo is open every 365 days a year and has two sets of hours from April through September, it is open from 10am to 6pm; and from October through March it closes two hours earlier, 10am to 4pm.

Como Zoo is FREE and open to anyone regardless of ability to pay, but a donation of $3/adult and $2/child to helps pay for care and feeding of the plants and animals.

Bringing and Buying Food at Como Zoo

You can bring a picnic or other food to Como Zoo. There are picnic benches and grassy spaces around the zoo and nearby in the larger park. You can also purchase food from their vendors. However, they do not want you bringing food and beverages into the zoo buildings.

Como Zoo Directions and Parking

Find directions to the zoo here or use the mapping feature on our calendar below. There are parking lots throughout Como Park, including right next to the zoo. However, in the summer months, you’ll save a great deal of hassle and frustration if you park at the State Fair Grounds and take the shuttle to the zoo and back to your car.

Como Zoo Events

If you pick the right time in the summer, there is often live music and other activities. The Conservatory also offers Music Under Glass on Winter Sundays. This is a good opportunity to check out their ongoing flower shows, too.

Throughout the year, the zoo will dedicate a weekend to explore specific topics related to their mission. Check our Family Fun Calendar for special events.

In particular, families love these events:

1) Halloween and Pumpkins at Como Park & Zoo

The zoo used to offer the Como Zoo Boo as an annual fundraising event. They discontinued after 2017 with a promise that they would be bringing new Halloween programming in the future. In 2019, they offered Creepy Crawly Awareness Weekend in October.

There is also usually a pumpkin patch at Como Park. While it did not happen in 2019, Wheel Fun ( who runs it) has indicated it will go forward in 2020.  If you are looking for the Jack-o-Lantern Trail, that is held at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.

2) Noon Year’s Parties

Como traditionally greets the new year with two parties — one on the 31st and one on the 1st — where they have a ball drop at noon,  dancing, games, and special animal enrichment.

3) Mother’s Day Bonsai Exhibit

A favorite of ours is the Mother’s Day Bonsai Exhibit. Not that we need an excuse to get to the zoo in May, but who can resist tiny trees?

9 Anytime Family Fun Ideas at Como Park Zoo

1) Como Zoo Animal Visit Checklist

You can use the following checklist when visiting the zoo to see how many of these animals you can find while exploring. If you want to learn more about any of the residents of the zoo, click on their images at the como website; and if you would like a como zoo map to help you find your way to a specific habitat, download the visitor guide here or grab one at the entrance.

2) Como Harbor

Como Harbor is the reinvention of Como Zoo’s seals and sea lions habitat. Como built the new habitat to dramatically improve the care they can provide to seals and sea lions and also offer visitors better views and face-to-face experiences. In fact, zookeepers believe Como Harbor exceeds all best practices for care of seals and sea lions. Seals and sea lions are part of the pinniped family and Como has three pinniped species: two gray seals, two harbor seals, and four sea lions, including Sparky. The habitat features a large outdoor salt-water pool that the seals and sea lions will use all year and a private state-of-the-art indoor facility for the care of the animals.

Other updated amenities include a shaded amphitheater, an underwater viewing discovery zone, modern bathrooms, a new outdoor café’ named Pier 56.

3) The Sparky Show

The “Sparky Show” is a sea lion show that began in 1956 and featuring Como’s sea lion ambassador, Sparky (now Sparky the VI). It has evolved through the years into an educational show where visitors learn about nature, conservation, and animal care. After a four-year hiatus, it is back beginning the summer of 2022.

4) Visit the Western Lowland Gorillas

Alice, the female gorilla who lost her first baby in 2014, gave birth to another baby in October of 2017. The baby girl was four pounds at birth and is only the third gorilla to be born at Como.

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5) Visit The Snow Leopards

Como Zoo welcomed a mating pair of European-born snow leopards in March 2016. Zoo keepers tell us these cats are fun to watch. The are young and playful.

7) Giraffe Feeding Station (May-September)

Pay $5 to feed a giraffe some lettuce at 10:45 a.m. daily and also 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There is also another observatory deck for free viewing. Giraffe feeding closes for the season in October and reopens.

A place to get up close to the small amphibians of the zoo.