Henry Vilas Zoo is located at 702 South Randall Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin. One of the very first things you will enjoy about this wonderful zoo is the free admittance. Henry Vilas Zoo is open year round with the exception of the common holidays such as Thanksgiving Eve and day, Christmas Eve and day, New Years Eve and day and Martin Luther King Day. The hours are very convenient with the grounds opened from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and the buildings on the site, opened from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The first thing I noticed on my first trip there with a busload of children including my oldest son for a class field trip was how extremely popular this zoo was. I was sure that the free admission played the hugest roll in this. There was bus after bus of kids as well as many vehicles; there were tons of people of all ages. I was pleasantly surprised though upon entering the zoo just how much it had to offer and the large variety of animals they housed; some that I had never even heard of. They allowed the bus trip of kids to bring picnic lunches and eat on their lawns with promises to pick up after they were finished which all the children complied with nicely. After this particular visit to the Henry Vilas Zoo, I knew I had to bring my youngest to see it as well. His favorite animal is the lion, the king of the jungle and they house a very impressive large lion.
On a later visit to Madison Wisconsin for my youngest doctors appointment, I loaded up the car with both my boys and my significant others two sons and off we went. After the quick trip to the doctors, we were off to locate our very own picnic lunch to take to the Henry Vilas Zoo. We agreed on Subways. Not in a bus this time, we were able to park really close to the main entrance of the zoo. Right by our parking spot was a picnic table where we sat and ate our picnic. The lawn was well maintained and there was plenty of garbage cans near were we ate for disposal of our trash.
Once again, entering the zoo I was impressed with the cleanliness of Henry Vilas Zoo. This zoo is very spacious spanning across 28 acres. You admittedly walk past the gift shop and concessions stands going in through the main entrance that can cause problems if you are on a limited budget with four boys. We quickly bypassed the pocketbook draws to the first animal display we saw, the penguins. Everyone posed for pictures behind a cut out picture boards that made them appear to be penguins. The penguins were not that active at the time but we caught up again with them later when they were more then happy to show us their diving skills. We saw many animals and some I had never even heard of before like the Asian Tapir and the Capybara. We saw many more animals such as the polar bears, grizzly bears, brown bears, the white rhino, giraffes, monkeys, an orangutan, buffalo, badgers, prairie dogs, alligators, fish, reptiles, and various bugs just to name some. There were a couple animals that were not on display that day, the tigers and the bald eagle. Through out the zoo there were water fountains that were a lifesaver for the kids to wet their pallets rather then having to pay a rather high price for a drink. The money spent at the zoo though is what keeps it up and running on top of donations.
When I later asked the boys what was there favorite and least favorite things about the Henry Vilas Zoo the responses varied from Tanner (age 9) favorite was the snakes, especially the anaconda but he was disappointed that the tigers were not available that day. Billy’s (age 9) favorite animals were the Mc Caws and the fish with his least favorite thing about the zoo the heat. Andrew’s (age 6) favorite was the lion, penguins, giant turtle, and the prairie dogs with nothing being unfavorable for him. Chase’s (age 5) favorite animal was the python, the green Nile snake and the anaconda but he did not care for the buffalo stating that they were boring. All agreed they would like to go again sometime though.
I highly recommend this Henry Vilas Zoo to everyone. If you are in the Madison area, make sure you plan time to visit this wonderful zoo. You will not regret it!
