Caldwell Zoo

What a nice day January 2nd 2026. A year since our last visit and lots of work has been done. The new enclosures completed in the last year look amazing and the animals appear relaxed and happy. The zoo was not over crowded like so many are, but it was just right with lots of families enjoying the day. A huge shout out to the Cafe staff who were drastically understaffed but did an amazing job of serving the clearly larger than expected crowd. The zoo is clearly something for Tyler to pat themselves on the back for, a very well run and nice family facility.

Haven't been here in YEARS! They've remodeled and it's awesome! The layout is a bit easier to navigate, the staff is amazing, and the gift shop is pretty darn cool. The interactive animal opportunities are many, and highly recommend them. Come soon and come often!

Me and my kids have been going at least once a year for the past 10 years and it's always a highlight of our mid school year weekend trips. The staff is awesome. They will make small talk and tell you about the animals. Like personality and habits. We love it.

We went to this zoo last Saturday (11.15.2025). This is such a nice zoo - it is spotless (so very clean), the animals all seemed happy in their habitats, and it is routed nicely. All in all, a very nice experience for our family. It is very open and wheelchair & walker friendly. However, there are hills. If you have a manual wheelchair (our son is in a manual wheelchair & we have to push him) it is do-able but challenging . A zoo is a lot of walking - that's understood - but we were just not prepared for the hills. Wear some really good shoes.

A beautifully landscaped Zoo with large open and well maintained enclosures for the wide variety of animals they offer. The animals look healthy and well looked after which is inspiring to see in a Zoo that obviously takes great pride in their conservation efforts. We've been to many Zoos all across the country and Caldwell Zoo holds its own with any one of them. Very enjoyable experience!

This zoo is incredible. We spent over 3 hours there just to see everything, and it was totally worth it. There’s plenty of shade, bathrooms, and spots to get hydrated, so you can bring kids, seniors, or disabled people without any worries. Ramps make everything accessible, but I’ll say, bring your walking shoes! The restaurant is a bit pricey, but it’s worth it to support the awesome Tyler Caldwell Zoo.

Beautiful animals and enclosures. Plenty of shade and wide sidewalks for families. This is a wonderdul place to spend the day with family and friends learning about different animals and what the zoo is doing to help with conservation. The grounds are kept really well and zoo staff are constantly buzzing around taking care of animals and the property while interacting with zoo guests. We always come back.

Was able to go early so there weren't big crowds, and it was a peaceful experience. The walkways are wide and stroller/wheelchair friendly. It was a small disappointment that the penguin exhibit is undergoing renovation, but the number of species and the considerations for their needs is great.

Been living here since 2021 and we are just now getting here for the first time. Although, the Grandbubbies have been coming quite regularly, this is our first. And what better day than on my Grandbubby's 6th birthday!! Of course, being August, it was toasty out, but we trekked the whole park and seen most of the animals. It looks as though some of the exhibits were empty or under some construction. We had ourselves a blast with all the animals and the birds. Maybe next time for them penguins and a few other animals. All in all, for a Tuesday when school has started again, not bad... not many people, which I'm hoping that's the case and not low attendance on a regular. The zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhino, alligator, river otters, tortoises, various macaws, anteater, Bat-Eared Foxes, monkeys, jaguar, lions, and various bird species were all spectacular and amazing! Love it here! All in all, I love that my Grandbubbies love this place so much and provides them a learning experience! Thank you, Caldwell Zoo and Staff! As always, Enjoy & Happy Zooing!

I came to experience the solar eclipse at the zoo amongst my fellow mammals, avians and reptiles. This place is awesome! For 5 dollars you can get some lettuce to feed the giraffe. That was my best moment of the zoo was getting up close and admiring the beauty of this wonderful animal. Cool cheetahs, white tiger, American eagles, a chubby unicorn aka Rhino! A couple elephants eating from a hanging basket was fun to see! They have little ice cream and drink carts set up all throughout the zoo so if you get hungry or thirsty you can stop and enjoy something quick during your nature walk! Took maybe 2 hours to walk around and enjoy. I came back to a couple spots because the animals were becoming more active in the afternoon.

Fun, not crowded, hot, but vending or other refreshments available if you needed them. Didn't see a Sloth, so I'm sad, but the penguins made my little one happy as did feeding giraffes. Overall clean, couple areas stunk a bit much, but overall had an enjoyable first time visit.

Our happy place! Beautiful zoo with so many exotic animals. Get yourself a membership and just go all the time

I visited this zoo during their solar eclipse watch event which made my visit even more exciting. I ordered my tickets online for a quick and hassle free entry to the Zoo. This allowed me to skip the ticket booth line and arrived directly to the gate to have my mobile tickets scanned and my adventure began! I recommend getting tickets in advance by purchasing them online. The entry times available for reserving tickets are from 9:00am - 3:30pm daily. Prices are $19.50 (13-54y/o) for adults & $14.50 (3-12y/o) for children. This zoo looks small but is overflowing with many animals from around the world. Very clean and friendly staff. I was immediately welcomed to the premises with the flamingos and monkeys! The zoo has two aquariums, picnic areas, a café that overlooks the African savanna ( lion and wildlife), children's petting pen, and gift shops with many original African products. Caldwell zoo is undergoing construction, more exhibitions coming soon! The zoo offers seasonal presentations such as bird show, alligator feedings, penguin feeding, giraffe feedings, and elephant demonstrations. I had a chance to witness the penguin exhibit and it was very educational and fun to see the penguins actively engaged. There's plenty to do and explore at this zoo. Although the zoo has many attractions and exhibits, it takes about 2 hours to see all the animals! I noticed they are located in a terrain with hills so wear comfortable clothing and shoes for those elevation changes. I really enjoyed my time here, it was very easy to navigate and get close encounters of all the animals. Great photography opportunities! The cafe is very nice, located on the hill top with plenty of seating! Snacks are offered throughout the zoo which is a plus! Restrooms are very conveniently located too ! This zoo did not disappoint.

It's been about 25 years since I've been to this zoo and today I went with my own child. Going as soon as they open helped us beat the heat AND see many animals out having breakfast. Very clean walkways, enclosures, and facilities. Was easy to maneuver our stroller and lots of resting benches for our great grandmother to take breaks. Wasn't expecting the sourpuss disenfranchised worker at the giraffe feeding to be such a grump but otherwise all the rest of the employees very helpful. Definitely a great family outing!

Took my son here early on a Saturday. It's really easy to get around and you get closer to the animals as compared to larger zoos

Been to the zoo twice now, and family had a great time both times. It's a smaller zoo than other ones I've been to, with ticket fees more expensive than the other, more well-known zoos. (-1 star) The petite size means you're unlikely to get too tired by the time you see all the animals. There's simple food stands and a gift shop, and a nice variety of animals that will keep you entertained for 2-3 hours. They're building a new zone in the zoo, which I'm hoping they're using the extra funds from the ticket $$ to make, and that they don't raise prices once that section is completed.

My sons school recently attended Caldwell Zoo on a field trip....Was told in order to attend the field trip I had to or a ticket online because they could not accommodate for tickets on the day of the field trip....So I had to pay an additional $2.50 for a ticket....

Animals not taken care of. It's not a good zoo at all. Tigers had no room to move around and were pacing the same route the whole time we watched them and were panting

I was visiting from out of town this past weekend and it was much busier than we expected! Parking was looking like a nightmare but the staff was great at showing us where to go and one of the lower lot employees told us not to miss the giraffe exhibit which turned out to the coolest animal interaction I've ever had. I didn't get his name but he had short hair and a brown bag on his shoulder

Awesome little zoo. First this zoo is not huge. Which is honestly a good thing. You can get through it in about 2 hours which is great. The price is also very reasonable. I don't recall exactly what we paid - all that info is on their website and you can purchase tickets there. The have many different types of animals, birds, snakes etc. It is very clean. It is also very well laid out. Is it the best or biggest? No, but it is very affordable, clean, well laid out and great for little kids and a 2 hour visit. You can stay longer if you need too. And there will be things to do. But you can a lot do a lot and not feel that you are missing things if you don't stay all day.

We loved our time at Caldwell Zoo. We reserved an entry time for when they first opened and were there for about 2hrs. We saw the same groups of people, only about 50 or so in total. Staff all wore masks and most visitors wore masks and/or kept their distance. Feeding the giraffes was a big highlight! And being able to see the baby giraffe was great! We'll definitely be back!

This park is very nice and has a good walking flow to it and a lot of areas to rest and let the kids play. They have a sand area, petting zoo with goats, bird and giraffe feeding opportunities and some great views. The restaurant gets busy but food is hot and fresh burgers are good sized. The best part was the view from the restaurant overlooking the safari area with the elephants and giraffes.

Everyone meet Karen (the name she gave proudly) while being rude and nasty to Teachers and those helping teachers retrieve coolers from buses. If you're going to the zoo they apparently have a policy that has never been enforced for years that only teachers and bus drivers are allowed to goto the bus lot and retrieve 50lbs coolers from buses so If you're an all female staff at your school might want to think twice about going when it will require a lunch. And the management is no better saying they have staff there to help when there was absolutely nobody. Basically calling me a liar.

I enjoyed this little zoo I was here as a kid and today I brought My daughters with me They have great exhibits here A mix of animals Good prices I recommend this joint

We purchased a penguin encounter and had a blast. I really enjoyed the zoo and honestly the staff was great, they really love the animals so that is so nice to see. Feeding the birds in the aviary was alot of fun as well and you have great views of the elephants and giraffes from their cafe, which was priced reasonably.

First time visiting Texas and I took the kids here and this place was awesome it feels like you're close to the animal and the animals look active and not like they're medicated or laying around, I'm from Chicago and we have 2 large zoo and I would prefer this one over those definitely recommend and great place for photographers as well, they're remodeling and I'm already planning on returning when they finish construction

Tyler, TX is blessed to have a zoo this size! The animals seem well taken care of. The staff is always so nice. The only animals I worry about are the white tigers. Their enclosure is so small and they always seem so aggravated and unhappy.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by the Houston and Sam Antonio Zoos, but this zoo was a little bit of a let down. First of all, not their fault as I am sure it is out of their control, but the river otter exhibit was closed. So sad. The African Grasslands exhibit was expansive and impressive to see, but almost all other exhibits were small and the animals seemed cramped. The best example of which is the black bears. Maybe they have a larger enclosure that we can't see, but it really looks like these two bears have less than 1000 square feet to move around in. Lastly on attractions, the new baby giraffe was in a closed off, unventilated, unmarked area. Possibly due to COVID restrictions, there was one one "refreshment station" outside of the restaurant. This consisted of an electric cooler on wheels and someone only taking cash. If he weren't as organized, I might have though he were an entrepreneurial customer.

We had the best day at Caldwell Zoo! I was so impressed with the cleanliness, enclosures, open space, landscapes and the vast variety of animals! It was nice to see that there was lots of thought put into the layout & open space for their animals. A wonderful & happy & educational place for everyone ! I would highly recommend a visit to wonderful small this zoo!

I've been to this zoo many many times in the 12 years I've lived in Texas. And each time is like a new experience for me. Tickets can be purchased online or at the counter. I just love the different exhibits they have here. From feeding the birds and giraffes to petting the goats or gazing into the eyes of lions. This zoo makes it possible to expand your knowledge of some the different creatures that exist on our planet. Throughout the zoo there are plenty of benches to sit at and there is even a cafe near the giraffes and elephants area where you can grab you a bite. Be sure to stop by the gift shop. They have so many cool stuffed animals, toys , shirts etc to get yourself or a loved one. Great place to go

Very small zoo and not many animals to see. They do have a white tiger and a bear but most of the animals on display were sleeping or not on display at this time. Many people were not wearing mask but there was plenty of space for social distancing. Hand sanitizer was placed throughout the zoo.

Very nice zoo. Not as busy as they once were. Make sure you go later in the day because animals are not up and about when it's around noon and they don't open early enough to see them active in the early hours.

Stopped in on way to Dallas. Very nice & easy to see the animals. Parking was a nice surprise too.

An accessible walk zoo that offers a family day experience. We mostly liked that one can be very close to seeing the animals. Our family adults and kids loved seeing the elephants and giraffes in a natural environment. The gift shop offers reasonably priced items.

I think it's ok I wish it had a bit more for parents some zoo's have adult menus ( drinks ) etc tend to us too the parents are already sad about pricing for the entire thing getting in, eating, food for the animals etc. at least give us something to look forward to.

We love the Tyler zoo. Always a good road trip when school's out. Fairly small, but lots to see. Clean and well-maintained. It's been a while since they've added new attractions, so we hope they will continue to grow.

Great Zoo! Tickets are affordable and it is a wonderful activity. Can get lunch and look at the giraffes and elephants as you eat too!

Now, I've been to my fair share of zoo's as an avid animal lover. This zoo is fairly spacious and has a lot of animals that you don't regularly see at other zoos. One thing I didn't expect was all the hills. I never would've thought that Texas was so hilly and had steep inclines. This zoo provided color print maps to the patrons and had the animal silhouette on the map for the non readers. As an elementary teacher I thought this was a great touch. When you enter, you see flamingos and monkeys. To your immediate left is the gift shop, bathrooms and the Pygmy goat petting zoo. My son witnessed a woman slap a goat and turned her into the worker and then later had to inform the security officers. Which in the long run helped and kept the people on their toes b/c that same lady tried shoplifting. Regardless, they had great customer service. My son loved the goats! The place to wash your hands after the goats was really neat. They had 4 different animal heads and a water spout coming from their mouths. It was neat. The zoo was laid out in different continents of the world. There were some sections roped off so we couldn't observe the area. Make sure you do the giraffe feedings!! It is from 1:15-3pm and then again in the later afternoon. Its $5.00 for 3 huge romaine lettuce leaves and the giraffe literally is a foot from you! You can't touch the giraffe but it's tongue will touch you and it feels like sandpaper. The elephants were obviously mating or getting a little frisky as a male and female were in the water and things just sorta happened. It was interesting to watch and actually see the elephants interacting with their surrounding and playing in the water. The poor rhinos had no water holes.. both of their surroundings had dried water holes, it was depressing watching. But man those Siberian white tigers and black bears were down right adorable!!! Be sure to check those out! I live in Florida she don't see many white tigers or black bears in captivity. Inside the reptile world there were tetra fish, snakes, frogs, turtles and spiders. Man check out the black widow spider... that was interesting to see in their natural habitat. Make sure you check this place out if you are in the area you won't regret it..we had 10 people (5 adults, 5 children) and spent over 5 hours here.

What a surprise little gem for Tyler! We went on a weekday during fall break. It didn't seem like other schools were also on fall break, so the crowds were low. There were a few school groups visiting and a retirement community, but not so much that the place was unbearable. A few of the exhibits were "closed for winter" but that didn't feel like it took away from the experience. Grab a map at the front. It's easy to follow for adults and has picture symbols for the children to read along and point out. Wear comfortable shoes! This zoo has hills and inclines including a switch back trail. Everywhere is handicapped accessible. You can start to the left, right or go directly to the center towards "Africa." We decided to go straight to Africa because it was giraffe feeding time. We got there and there was no feeding. We hung around that area for 30 minutes and feeding time never started. My kiddo was bummed because we planned to arrive at the exact time for the giraffe feeding (which is $5 cash). Lots of other people were standing around too pretty bummed that they didn't do the feedings and no sign that it was cancelled for the day. We were able to see the giraffes in the closed in feeding area. The elephants were too far off to really see. We went into the rhino enclosure area, holy poop smells. Don't go in if your nose is sensitive. The sandbox play area was a nice break to relax in the fall sun. There are benches for parents and plenty of buckets, shovels and beach molds for kids to play. We spent a good 30 minutes just free playing. Walking around a zoo can be hard on little ones. The break was lovely. After the sandbox, we went to the minimelts machine (think dippin dots) for $4.50. The machine takes cards and spits out a small ice cream cup. After our snack, we strolled to the petting zoo. The petting zoo was all goats (big and small). There was one attendant and about 8 goats out. They had other goats in a separate enclosure. The attendant explained that they rotate out the goats so they get a break. We then walked through "America." Probably the most active animals were in this section. At the end of "America" is *another* interactive portion! For $1 per popsicle stick you can feed the birds in an enclosed area. They hop right on your stick (or hand) and munch away. We could've spent so much more time in here. Bring your camera and capture all the smiles and shocked faces of your littles as a bird eats away the seeds on their sticks. The first indoor building is the snakes, reptiles, fish. We were the only ones in there and took our time reading each exhibit. The walk through the alligator exhibit is like a small nature trail back around to the penguin exhibit (indoors). We couldn't find the gator, so we joked he climbed the gate and escaped. The penguin exhibit lets you get right up to the glass to watch the penguins swim. The penguin followed my kid up and down the class. There is a gift shop at the front. For an adult and child, it was $25 to get in, so it could get pricey for a bigger family. Bring cash to do the interactive bits or for snacks. You can also bring your own snacks and picnic. I was pleasantly surprised by the design and amount of animals. Outside the zoo is a garden you can walk and appreciate the blooming flowers. Careful exiting the parking lot as the road is super busy and people were flying up the hill making exiting scary.

What a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. Came here by myself on a Monday morning and had a great time exploring the habitats. The Wild Bird Walkaround where you get to feed the birds is a must, honestly just that one activity was worth the price of administration.

We have had wonderful experiences here in the past. This visit has made me want to never return. No free exploration of the park, minimal access to the gift shop, one way travel through the park without ability to backtrack and revisit cool things. These people can bite me. I don't expect to be treated like this when I have paid to have an experience. I am in hopes that this wonderful place might be restored to its former enjoyable experience. Until they stop being full retard a shall not return. Please fix your idiocy and return the park to its former operation.

The zoo in Tyler is wonderful! It's not very large but it still took about 3 hours to see everything. The trails around the zoo are great and get you to each exhibit. The animals were delightful and I especially loved the elephants and white tigers. There were birds that I had never seen before. The whole experience was delightful and we will return.

I didn't expect to find a zoo in Texas I would like more than the San Antonio zoo. This one is more compact, but it offers a variety of exotic and big animals for what ends up being a pretty decent price.

Got to see a lot of animals, bring comfy shoes cause theirs hills and bunch of walking !!! My favorite part was feeding the giraffes and seeing the elephants do tricks I recommend and tickets can be bought online

This Zoo is absolutely Beautiful!! The landscape is just as good as seeing all the wonderful animals. Very clean, and friendly staff. They also did a GREAT job with the Covid restrictions and accommodation. We even got to feed the giraffes and some birds. I will be back again and again.

cuando estoy en la ciudad este es mi lugar favorito! ¡Llevé a mis hijas aquí y llegamos a sentir una serpiente! las bebidas pueden ser caras y hacía mucho calor, ¡pero lo disfrutamos!

Such a fun surprise! We thoroughly enjoyed this small zoo! I love a good zoo experience and have been to many! This was a very fun experience. More intimate with the animals in many ways. The safari experience was my favorite, and mildly overshadowed by the parrots and flamingo.

Good price, very good amount of shade in the park. We came on a Friday At the end of May and it was not super busy. We were able to walk the park pretty quickly and efficiently and able to see everything. We stopped at the gift shop as well, very friendly staff.

Lots of animals, beautiful grounds. All animals are in wonderful habitats. Very reasonably priced.

Always love visiting this zoo! Great time with the family!

Only 3 stars for a number of reasons... it was the only Zoo that had free admission. Parking was also free of charge. I am aware that it was maintained by donations and charity foundations. Those days are over. Now they charge the same admission as a premium zoo like in Dallas for instance. It was and still is a great zoo with a wide variety of animals from Aardvarks to Zebras. The attractions are plentiful and entertaining. Paths are wide enough to allow traffic and strollers or wagons to pass each other with ease. The animals appear to be well cared for and zoo attendants are informative and professional. The snack bar has a wide array of foods and most are appealing but the prices are high. It doesn't have a skyway like a premium zoo. It has no shows or rides although there is a small train. In order to charge premium prices, you must have premium shows and attractions. The Petting Zoo is the only "hands on" activity that the kids seem to enjoy but hold your nose...Goats, calves and other farm animals aromas are pungent especially in the Texas heat. It is a family fun activity attending this zoo.but it was spectacular when it was free. School field trips have dropped in attendance due to the high price implementation. It is not worth the price plus it lacks the perks of the premium zoos. That is the reason for the 3 stars.

This zoo was such a pleasure! It wasn't crowded, the animals were in clear view and up close. It bigger than it looks on the outside. It was 20$ for two and the gift shop is not outrageously priced. Great for a casual day of enjoying animals

Very clean park and very reasonably priced! We drove almost 2 hours just to go and it was absolutely worth the drive! Our 4 year old had such a blast!

Beautiful Zoo!! Purchase ticket online or in personal, you pick a time to come. We have visited twice so far, once in April and once in August. April was beautiful, August was way too hot. It is a small zoo compared to the large city zoos but it wasn't crowded and the zoo ground were well maintained and clean. You would not know you were in the city because of all the vegetation that encloses the zoo. Lots of green, lovely place to come and walk. The exhibits are nice but some seem a bit small. During our April visit, the animals were out in force, not so much in August. I guess the heat kept them indoors too. We did not have kids but I think it is a great zoo for kids since it is small, they won't get worn out walking. They also had a play area for the kids and areas where they could feed the giraffes and birds, yes it cost and they only take cash no cc. Many of the bird exhibits get you up close and personal. I loved that. Bring water and go to the bathroom before you head out. They do have some in the park but we found one was locked and the other was on the far side of the park. Worth visiting for sure!!

Surprisingly, this zoo was actually really nice. When my husband and I were planning our Tyler trip, at first we thought that $8.50 was a pretty high price for admission to a zoo in a town of this size. I suppose we were basing this on Abilene's lackluster-by-comparison zoo. We found this zoo to be on-par with zoos in larger cities in Texas, however. There was variety in exhibit arrangements, such that one could be very close to some animals (giant anteaters and bobcats, for example), while viewing other animals in facsimiles of their natural habitats (animals of the African and Texan plains). The zoo was arranged in such a way that we were rarely overwhelmed with the late-May heat. It was also surprisingly un-crowded for a sunny Memorial Day weekend afternoon. We stopped by the gift shop on our way out and were surprised that the items were so reasonably priced. Based on my experience at other zoos, they could easily charge twice what they charge for their magnets/keychains/etc. and still sell just about as many. So that makes the admission price seem even more reasonable (especially for parents [which we are not] but I always see parents getting souvenirs for their children at every zoo). Minus one star for either having absolutely no bears, or hiding the bears so well that we couldn't find them.

This is one of the very best zoos I have ever been to! Growing up a Navy brat, I have been to just about every must-see zoo in the country but none like Caldwell. I was so stinking impressed with the super cool layout, diverse animals, and great staff. This zoo is small enough to keep the crowds down but big enough to see and experience all of the animals you would in a larger zoo. I have to talk about the "interactive" layout of this zoo. The entire thing is incredibly cohesive. The zebras, giraffes, elephants, and antelopes seem to be in the same African land - but at second glance, you can see carefully constructed slopes and streams that keep everyone separate in their own piece of land. The lions can look through the glass to the penguins and other birds, there are beautiful fish in every pond of the Texas species' plots. It's so much more than looking at animals through a chainlink fence. The coolest part of our visit was the white tiger that came RIGHT UP to the glass to say hello. The little kids nearby squealed with excitement! It was a moment we will never forget!!

Good: Love love love this place great for the kids Bad:not enough shows for kids. So-so: prices a little high. TIP: Just maybe quick tip I have been to the Zoo in Lil Rock, Arkansa and every so long they have fans with a mist I think Caldwell Zoo should do the same.!! Please is too hot.!