I received complimentary season pass to visit the park in exchange for a media coverage. As always, all opinions are my own.

The kids have been asking to go to the zoo for a while since we moved to PA last year, so this past Saturday I took them to ZooAmerica in Hershey. Keep reading to find out all about our day trip adventure.

Things to Know Before you Go!

ZooAmerica is known as being the North American Wildlife Park. In other words, it’s a zoo full of animals found natively in North America! It’s a family-friendly attraction with a focus on education and conservation.

There you will find over 200 North American animals on exhibit. You can expect to see bears, prairie dogs, mountain lions, bob cat, deers, otters, eagles, etc. You can find a list of all the animals you may see on their website here

All visitors are welcome to spend as much time as they would like observing all the animals. The zoo is on the small side as far as zoos go at 11 acres in size. So you can plan for your visit to take an hour or two, depending on how paced you are in stopping to watch the animals. We arrived at 11:30 and stayed until 2:30. We took our time in each exhibit, stoped for a few minutes to rest and eat and my kids even went back to see some of their favorites one more time.

Where is the Zoo?

ZooAmerica is located close to all the attractions in Hershey, PA. It sits right next to Hersheypark, with a walkway directly connecting the two parks, and just down the road from most of the other main attractions in the area! It’s easy to find and get to and the area is safe and family-friendly.

How much does it cost?

We are Hersheypark season pass holders so we entered through the park for free. If you have an active ticket for the park for that day, you can also enter ZooAmerica free of charge through the bridge connecting the 2 locations during your visit.

Admission starts at $13 and children under 2 are free. The zoo also offers their own annual pass starting at $50 for individual pass or $135 for family passes. You can find more information on that and purchase tickets at the ZooAmerica site.

Parking is free. If the lot gets full there is a Hershey Press building nearby that also offers free parking.

And if you are like us, entering through Hersheypark and have a season pass park is included.

What to eat?

You can bring your own packed lunch or cooler. Picnic tables and benches are available. Vending machines are also available throughout the zoo. They also offer some kid-friendly options like chicken nuggets and fries but only available seasonally.

There are water fountains and water refill so you can bring your own water bottle and refill it throughout the day.

When to go?

The Hershey Zoo is open year round! We visited in a weekend day and it was open until 7pm. Be sure to check their site before visiting as some dates they close by 4:30pm.

Also wear comfy clothes and wear sunscreen. The majority of the zoo is outdoors.

Have Fun!

The zoo in general is very peaceful and easy to navigate. We had such a great time and my kids really enjoyed it. It is a great place to get some fresh air, learn about animals and just spend time with your family. It was not crowded at all, there was plenty of benches, picnic tables and shades to sit and relax.

I definitely recommend planning the zoo combined with some other activity for the day since you can see all the zoo in about 1-2 hours. We left the zoo and went back to Hersheypark to check out the aquatheater presentation of seals and sea lions. Rode a few kiddos rides, enjoyed some Simply Chocolate ice cream and finished our day at the carousel.

Have you been to ZooAmerica? Let me know if you have any questions that were not addressed in this post. Make sure to follow us on Instagram. As a Hershey Sweetest family member we will be doing lots of reviews on everything Hershey this year! I also saved all stories under a highlights bubble here.