Is Hogle Zoo Worth It?

Yes, for most families: Utah's Hogle Zoo cares for more than 150 species, 65 of them threatened or endangered, spread across eight areas that range from the African Savanna to the three-acre Wild Utah. An adult ticket runs $22.95-$26.95 depending on the season, and 2026 adds a genuine reason to time a visit -- a baby orangutan born in June. If you want to spend less, or need an indoor option, Tracy Aviary across town in Salt Lake City is the cheaper, bird-focused alternative.

What not to miss at Hogle Zoo

Featured location Utah’s Hogle Zoo Salt Lake City, United States WAZA Utah’s Hogle Zoo, opened in 1931, is a zoo in United States.

Start with Wild Utah, the zoo's newest area: three acres built at a cost of $22 million, holding animals actually native to the state -- cougars, desert bighorn sheep, bobcats, desert tortoises, yellow-bellied marmots, American badgers, gray foxes, western toads, burrowing owls and North American porcupines. It also has an interactive kitchen where you help prepare animal diets, a Maker Space for hands-on conservation activities, and a nature play area with a campsite, so it's worth more than a walk-through if you're travelling with kids.

Then head for the Great Apes area. On June 21, 2025, Bornean orangutan Kawan gave birth to a female, Weila, at the zoo. Because Kawan didn't nurse her, keepers hand-reared Weila and then introduced her to foster mother Acara -- who had already raised her own younger brother in 2014. You can see the pair together in the Great Apes lobby or the outdoor orangutan habitat, and keepers say the best time to catch them is around one of the daily bottle feedings, roughly 11am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm.

Hogle Zoo or Tracy Aviary?

If a full day of mammals, reptiles and a wide range of species is what you want, Hogle Zoo is the bigger day out. If you'd rather spend a couple of hours around birds for less money, Tracy Aviary is the better fit -- and the two aren't really competing for the same afternoon.

Tracy Aviary opened to the public on July 2, 1938, starting on four acres and growing to the eight it covers today.

As the largest and oldest of only two free-standing aviaries in the nation

Its Treasures of the Rainforest exhibit is fully indoor, recreating the sights and sounds of a tropical rainforest with species including the Guam kingfisher, violet turaco, black-naped fruit dove, Victoria crowned pigeon and Bali myna -- and it doubles as an explainer on Tracy Aviary's own work helping rebuild the wild Guam kingfisher population. Outside, free daily programs run all day: bird shows at 11am and 1:30pm, a bird talk at 2:15pm and roaming bird encounters at 10am, all included with admission. In November 2025, Salt Lake City's Historic Landmark Commission approved moving the aviary's original 1938 office building to make way for a new 3,500-square-foot garden pavilion with an auditorium for year-round bird shows, seating 150-250 people indoors plus a 2,000-square-foot outdoor patio -- though officials haven't said when construction starts.

Tickets and saving money

Hogle Zoo's adult ticket is $26.95 from May through September and $22.95 from October through April; children aged 3-12 pay $21.95 or $18.95 in the same windows, and anyone 2 or under gets in free. Buying online saves $2 per ticket, and groups of 20 or more paying visitors in one transaction get $3 off each ticket, though group tickets can't be refunded. The zoo says most of its memberships pay for themselves after just three visits, and members also get 50% off Tracy Aviary admission on Thursdays.

Tracy Aviary is cheaper across the board: $14.95 for adults, $10.95 for children 3-12, $12.95 for seniors and for students, veterans or military, and free for infants 2 and under. A dollar from every ticket goes to its Conservation Fund. From May through August the aviary stays open until 8pm on Mondays, with $5 admission after 5pm in June, July and August, and through the Museums for All programme, SNAP recipients get free admission for up to four guests by showing an EBT card in person.

With kids and accessibility

At Hogle Zoo, outside food and drink are allowed -- just no alcohol or glass containers -- so a packed lunch is a fine way to cut costs. Wheelchairs and electronic convenience vehicles can be rented on a first-come, first-served basis and can't be reserved ahead, and sensory backpacks with items like magnifying glasses, glare-reducing glasses and tactile animal models are available to borrow at Guest Services.

Tracy Aviary keeps a limited number of manual wheelchairs to borrow at the Gift Shop, also first-come, first-served, and wagons and strollers are welcome throughout. Sensory backpacks can also be borrowed at the Gift Shop.

Other wildlife nearby

If a day of captive animals leaves you wanting to see something wild, Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake is free-roaming ground for bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep and pronghorn. Twelve bison were brought to the island in February 1893 -- it isn't a venue this directory lists, but it's worth knowing about if Hogle Zoo's own bighorn sheep and cougars have you curious what the state looks like without fences.