Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - Colorado Springs
Oct 22, 2022
Written By: H.Couch
Lions, tigers and bears oh my. That’s what you expect to see among other animals when you visit a zoo. But this weekend we visited a place that seemed more like a small animal sanctuary then a zoo. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is set along the hillside with large outdoor enclosures. Where the smallest to the largest predators of all sizes can roam. With billowing trees, large boulders and several water features the outdoor setting seemed almost an ideal habitat. It wasn’t wild and free but it wasn’t a concrete jungle either.
Upon arrival into the zoo so many things made this place special and one of a kind. For example, you can interact with so many of the residents. Feeding giraffes lettuce, carrots to the rhino, seed sticks to birds, you can even feed the hippos. If you plan your day right, you can go from one animal encounter to the next. The other really special thing about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the openness. You walk into large enclosures while the animals roam freely amongst you. The wallabies are within petting range. Just hopping away as they please, free to roam around a large open environment. The penguins wobble and swim at their leisure while we the guest just bask in their play.
There was no way we were going to pass up the opportunity to feed and pet a giraffe. $5 dollars for some lettuce, yes please! The giraffe’s long necks cascading over the fence to each guest just looking for that lettuce was amazing. Their tongues reaching out grabbing whatever they could get from you. But you had to be quick for that pet on the head, all those smart giraffes were only looking for an easy meal ticket. Thankfully we were able to get a couple rubbies in and had an amazing few moments of petting and feeding giraffes.
We even got to see the baby giraffe that was born just a couple days before, she was still getting used to those long legs. But we couldn’t spend all day with the giraffes, there was much more to see.
Off to the elephants we go. They were eating and playing with large tree branches that were recently cut down or finding a hidden water hole in a large sculpture. Each of the different animals were mapped out in their respected countries. Encounter Africa, Asian Highlands, Australia walkabout, Rocky Mountain wild. So, from country to country in a few hours we went.
It was fun to watch the gorillas play and the grizzly bear splash about in the lake. Most of the animals seemed care free and unfazed by the people gawking and passing by.
At the end of all the countries, we took a chair lift up to the top of the mountain. The views from the zoo and now the top of the mountain, were amazing. You could see all of Colorado Springs and maybe even Kansas. The fall colors of yellow, orange and red on the trees made the views just feel like melting into fall, except it was 75 degrees. The only thing I didn’t love about the ski lift was it wasn’t part of the zoo cost and you had to pay an additional fee. It wasn’t a lot but was still extra. It would have been nice for the cost to have it all included.
If you are going to visit a zoo, this is where I’d recommend. A day that you can feed and pet a giraffe, I’d say is a good day.
Thanks for wandering with us,
The Wandering Couchs
