Natural Bridge Zoo in
Natural Bridge (VA)

My boyfriend and I took a day trip to the Natural Bridge Zoo! Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. We went late in the afternoon so most of the animals were sleeping. You could still see a lot of the animals. Great customer service up front and lady there even let me hold a snake! One of my favorite animals! My boyfriend was determined to find all the ducks in the scavenger hunt they had going on. For a small roadside zoo, it’s okay!

I have always enjoyed occasionally stopping at this Zoo, as the only downfall is there aren’t that many animals here to look at. The ones they have are beautiful, and it’s still a relaxing experience! I am a huge Giraffe lover, so they are my main reason for coming here but I always enjoy the walk around to see every other animal. I don’t believe the price is worth it considering it not many animals, and the elephant is not always available to ride. The elephant does seem extremely unhappy to my opinion, but that’s just my opinion. As long as this place is open I will continue to return, due to always having a pleasant experience. This place has always received negative complaints about their animals not looking healthy, but I have never witnessed them look anything other than healthy. They may seem a little under the weather at times, but never nothing major. If you are thinking about visiting here, I would say go for it!

It is a beautiful place to go but it is not very much handicap accessible because I am in a wheelchair and it was extremely hard to get through the gravel. If it was paved it would have been a lot easier. I would not recommend it for people in wheelchairs. Thank goodness I had extra people with me to help negotiate through the gravel.I also would not recommend going the day that I went because there was an animal with large horns and with stripes had what looked like a dead baby laying in the dirt out in front. The mother had removed the birth sack. The baby never moved.

Haven’t visited this zoo since I was a child and to my delight it has much improved since then! Great variety of animals and lots to feed. Love how you can see everything so great. My 16m old also loved it.

After reading several online reviews, which I suspect were from odd-ball Peta wackos, my wife and I decided to see for ourselves what the Natural Bridge Zoo was really like. I can tell you the conditions were excellent, all cages and outdoor corrals were large, animal handlers were everywhere and I saw no evidence whatsoever of any animals mistreated or in distress.

The reviews had us extremely hesitant to take our nieces and nephew. However, we stopped by on our way through and it did not disappoint. We enjoyed the fact that there were animals within minimal walking distance of each other. Yes, the animals are in cages, but all the animals appeared well taken care and the staff was friendly. A majority of the animals appeared to have adequate room to roam around. Our nieces and nephews appreciated being able to be so close to the animals. They were actually bored at the national zoo. So this was nice for them. We would recommend this as a stop if you’re passing by and want something to do with your little kids.

This stop was a spur of the moment decision. It's so worth it. We really enjoyed seeing all of the animals. It was fun to feed them. Feeding the giraffes was really fun. They have feed available at the front desk. They also have bird feed on sticks. These are for the bird aviary. When you go into the aviary, the birds will land on you and eat from the sticks, so cool. On the weekends, they have elephant rides available, I would have done that.

An all around great experience. Lots of animals which were very close to view, and in lots of cases also to touch and feed. They all had water and food and clean living spaces. Nice gift shop and friendly staff. 3 hours of fun!

We had an amazing visit. All of the animals are beautiful! The zoo grounds are very beautiful and well kept. Lots of photo ops! The elephant rides were incredible!!! "Beautiful" was the elephants name, and my 5 yr old grandson got to feed her a pineapple after our ride! This is a must to visit!!!! This is a family owned zoo, which is not funded by the gov't. Support the local businesses!

I read reviews before coming and it made me a little weary. I was overall very happy with this little zoo. Not crowded, my kids got to see so many animals up close which was a totally different experience than big city zoos. It was $20/adults and $14/3+. Think of it less as a “zoo” experience and more like you’re going to see your friends crazy uncles sisters wild animal farm. People kept saying in other reviews how sad the animals were…. I saw no sad animals. There were many playful animals and if not playing, they were sleeping. And who isn’t happy sleeping?

It is a smaller zoo. Most of the animal enclosures are chain link fencing. Animals are in very small enclosures. We felt bad for the animals. That being said the kids had fun. They even had an elephant ride. Overall. A little pricey. Tickets were $20 for adults and $14 for kids plus $15 to ride the elephant. There is a 2 person minimum for the elephant rides.

We stopped here after going to the Natural Bridge. It is a little overgrown in some areas. The poor Elephant looked lonely being a pack animal. The Bear area reeked of bleach which can't be good for them. Alligator looked like he needed some more room. Most of the parakeets wouldn't even come down for food. I mean for a neighborhood zoo it's not too bad. Lots of things to see. It takes an hour or more to walk around.

This was our first visit. The price was kinda high I feel. It was sad seeing the alligator in such a small area and the elephant being alone, considering how social they are. We were disappointed at first that the kids couldn't ride the elephant since they only do them Thursday, Friday and Saturdays but seeing she was the only one totally turned us off from wanting to ride her. We did see a few animals we never seen before so that was cool and the baby monkeys had so much personality.

8-2-2021 - brought my son here today and had another wonderful time here at this Zoo. 2018 - I brought my boy here and he absolutely had a blast. He loved everything here. I give it a 4 star because there is know where to get a drink once inside. I did find a machine but it did not work so to get a drink you'd have to walk all the way back to the entrance to buy something.

This zoo is lovely. You get to feed several animals and the elephant ride is great. Short ride but great experience. I really liked the free range chickens and guineas, it was a nice touch and I'm sure it helps with pest control. If you're looking to burn about 2-4 hours, this is a great place!

Not a bad place with open spaces and opportunities to feed different animals. It could be a bit nicer and kept up better. Some areas were too overgrown to see some of the animals. The variety could be a bit better as a lot of the small enclosures had the same animals just in different places. Finally It's a bit overpriced in my opinion. The kids still enjoyed it however.

Honestly I was a bit disappointed, not as good as I expected it to be and it cost a small fortune to feed the animals. Elephant rides are $15 a person for 1 very rushed lap, with staff hurrying the process constantly. Budgie sticks where expensive and birds didn't really seem to like people. Several of the deer especially looked like they where not healthy hair falling out, skin redness, different issues I noticed. Not up to the standard I expected, was much more impressed with the safari park.

We had a wonderful and educational visit to the zoo. The staff was informative and knowledgeable, plus cordial. We were able to get some exercise and cool off with some icees. There were many places along the route to rest and take shelter from the sun. The animals seemed well kept and kept it interesting by interacting with the patrons. Some even posed for pictures!

I have mixed feelings about this place. On one hand, it was really fun to see a bunch of different animals. And I loved the aviary with all the birds flying around you. The walk was decent and at one point a bunch of chickens were running around the zoo. On the other hand, a lot of the animals seemed to be crammed together. And the ones who were not were in very small cages. The Elephant didn't look very good either. Not sure I would visit again.

We had a good time here even though it was small. We enjoy all the zoos, aquariums, and animal parks that we have visited. They offer elephant rides for $10 bucks. It is written on the chalkboard in the gift shop in the admission area about the elephant rides, that they don’t take credit cards at the elephant stand, times the rides are available (12pm – 3pm when we visited), etc. All the info you should want about the park on times and prices should be available at the admission desk and around it. Just ask if you have any questions. She was helpful and friendly to us. We got to do some interactions with the animals. We don’t get to do as many interactions in the big cities with animals at zoos, etc. The little baby pygmy goats are the cutest but I loved feeding all the goats that came to the fence. We fed some of the deer. The budgies were not interested in our food. It is a small aviary and they must have been already full since it was about 12pm and there just wasn’t that many of them. They would look at you from afar. A few people got them to eat but majority did not get any takers. We left our sticks in the bag near the ones where you pay so someone could have them for free. We got to see several of the animals at the zoo eat like the chickens, lemurs, turtles, monkeys, camels, etc. The zoo had food laying out for all of these animals. Some of the food did not look fresh as it already had ants on it but I am not sure the animals really cared. We did not see shading for all of the animals but I am not sure they needed it. We got some videos of half of the animals moving around, and jumping from branches, etc. Some of the animals were just sleeping like the bears or hiding like half of the lemurs, baboon, etc. It was a hot day so I can’t blame them! The admission line was really slow and gets backed up. There was only one person working on a busy holiday weekend. The admission/ticket desk is right in the gift shop and that is where you enter the zoo as well. Our hand got stamped so we could leave and reenter the park which was great because we forgot some things. The entrance is right next to the admission desk. The prices for adults, children, etc. is right above the desk so you can see how much it is to get in. Very easy to see. Also, when you get up to the desk there is a sheet of the prices of the multi-pass/combo ticket so you can buy to save some money for the zoo + caverns + dinosaur kingdom (right across the street). The prices for the feed and budgie sticks are up there too. We bought some feed (a large bag) and the budgie sticks we got like 6 of them. We did not see an advertisement on where to get the carrots to feed the giraffes but make sure you get them at the front desk when you buy tickets because apparently that is where people got them when we saw people walking around the park with them. Don’t forget if you want to do that! There are restrooms but they are only inside the park. One set of restrooms is right near the gift shop and the other is near the reptiles but you will see it on your map inside the middle of the animals (no air conditioning in this bathroom). However, the map does not have all of the animals that are at the zoo. You really need to walk around the zoo, go down all the paths, and the unpaved paths because we did our own thing before we even looked at the map and got to see several more animals than was mentioned on the map. The gift shop is two rooms and there are several things to buy just like any animal gift shop which includes cups, mugs, shirts, sweatshirts, umbrellas, stuffed animals, rocks, pencils, etc. Also, there is an aquarium in there and you can see the lemurs because they have a big glass window right there in the gift shop and they have food outside of that window so the lemurs will likely come up and eat the food and you can see them up close. Friendly staff.

We came from Richmond just to see this zoo. I got to tell you the experience was amazing! The animals are well kept up, there was tons of space to explore and you get to feed some of the animals! AWESOME!!!! Feeding the birds was our favorite, went back multiple times to do that, that day. Plus we went on father's day so father's were free!!!!! Can't do any better than that!!!!

A nice assortment of animals just a short stop from home. The trainer with the cats was very nice and willing to share information. The elephant trainer was also very nice and enjoyed chatting. The younger indoor staff wasn't quite as friendly as the rest, but still a great day trip. We will return for sure!

We were pleasantly surprised at all the animals we found at the natural Bridge zoo. We spent several hours here and enjoyed walking all over, feeding the animals, and playing with the birds in the bird sanctuary. For a small zoo they did a great job with clean cages, well fed animals and nice music piped in as you walked throughout the zoo. We would definitely visit again

Fabulous time here at the Natural Bridge Zoo. Great place to see animals we rarely get too see in New England. Great place for families, small children would have a blast. Plenty of places to take a rest and have a bite to eat. I am a lover of elephants and wished that I could have had a ride, but that was not in the cards today, however they will be soon.

What a great place to educate young children about animals! The key to avoiding extinction for many animals is to peak the interest of our youth, and this place did just that! I highly recommend the VIP tour for up close, once in a lifetime encounters! The Staff and trainers were great! You can tell they love the animals, and the bond they share is amazing! Especially the elephant and tiger trainer! Just WOW! My kids can't wait to go back!!

One of the best zoos I've ever been to!!! It might be a little small but it allows you to be very interactive with the animals. You get to feed goats, dear, camels, bongos, and giraffes. Spend time with parakeets in an aviator. If you go on the right day you get to ride an elephant! The best part is it's all very affordable!!!

We had the best time! The grounds could definitely be improved, but the animals there were some I've never seen and they were up close and personal. We had parakeets all over us in the aviary. It was really neat! We got to get up close and personal with a sweet baby camel. One of the highlights of our trip!