Updated for September 2026
The Best Zoos in California
How this list is ordered: by how complete our listing is — how much we hold on opening hours, ticket prices, accreditation, photographs, animals and facilities. It is a measure of our own coverage, not a judgement of the venue. We hold no visitor scores or conservation assessments, so “best” here means every zoo in California that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
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Keeper talk or showPlaygroundNight and evening opening
CuriOdyssey
Zoo in San Mateo
It sits within the Coyote Point Recreation Area, overlooking the bay. Close to 100 rescued animals are kept, mostly state natives that cannot be released. It takes part in Museums for All, which gives qualifying families free entry and cheaper membership.
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Keeper talk or showOvernight stayBehind-the-scenes tour
Fresno Chaffee Zoo
Zoo in Fresno
Fresno Chaffee Zoo, opened in 1929, is a zoo in Fresno, California, United States. Animals on show include Masai giraffe, Red Wolf, Sulawesi Babirusa, Orangutan and Lion.
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Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Zoo in San Jose
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, opened in 1961, is a zoo in San Jose, United States.
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Keeper talk or showGuided tourWheelchair accessible routes
Los Angeles Zoo
Zoo in Los Angeles
The grounds, the buildings and the animals are owned by the municipality. Certification as a botanical garden followed in 2002, which prompted a change to the official name.
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Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
Zoo in Palo Alto
It was started in 1934 by Josephine O'Hara in a primary school basement. Roughly 200 species are kept, largely local fauna such as bobcat, raccoon, hedgehog, duck, bat and snake, and the interactive science display is swapped out every few years. Science classes are taught to over 14,000 local pupils a year.
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Guided tourParking
San Diego Zoo
Zoo in San Diego
The zoo occupies 100 acres leased from the city and was an early adopter of cageless, open-air habitat displays. Animals on show include Giant Pandas, Koala, Red Panda and Baboon.
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Overnight stayBehind-the-scenes tourFree benefits
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Zoo in Escondido
Over 3,000 animals of more than 400 species are kept. The park is the site of what is billed as the largest veterinary hospital anywhere, and it serves as Southern California's quarantine point for zoo animals entering through San Diego.
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PlaygroundParkingAssistance animal policy
San Francisco Zoological Gardens
Zoo in San Francisco
Under a public-private arrangement in place since 1993, it receives $4.2 million a year from the city. As of 2016 it held over a thousand animals of more than 250 species. A commission judged many of the enclosures to fall below basic welfare standards and urged a strategic redesign.
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On-site diningParking
Santa Ana Zoo
Zoo in Santa Ana
Annual attendance tops 270,000. A breeding pair of Brazilian ocelots occupies two connected habitats.
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Animal feeding experienceRides and attractionsGuided tour
Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens
Zoo in Santa Barbara
It occupies the former Child Estate and holds more than 500 animals, capybara and California condors among them; one of its giraffes had a bent neck. A 2 ft narrow gauge train runs on the grounds.
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On-site diningParking
Sequoia Park Zoo
Zoo in Eureka
It forms part of a wider park with 60 acres of second-growth coast redwoods, Eureka's biggest playground and a duck pond. Formal and natural gardens on the site hold many varieties of rhododendron.
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Animal encounterPlaygroundParking
The Living Desert
Zoo in Palm Desert
The holding runs to 1,200 acres, of which 80 are built out, and annual attendance is above half a million.
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ParkingAssistance animal policy
Big Bear Alpine Zoo
Zoo in Big Bear Lake
Injured wildlife is rehabilitated for release here, and animals judged unable to return to the wild remain permanently; the collection stands at around 160 animals of 80 species, among them wolves, cougars, eagles, and grizzly and black bears. The country holds only two alpine zoos, of which this is one, and it describes itself as the sole zoological facility set in alpine forest and devoted to alpine species. Ownership and management rest with a San Bernardino County special district, the Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District, and the grounds face Bear Mountain Ski Resort.
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Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Zoo & Aquarium in San Pedro
The programmes and displays cover the oceanography and marine biology of Southern California.
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California Science Center
Zoo in Los Angeles
California Science Center is a zoo in Los Angeles, United States.
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Petting zooRides and attractionsParking
Oakland Zoo
Zoo in Oakland
Oakland Zoo, opened in 1922, is a zoo in Oakland, United States.
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Animal encounterRides and attractionsBehind-the-scenes tour
Sacramento Zoo
Zoo in Sacramento
The site grew to 14.3 acres in the early 1960s, and slightly more than 500 animals were held as of December 2012. Animals on show include giraffes, desert tortoise, meerkats, African lions and jaguar.
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PlaygroundRides and attractions
Charles Paddock Zoo
Zoo in Atascadero
Over 100 animals covering 45 species are kept. An endangered male Malayan tiger, Menderu, was held until its death in 2025.
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Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary
Zoo in Folsom
The zoo operates on sanctuary lines in how its animals arrive and are kept: they are never bred, sold or traded, though visitors are admitted.
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ParkingMobility equipment loanImmersive media attraction
Heal the Bay Aquarium
Zoo & Aquarium in Santa Monica
It was previously called the Ocean Discovery Center and was run by UCLA up to 2003. It now serves as Heal the Bay's site for marine education, advocacy and community science, with programming centred on marine conservation, pollution prevention and environmental education. Over 100,000 visitors come each year, about 15,000 of them students.
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Guided tour
Orange County Zoo
Zoo in Orange
The zoo is owned, staffed and run by the county. Its residents generally arrive injured, orphaned or abandoned and in need of emergency care, and the plants shown are likewise native to the Southwest.
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Animal feeding experienceParking
OstrichLand USA
Zoo in Solvang
More than 100 ostriches and emus are kept and can be fed by the public, with the owner Trudy Brown putting the figures at around 80 ostriches and 20 emus. The location was chosen because the landscape resembles African and Australian habitat. Visitors are told to grip the bowl of alfalfa pellets firmly, keep their fingers clear and not touch the birds.
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Micke Grove Zoo
Zoo in Lodi
The regional park around it also holds a Japanese garden, the county historical museum and an amusement park. An expansion begun in 2010 was to add Oriental small-clawed otters and a larger snow leopard habitat, but the building work stopped part-way and awaits further funding. Education work is paid for with help from the Micke Grove Zoological Society; six weeks of private zoo camp are run for county pupils, along with five weeks of public camp and Zoo Mobile outreach.
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Shambala Preserve
Zoo in Acton
It is run by the Roar Foundation and was started in 1983 by the actress Tippi Hedren. Most of the residents were captive-bred, orphaned, surplus to circuses or zoos, or surrendered by private keepers.
Our ranking methodology
This is not a ranking. The 25 venues above are listed alphabetically by name, the same order used throughout this site. We do not collect visitor reviews, star ratings, ticket-sales figures or a conservation-impact score, so none of those exist here to rank by — “best” in this page’s title means every venue that qualifies for this list, not first-to-last by quality. If we ever add a data source robust enough to support an honest ranking, this note and the order above will change together.