Our family really enjoyed the Glowrati event! There was just the right amount of people. The flow of the lines and the atmosphere was relaxing. Food & concessions were open for purchase, however we brought our own snacks. The weather was amazing and not that chilly the evening of 11/28. You can enter within an hour of your reservation time on your tickets and you can stay as long as you want until closing at 10 pm. The earlier, the better I think. Parking was easy because of it and we got the first space in front of the entrance, which never happens. Everybody was wearing masks even though we were outside. The gondola ride up the hill was open and you can fit a double back-to-back stroller inside, not sure about the tandem. Super convenient because we didnt have to take the kids out. We have the Contour. It was a great little family outing for the Thanksgiving weekend. There were bubbles and a big floor piano for the kiddos to stomp on along with music, however for those who are strict about the social distancing among kids, probably best to divert to a different location.

What a wonderful place to visit with family/kids. Well, any animal lover will enjoy it greatly. Big number of animals to see, learn about their habitat and discover something new. Making reservations online was easy. Staff on site is very helpful. Everything is clean, COVID- safe, everyone is masked and distancing. Stroller friendly.Some areas are closed but that’s perfectly understandable. Gondola was a lot of fun. Separate are with California native animals was a blast to see. We hope to come back soon!

One of my favorite parts of living in Oakland is our zoo. My family has maintained a membership since 2016 and it has been worth every penny. We attended Boo @ the Zoo this year. Even with the pandemic restrictions my 4 year old had a GREAT time visiting his favorite habitats while in costume. It was a great replacement for trick or treating this year. He was particularly excited to have his first wolf sighting. The zoo always provides at least a couple of hours of distraction for our family.

We spent about four hours there, and not everything is available during this pandemic. Thankfully I bought membership and can take my family back once the other areas are open. Staff was helpful and sanitary. The gondola was amazing, the bears and monkeys put on a good show just playing around. And there is plenty for small children to enjoy. The gift shop was disappointing with a very small selection that caters to small children.

Absolutely love the new California Trail expansion. It had amazing views of the bay and the new animal exhibits are HUGE. The animals in them were very playful. The wolves were easy to see and the grizzlies were putting on a show. I absolutely loved it and recommend this zoo. Get a membership to help them out.

First time visiting the zoo with my family and I enjoyed it. I went on the weekend, it was crowded so it was quite hard to practice social distancing. However, noted that everyone wore mask and not all areas were crowded. Overall, it was a very fun experience.

We had a nice day at the zoo this past weekend. The animals seemed healthy and relaxed. As you can see from the photos, we had great views of most of them. It was a little too busy for our liking so next time we’ll go on a weekday.

I like the Zoo. It is great place to run the kiddos around and burn some energy. We love the elephant, and giraffes exhibits. My kids wish you could see the Lions more easily though. All in all good place to spend a few hours.

Lovely, neat and clean ambience. Stroller available on rent for kids. Food, water and drink available. During pandemic you can take your own foods and staff are helpful and try to maintain social distancing. Few sections are closed

Great place to go on safari with your children . Masks and social distancing maintained.

This is the second best zoo i have ever been too! there is a great gift shop, ineradicable animals and a variety of kind helpful workers. I advise this zoo to you above all others! it is great to go alone or with the whole family! there are also many cool attractions! I LOVE THIS ZOO!

We bought a membership so my son can regularly visit here every week. He absolutely LOVES it and it is teaching him SO much about all the different animals. This place has changed so much, even in just the past few years. This is easily the best zoo in the Bay Area! Its so much bigger and nicer now. All of the animal habitats are spacious and the animals themselves seem healthier and happier. I look forward to visiting here with my family more often now.

Massive property. Great attention to detail throughout the property. Spent about 2 hours there but could have easily been there twice as long taking in all the small but significant touches that went into making this place special. The gondola ride provides one of the best views of the East Bay.

Mostly large, open-air enclosures with moats. Lots of information about sustainable choices to support wildlife habitats. The gibbons are the best!

Love this zoo !!!! Our family has had our membership for several years. We love everything about it. Its a great go to family activity for us. The zoo is well kept and the staff is very friendly and attentive. Well be members as long as we live close enough. Highly recommend for one time visitors and memberships alike.

The zoo inside is good for families. Some animals, like tiger and jaguar are always sleeping. Bears are always fighting with each other. Not many people are visiting the zoo in the covid19 situation. But the only concern from us is that the zoo is located in Oakland, which is not a safe place for families to drive through.

Its a lovely zoo but I didnt feel safe. The cashier took my phone in her bare hand to scan tickets, and it was very difficult to remain socially distant as we walked around. Hand sanitizer stations throughout.

Lights at the zoo were great, major improvement from previous year and much smaller crowd so you can safely distance.

The Lion pumpkin patch was pretty funny last week. The gondola ride up to the new California Trail section is really well done. We saw mountain lions & bears there. There were fewer people there which made the visit pleasant.

The phone operator was very rude. We had booked online tickets last week for today, but unfortunately we have family members that developed cold symptoms last night. In an effort not to put others at risk and be considerate, we asked to change the tickets, but the operator refused and told me we didnt ask you to purchase tickets if you have a cold. Were we supposed to predict that we will have a cold on the particular date? How inconsiderate and disrespectful during times of COVID. If you are asking people not to come if they have a cold, you should have some flexibility with your tickets policy. Unbelievable that we have to deal with this in addition to being sick.

So happy this amazing zoo is open again. Great for for everyone. Youll love seeing the animals and they will love seeing you. Just make reservations ahead.

Loved the zoo. It is huge and has tons of animals. Great place to spend full day with family and kids.

Best zoo. Even if there were no animals, the Oakland Zoo is just a great park. You must purchase tickets ahead of time; they only allow a certain amount of reservations at a time due to the covid pandemic.

It was good to bring my children to the zoo. It wasnt too busy so there wasnt a feeling of feeling crowded. Of course the petting zoo, the play stuctures and reptile exhibt were close. But otherwise had a great time.

Visited in Aug 2020 a few weeks after reopening. Purchased timed-entry tickets and parking online ahead of our visit, as currently required. Went with a senior, who appreciated the many benches for resting on. Pleasant employees. Employees and visitors followed the mask requirement. This was our first visit using the gondola to the California Trail loop. Beautiful addition to the zoo! Great to see local animals as well as ones from around the world. Some of the welcome back messages on whiteboards throughout the park named individual animals; I would love to have that information posted more permanently for the larger/older/easy to identify animals. Some areas of the zoo are currently closed (amusement park, petting zoo), so check the website if you have a particular destination in mind.

Lovely zoo for single visitors, couples and families with kids. I secured 11am tickets and was able to watch an amazing feeding of the zoos huge tortoises and saw the grizzly bears enjoying some adorable pool time. Bring plenty of cool water, sunscreen and snacks.

This zoo has improved so much since my last visit 15 years ago. If you havent been in many years, I encourage you to try again. The animals were playing and seemed happy. The enclosures were large with vegetation and structures suited to the animals inside. Great zoo for small children. Only downside is that there are hills so hard for elderly and pushing strollers up hills with 2 children wasnt fun. Kids loved the gondola up to California trail.

A really nice zoo. Animals seem very well taken care of. Gondola ride to upper level is fun.

We had a great time. It was great for our older kids but for our preschool age kids not so much. All the play areas and petting zoo were all closed. Water fountains all turned off and only the stores open at the entrance. Bring your own beverages or buy it when you first get there because all the usual eating spots are closed. Everything else was closed. Was not worth the entrance fee when everything for the kids is off limits. The time limit also has you feeling rushed. Gives you barely enough time to get around the whole zoo. With little ones it a little harder. The ride up the mountain was amazing. We all enjoyed it and loved all the animals up there. Again, wish the play areas were open and water fountains. But with Covid it all has to be closed. I just don’t think it was worth the $120 we paid to get in when all the kids stuff were closed off. Especially petting zoo.

Great opportunity to get out of the house and into the outdoors and do something the whole family enjoys. Love the addition of the gondolas and the California trail. The Grizzlies were especially fun to watch. We also were able to see the lions get a snack.

Although several areas were still closed where social distancing is not possible, we were still able to enjoy nearly all of the zoo. Staff were plentiful, friendly, and knowledgeable. Habitats looked so nice I could live there. And the burger and fries at the cafe were awesome. The hills can be a bit steep for mobility challenged patrons, but there are plenty of benches and lots of shade to rest a bit. The animals looked happy and healthy with many enrichment activities and areas for them.

My kids loved seeing the animals! Every single animal on the brochure was there. There were plenty of hand sanitizing stations on site. The crew was very friendly and helpful. At times, security reminded folks to stay 6 feet apart or take turns watching animals.If you have kids, I cant recommend Oakland Zoo enough!

My kids love it here, the free flying bird shows are great and they love feeding the Penguins & Lorikeets!! Outside play areas, places to have a picnic, cafe’s. You can go on a little train ride & there’s a big indoor jungle barn, where the kids can run wild & the parents can have a coffee…. Plus the staff are doing great work with these birds, training, charities, protection and their talks are very educational!! We buy return tickets every time!

Sons first zoo visit, well worth driving up for. They do a great job of sanitizing and crowd control. We got some great and entertaining views of the baboons, grizzlies, and giraffes... well definitely be back

I love this place.. not too crowded or hectic.. my little one can runs around freely and dont have to worry about the six feet apart..

Walkable with great new exhibits like Glowfari. The gondola ride is a must and has an incredible sweeping view of the bay.

Great zoo. Lucky to have this gem for the animals and guests. Best to go on a weekday. Weekends get crowded. The zoo is following all the covid protocols.

Great place to spend a day with a toddler. Plan for 2-3 hours inside. Open during COVID - not crowded, clean, well organized, everyone wearing masks.

Amazing place to explore and knowing animals with your family, friendly staffs and very clean place.

We used the gondola and had a great view of the zoo and surrounding area. The wolves were being feed. We enjoyed watching them. There were hammocks for jaguars, bobcats, etc. It was wonderful to see all the new area.

Went midday on a Wednesday, and it wasnt too crowded. The COVID precautions seemed sufficient. Lots of hand sanitizer stations around.

We always love the Oakland Zoo and we super love Glowfari! An awesome new experience at an already wonderful zoo!

The day we went it was one of the hottest days. Even with that though the kids had a blast. It was not crowded because its reservations only. Most the time people stayed away and followed the rules. I did see a couple people trying take off their mask but as soon as they saw others looking they would put it back on. I think it would be a good idea for them to out a couple spots throughout the zoo to let people remove their masks to grab a drink or have a snack. Most the food was closed just the main places at the main entrance and a couple spots for sweet treats. It was a good day though

Oakland zoo has come a long way! Its beautiful, clean and offers spectacular views.

We had a lovely day at the zoo. I felt safe during this crazy covid time. I think we saw every animal which is a first. This was a belated birthday gift and I loved it.

Have enjoyed the Zoo in the past, and had some trepidation about going anywhere during Covid, but they have several measures in place to limit exposure. Reservations were easy to get online, and the limited number of people made it easy to stay distanced while seeing the animals. The gondola was constantly being disinfected, and really enjoyed the new native California area up on the hill. Good option for doing something outside with the family.

I heard from many friends that this zoo was amazing and now I know first hand. Fantastic zoo for animals that cant be in their natural habitats with room to roam. The animals have space!!! Imagine that!?! And the prices are very reasonable (even has a discount online for membership- worth every cent and includes parking).During this pandemic unfortunately a lot of exhibits are off limits and closed for obvious reasons but we still enjoyed ourselves immensely and plan on coming back again soon. The zoo really needs the communitys support to help sustain the animals needs.When fully reopened (hopefully in the near future) there are kid play zones and viewing areas thoughtfully placed all around the park, an awesome gondola, a train and children amusement park area.I didnt get to try the cafe (my only complaint) the cafe up near the Buffalo and bears was closed and I was starving and munching on my kids snacks .

Best Zoo In Northern California. Open During Covid

I really like the zoo, but it was pretty crowded for me, in our COVID world. It was often difficult or impossible to remain fully distant, and lots of people didnt care to. On the upside, pretty much everyone was wearing masks, though you had the usual numbers of folks with noses out.I went on a Saturday, so weekdays might be better in terms of crowds.

Fun zoo . The grounds are well kept . The gondola ride is beautiful!!! What a view!!! i wish they had more extensive reptile and Gorilla exhibits .

Good variety of animals. Park doing well with social distancing.

Elephants!! Wide open (albeit hilly) terrain with great social distancing.Currently the Oakland zoo has free parking during the pandemic. A great way to spend a few hours exploring the animals. Our favorites were the elephants, bears, tigers, and lions.The skytrain gives you a very expansive view of the entire Bay area, absolutely gorgeous views! Highly recommend visiting!!

Awesome Zoo! How ever there were far too many people with out masks and no way to keep distance from each other.So be careful. Stay safe!

Nice place to visit too see the animals and view of the bay area!

Everyone was friendly. The majority of the animals were out to see. My neice had the key to the special box to share more information on each animals. There was probably on3 boxes that did not work. Had a great day at Oakland Zoo!

Very well maintained park, bad food. Get your own food and water bottle. Plenty of spaces to sit and eat while watching the lazy and bored lions yawn at you.

Kid friendly zoo with many animals. The grizzly bears are huge!

By far my favorite ZOO, staff is amazing , lot’s of parking spaces. There is so much to experience, only negative thing I can say is I wish there was more food options and more bathroom locations. I recommend for everyone to visit if they can. Entrance fee together with the parking is very reasonable.

Beautiful zoo. Great layout. Lots of variety. Easy to get around. The gondola ride was fantastic and the views from the top of the zoo were excellent! Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

The Oakland Zoo remains my favorite bay area zoo. They have done a stunning job handling covid at the park, with limited admittance, great demarcations to maintain social distancing, reminders to wear masks and sanitizing stations. I was nervous at first to bring my 12 month old but the park knocked it out of the....park....It was almost more enjoyable with the social distancing and limited admittance. Cannot recommend the zoo enough, even with covid.

The Oakland Zoo is a fun family oriented zoo. It would honestly be fun for a date as well. This zoo has a lot of options to see animals and learn. The gondola ride gives you a great view of the Bay area. Theres a really nice place to eat at the top where the gondola drops you off. If its a warmer day go in there. They always have it at a cool temperature and the food is amazing.

The best part is the gondola and the upper part is all native california, wolves, condors, mountain lion, bears. Its cool. Find them so they can continue to rescue animals from all around and release them. Its not just the animals you see.

Cuz of covid, it wasnt to busy or crowded. animals looked relaxed and happy, (except the chimps, they sounded like they were going crazy). some of the workers at the orange sky cars were rude and didnt look like they were doing to much. only giving this place 5 stars because of the blonde girl there. she made my sons day and was so nice. she was their running around helping everyone and still was rael nice. another downside was the price of the food and the train isnt open any more..

Had an amazing day. Staff was very helpful and friendly also park was nice and clean. Definitely will be back in mid-week again.

This is a large and spacious zoo. They have many great animals that look relaxed as if they were at home. we loved the gondola ride, nice and friendly workers, clean restrooms. My daughter love it, we will definitely go back. I would recommend everyone, arrive early so you can see everything!

As a member, glad Oakland Zoo was finally able to finally open. Covid-19 safety protocols are in place and seem to be working well. There is always the odd idiot who takes their mask off or has it pulled down below their nose. Fairly easy to avoid these morons.

Havent visited in years. It a a nice small local zoo with hand sanitation station through out. They have a gondola car to reach the back part of the zoo as you cant walk and they sanitize the cart after every guest and everyone must sanitize hands before entering. Felt safe and the park was enjoyable with time entry

Best place to take your family to have fun without having to travel far. Staff is super friendly and helpful. Place is super clean and you get to learn a lot about the animals that live there.

Glowfari was beautiful. I definitely recommend going if you can!

Light show was great!

I enjoyed the zoo. Be prepared to do a lot of uphill walking. Its pretty big for a local zoo. I advise bringing your own lunch and water. All the concessions were closed. Only a small gift shop was open. We were disappointed because we didnt get to see the lions, and a couple other exhibits were closed. The zoo does have a sky ride and an a gondola ride. Only one was working. Theres a petting zoo for the kids. But only goats were available to pet. Toward the exit, there a small group of rides. A train, carousel, and some kids rides. It took us about 2.5 hours to walk and visit everything. So plan accordingly.

The animals were very active, even during social distancing my family and I had a great time. Make sure to bring a good pair of walking shoes and plenty of water the zoo had alot of hills that may be difficult for some

Wonderful place! The work they do and education they provide is so important to the community. The Covid-19 precautions they have in place make you feel safe and comfortable so you can enjoy the zoo.

The new gondola was amazing. Got to watch the grizzlies have a fight in the water, baboons run around and play. It was great, I am loving all the upgrades, even during covid-19.

The gondola ride to the other side is so fun. Great view of the eastern bay

We went Sunday August 2nd a few days after they opened again. Overall it was a great experience! The animals seemed more active than I remember, so maybe they were happy to see us again. Even the jaguar wasnt pacing.The staff did a pretty good job considering the constraints they had to work under. They had people at various places directing everyone and I still saw many of them really enjoy talking with the guests while keeping safe.There were a few downsides. While almost everyone wore a mask as directed, it was difficult at certain key places to keep 6 feet apart. Especially at the entrance there were a lot of people at the gift shop while we were trying to walk in. If they could temporarily move the gift shop somewhere else, that would be ideal I think.Second, it was very difficult to keep kids from touching the glass. There are signs and people walking around reminding people not to touch the glass but it is difficult. Our kids did a fairly good job at it but still was very difficult to completely avoid.Third, they did a great job cleaning each gondola as people got out, but the bottom had 3 separate lines and it was difficult for them to go in order and keep cleaning. I feel like they had the toughest job. They should do a single line at the bottom just like they do at the top.Hopefully they are able to keep everything open, we would like to be able to keep going safely!

Its big. Animals not caged. They are in areas that mimic their surroundings in the wild. Good selection of animals. Fun for the whole family.

Had not been here for 20 years. Had a great time. Realy enjoyed the California trail an the tram. Elephants and Grizzlies were great.

I was troubled by the lack of space the Oakland Zoo provides for the Bald Eagle. The Eagle expressed distress when I was last there. The Eagle would repeatedly fly to the top of the nettting as if trying to escape. Any sentient being desperately trying to escape to freedom is one of the saddest and traumatic things to witness.The zoo does not provide nearly enough space for a bird that is known for flying at high altitudes.I wish they would release the Eagle(s) to a more fitting and spacious animal reserve if there is no possibility of rehabilitation back into the wild.

Enjoyed seeing the monkeys and bats. Didnt know they got so big. I went on a day it hit 100 in Oakland, so I didnt do the California trail this time.

Nice big zoo. The animals look well taken care of. Clean!

Tickets there are a little bit expansive.There are a lot of shady place to stay and observe animals which is really nice for summer weather.Animals seems like happy and healthy.Gondola is on my recommendation list.It is so clean and stable.We have a very good time with our friends there.

Yes, this is a small aquarium. However, it is only $20 dollars for locals, so I think it is well worth the price. The tunnel is super cool, and they have many other nice displays. I wish there was more education information. I definitely would recommend going once or twice.

There is surprisingly spacious room for all the animals so they look relaxed and naturally behavioring. The introduction to animals is loving and educational. Some areas are closed now due to the COVID situation, but the good side is that this place is less crowded so we could stay long and observe the animals at great spots. I really appreciate that the staff is making great efforts to protect the health of visitors.

Beautiful zoo with an excellent assortment of animals that are very obviously well taken care of! The ride up to California Trail offers spectacular views and even more cool animals. This zoo is great for people of any age and isnt too expensive. Staff all seem to love working there and are knowledgeable and helpful. Definitely recommend spending a day here!

We enjoyed ourselves with my daughter and her boyfriend. It was clean and distancing was great Thank you .

The Animals are always great and the sky tram has some fantastic views. The food is school lunch quality however and there seems to be garbage everywhere. Great if you love the zoo but given the choice I would go to the SF zoo.

The staff was very knowledgeable and the kids had a lot of fun. We got there before the zoo opened so we got good parking. Overall great experience and will go back

Kids had a blast and saw a bear fight.

Great weekend activity and affordable entry tickets. ($24 adult/$20 child). Highlight of the park was the Gondola up to the hill with a cafe overlooked bay area. Cafe food is decently priced with salad, sandwiches, pizza, burgers and fries. A bit of hill to walk so bring water to hydrate.

Lovely and relaxing walk around zoo. If get there at morning feeding time you get to view most of the animals. The tram ride up and down offers great views of the bay area.

Great place to take the kids. Food and drinks are expensive so bring your own bag. The gondola was a fun short ride. They also have some kid rides. The California trail was amazing great views of Oakland the Bay bridge and San Francisco. You can spend the whole day there and it is worth it!!!

First time here with my two year old, great zoo! A lot of different animals I was not expecting, and especially like the hilltop view and the trolley ride

Came here for Zoolights and its great. Free parking. There are some exhibits still available: bugs and amphibian/reptiles. The gondola ride gave great aerial views. Definitely worth coming to.

The new Oakland zoo Wild California exhibit, accessible only by a gondola ride up the hill, is a fantastic new addition to an already family famous destination. Even our teenagers found the new exhibit to be an interesting and enjoyable visit. On weekends the zoo can be really busy, so get their early, or late to enjoy the exhibits without a lot of crowds.

Most exhibits were open, which was nice. Hardly saw staff to ask about animals. Half the information boxes were wired wrong or not working. Extremely limited on drinking locations (buying or refilling). Only 1 gondola was working (the one that goes up to the mountain lion), so it took longer to get through the zoo.

It was good experience and covered a good range of animals and birds. A good day to spend with family and kids. Gondola ride, lion elephant, camel, giraffe monkey and many more to see .

Cool morning. Not too crowded, even with Boo at the zoo. Reminders everywhere about distancing and masks.

Great zoo! I loved seeing the animals, but even better is you can tell this zoo is animal friendly and cares about them and not just bringing in money. They are also very environmentally friendly which is a plus! They have canned water instead of plastic water bottles! There are also very good views of the Bay Area here! The animal signs are very informative and interesting!

We went to the zoo during the COVID situation and we were pleasantly surprised how neat and well maintained it was. Hand sanitizers were placed throughout the zoo. I could also see the gondolas being cleaned and sanitized after every ride. We felt safe and had a fun outing.