Description: This is not a huge, sprawling, too-much-to-do-in-one-day type of zoo (like the Bronx or San Diego zoos), but it makes for a very relaxing family outing where you can easily forget you are just minutes from downtown Boston. We went with two kids in tow- one just a few months old - and found the
Franklin Park Zoo
very "do-able" in a few hours, with a break for lunch.
Founded in 1911, Franklin Park is clearly an "older" zoo, but under the Zoo New England umbrella it is clearly being revamped and modernized. Nice for the visitors, much nicer still for the animals who call the zoo their home. All the animal kingdoms are here, plus quite a few playground-type areas.
The children's area is particularly nice with a working farm/barn setting and "contact corral". We took some great family photos perched atop a great big tractor in front of the barn. More great photo ops were a huge wooden crocodile sculpture (perfect for "riding") along the Australian Outback trail and a "crashed" safari truck whose windshield provides a gate into the world of the lions in Kalahari Kingdom.
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