John Ball Zoo

This was a nice zoo. It’s a little crowded on busy days (although what zoo isn’t) as it isn’t huge and the pathways are occasionally narrow. The petting zoo was a big hit with my daughter and her cousins, as were the tigers. The layout of the zoo is quite hilly so if you have mobility issues it might be tricky to navigate.

After living in the Detroit area most of my life, I’m used to a bigger zoo, but I really enjoyed my visit here today. For me, the grizzly bears and tigers made the whole visit worthwhile, but I also liked the lower key mood this place has compared to the Detroit Zoo.
The stingray petting area was unique, although I was afraid I’d run into one that was still capable of stinging, so I passed on it. I appreciated the giant snakes and the Cougars as well. If you like zoos and would like to hand-​feed a giraffe, try the Alto Zoo, which is just southeast of Grand Rapids.

This zoo wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t the best zoo I have ever been too. We were in and out in about 2 hours and we saw everything there was to see. They don’t have a lot of animal diversity and their exhibits are kind of small. I hate seeing animals in small exhibits because I know they were taken away from there homes to be put on display for us. The scenery was pretty and it wasn’t too expensive, so that’s good. When I went the animals we could see were pretty active which is nice. Overall, a small decent zoo that serves the community. Wasn’t too crowded so if you have some time to kill while you are in Grand Rapids, MI, check it out.

It’s a nice zoo for its size and location but it made me a little sad since some of the enclosures seemed really small. It was a nice venue to take in though. A lot of the animals were hiding from the morning sun when we went so I’m not sure what time is best if you want to see them in an active state. Their ropes course looked fun and the zip-​line was an unexpected attraction too.
If you’re in town for a few days this is a fun way to spend a couple hours! FYI, the park isn’t well marked so just know that’s it between 131 and 196 off Fulton… when you see all the cars near the road bending you’re there.

endless fun, activities for all ages, super friendly staff everywhere, but not entirely thrilled about the additional random costs to see certain animals or do certain things (i.e. sting rays and funicular)

A decent, local zoo good for keeping the kids occupied for a couple of hours. Not terribly expensive, but not terribly large or fancy — but local and convenient.
As with most of these places, I would advise either having the family eat before you go or after you leave since the food options are limited.
The exhibits are varied and interesting enough to keep you occupied for a while but you can’t expect to see what you would at larger zoos such as the Detroit Zoo or Binder Park Zoo. My little ones really liked the snow leopard and other large cat exhibits.

I’m a little disappointed. We travled 2.5 hours after hearing wonderful things about this zoo. I think well stick with the Detroit Zoo. The restrooms are gross, some of the exhibits are really dirty. The fish tank in the entrance of the aquarium doesn’t look like it has been cleaned in a while. Also, it takes forever to get food, it took us almost twenty minutes waiting in line. I won’t be back for those reasons. The exhibits we wanted to see supposedly opened in May (it’s May 3) and they are still not open. Also, the train is currently inoperable. Great seeing the animals and the kids area near the tiger exhibit is nice but that’s about it. Not worth it.

**Be sure to visit this zoo AFTER they get all of their animals back and open all of thier exhibits in May.
We made the trip up from IL today and we were pleased with the zoo. Unfortunately this zoo has several animals and extras that ‘close’ for the winter, so close to 50% of the zoo is inaccessible during the off season. Fortunately, we did enjoy what was open today. This zoo is set in a wooden forest ravine which adds to the character. When we entered we couldn’t say no to their uphill tram ride which is affectionately called the ‘funicular’. It’s a simple standing tram ride up a hill, but it’s a cool way to start or end your journey at this zoo. $ 20 admission for a fam of three was a good price, extraordinary if all of their exhibits and animals are available. One thing I missed was the zip line tour. Would have been fun to give that a whirl.

Love this little zoo. They’ve done a great job updating it and the folks there are very knowledgable. The variety of animals is also great! An amazing Tiger exhibit just opened and is being expanded already and will allow people to walk a trail through the tiger enclosure, to encourage them to keep their stalking skills up! Scary and cool :) don’t worry you’re safe behind some pretty serious fence.
Their new Tree House is a beautiful event venue perfect for weddings, reunions and corporate events. Beautiful view of the city and the Funicular runs right up to it.

I think this is one of the best zoos, I have ever been to!
Clean facilities, lots of animals. Most interactive group of zoo animals I have seen– they also look very happy considering they are trapped in a box. Enclosures are also pretty decent.
The food offerings here seemed to be mostly ice cream and unhealthy food. The food was what you would expect from a shack in middle of a zoo– mediocre.
So much fun activities to do and are well priced. Touch sting rays, zipline, and rope climb.

I have been coming to John Ball Zoo since I was a kid. Over the years it hasn’t changed a ton, but has had some improvements done.
We decided today to head out to the zoo as they have a new tiger exhibit. Though the exhibit isn’t complete the tigers are out on display… except today as they were painting.
The zoo has a good mix of animals that you typically would find at any zoo. The layout is even set up to where you basically walk in a giant circle. I would have to say that the chimps and what I saw of the tiger exhibit would be the better exhibits here at John Ball.
The food is overpriced for the portion, but that should be expected. They do offer two zip lines which I have yet to do.
Outside the zoo is a park which features fountains and picnic tables under the shade of mature trees.
All in all it’s a nice zoo and a good place to visit.

I’m a huge fan of zoos, but I really knew nothing about the John Ball Zoo. Since I was in town for a baseball game, I figured I had to check it out and I wasn’t disappointed at all. The John Ball Zoo is a fantastic zoo with a huge variety of animals, and some really nice exhibits. In fact, the chimpanzee exhibit was one of the best exhibits I’ve seen in over 20 different zoos. The zoo was nice, it was cheap, free parking, a decent amount of concessions and a nice gift store… I’m definitely a fan.
One tip however, be ready to exercise. It seems like the entire zoo is uphill. If I would have planned it better, I would have took the adorable little funicular tram up to the top and walked down the zoo. If you do that, it’s definitely worth the $ 3.

This is a cute zoo! Took us about 3 hours to go through it. There were cool sting rays and penguins… chimpanzees…lions and bobcats and bears! It was $ 10 for adult admission. A lot cheaper than most. We even watched a huge tree branch fall and just about hit an elderly couple. Luckily they weren’t hurt. Stingray petting for $ 1:) feed em for another $ 1.

Great little zoo in Grand Rapids. Plenty of parking, lots of neat exhibits, and not too expensive.
Our kids loved getting to pet stingrays and a small leopard shark, and I got a kick out of it too. We also got to pet a lizard up by the tiger enclosure.
Speaking of, the tiger enclosure is still under construction (going on at least two years now) but there’s a small enclosure where you can see two tigers up pretty darn close.
One complaint is the same I have for most zoos – the enclosures are just too small. You don’t get to see anything close to what an animal would do in the wild (I guess that’s what safaris and state parks are for, though). In particular, the alligators, monkeys (not the spider monkeys, they have a whole island) and (for now) the tigers could sure use more room. The reptile house enclosures are all much too small for the critters in them (the python takes up half his enclosure).
The fish exhibits are pretty cool, as are the penguins.
One pretty depressing thing is the camel rides. The camels have zero space and are tied to posts when they are resting. The «ride» is two tiny loops around a circle. The ride operators basically scream at the camels to get up when they try to roll over to scratch their backs, which happens frequently. Nothing ruins a zoo experience faster than seeing employees screaming at the animals, who are basically being forced to carry tourists around. Not cool. They should do away with the camels and use the space for some other exhibit (like the tigers).

John Ball is a cute, accessible, family friendly zoo with a local touch.
It’s not the largest zoo out there but a family could easily spend an enjoyable afternoon taking it all in. Most of the exhibits put you close enough to the animals so you can really see them in their «natural habitat», which is great for kids.
They make an effort to showcase animals that are native to Michigan, making the experience more relevant for locals. There are several interactive exhibits including petting stingrays, riding a camel, and meeting new friends at the petting zoo. They also have a cool zipline/​rope climb area for older kids.
John Ball added a safari/​Africa exhibit which is quite nice and the main reason for our visit last summer. It’s a smaller version of what you might see at a larger zoo. It’s mapped out well and well maintained.
Most Grand Rapids natives can show you a picture of themselves or their kids on the Statue of John Ball, located out front of the zoo. Make sure you get your picture taken here to say you are a real Rapidian!

My sister practically lived across the street here and I never got to go with any of my classes in school until recently. I believe I missed out on the wonder and fun of what it would have been like to be a kid, but as an adult it seemed kind of pricey and there were no tigers! There were pictures and posters seeking assistance in helping fund them to bring them back. We did see a variety of other animals and I really like the petty zoo and how calm those goats were! The ability to go in and feed the birds looked really cool as well. It was very interactive and fun. They also have facilities and areas to rent out for birthday parties, extravagant events, camping, and doing zip lines. What a fun spot!

Visited here with two little ones on a weekday. It was pretty busy for a Thursday morning, hard to get around some of the attractions with a stroller, but overall we were able to see everything. We saw everything in just around two hours. Perfect for little ones who can’t handle a mega zoo.

Recently having relocated from St. Louis (and their AWESOME zoo), I attended an event through
at the John Ball Zoo this morning. Had we not had two kids that needed diaper changes and were cranky, we would have spent much more time there today!
It was clean and the zookeeper who was in charge of our group was awesome — both ladies, in fact, were very knowledgeable and patient. My son is autistic, so when they gathered the kids up to take them inside the bear exhibit (no bears in there btw!) to put out snacks for the animals, she held his hand, walked him around, took the time to explain everything to him, got down on his level, etc.
We will definitely be back and we can’t wait to check out the rest of the facility.

The John Ball Zoo is a great little zoo that you don’t have to spend all day at in order to see everything you want to see. Sure, it isn’t a «big-​time» zoo that people make meccas to, but it has all of the important basics:
1) Penguins — the building that houses the penguins (along with the tide pool and sea creatures) is very nice.
2) Petting zoo for kids and families
3) Monkeys and chimpanzees. The chimp area is one of the newer exhibits, and monkey island is always fun to see.
Some of the more unique aspects:
1) Snow leopards. A lot of bigger and «better» zoos don’t even have these beautiful animals. I always especially like seeing this exhibit.
2) Bald eagles. Granted it makes me kind of sad that these birds can’t fly freely like they would in nature, but they are still incredible to see.
3) The big waterfall. This is over near the petting zoo and is fun because you can walk behind it or trek to the top for a nice view.
4) Komodo dragon. This creature is kept in the reptile /​nocturnal animal house. I personally get goosebumps looking at the snakes haha but I always force myself to go through the reptile house (eyes on the ground of course!) so that I can see the komodo at the end.
5) Statue of John Ball (and some bronze children). Be sure to get a picture of the kiddos with them each time you go! It’s tradition.
Overall, this is an inexpensive zoo that is great to bring kids to, because it isn’t so big that they are going to start getting tired and cranky. Also, there is a pond with tons of ducks/​geese outside the zoo entrance, so bring some bread to feed them while you’re there!

Unexpectedly, a damn fine zoo.
$ 5 gets you in and about an arms length from some pretty dangerous creatures. Seriously, I could have extended my arm and brushed up against a snow leopard and puma… but I happened to catch a few episodes of ‘When Animals Attack’ back in the day and I’d like to think I learned a few lessons. #1. Don’t poke the bear.
We went in late October so not all the exhibits were open. I was disappointed at first, but had to look at from another angle and be grateful that the zoo was not busy at all, and that we could walk right up to the Lions, Chimps, Bears, Cougars, Komodo Dragon, Etc and not have a million other people and their 500 kids pushing, shoving, screaming, etc in front of us. It felt like my own private zoo!
I’ll definitely be making it a point to get back here as soon as some of their warm weather exhibits and activities open up. Zip lining? Pet a wallaby? Paddle in a swan boat? Yes, Yes, Yes!!!
Lastly, when checking out the otter exhibit, don’t feel sorry that there’s just one lone lady otter in there. I had always seen otters who love to swim, frolic, and play with other otters but one of the ‘friendly’ zoo keepers on hand informed us that she kills anything they put in there with her. Apparently old girl is a vicious raptor of a roomie. Informative, Yes. But jeez… he didn’t have to break it to us like that. Eep.