Turtle Back Zoo

I grew up in New Jersey. I remember visiting the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ when I was in the third grade. It was right after I fractured my wrist. My mother made a point of asking the doctor if I could go on my class trip to the zoo. His reply "She can climb Mount Everest if she wants to." I went to the zoo and climbed a rock. A chaperone told me I shouldn't be doing that. I repeated what the doctor said and stayed on the rock.

This week I drove down to NJ and visited the Turtle Back Zoo with my children along with three of their cousins. It was huge. Much larger than I remember it. It was clean. There was a train ride (free with admission), Pony Rides ($2 per child), and you could feed budgies ($2 per stick of food). The prairie dogs had 'observation' areas where anyone could stick their heads up into plastic domes and look up close and personal at the critters. And, the carousel is beautiful. Full of hand carved creatures to ride upon. My daughter chose a dragon.


The kids had a great time. The only not so great thing there was the food. I didn't bring any with me so we had to stand in line to purchase food. No one ate the chicken nuggets. The fries seemed to be the most tasteful item. So - if you find yourself visiting the Turtle Back Zoo - remember to pack a lunch.