I love visting zoos of all kinds, small and large but this zoo was horrible. The first thing I noticed was there wasn't hardly any animals at their exhibit and then when I went to the place where the snakes and smaller animals were kept it was the worst smelling place I had ever been in my life. Not to mention terribly filthy. It looked like the zoo had never been cleaned once since it was opened. I had to watch everywhere I walked because there was duck and animal feces everywhere. They should have paid me to visit their zoo, if you can even call it that.

I visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with my husband and found it to be delightful. My relatives had tried to warn us away, saying it was nothing like the Denver zoo, but really, that's like trying to compare Lakeside Amusement Park in Denver to Disney World. They're so different that you cannot compare them and that doesn't mean that Lakeside is a bad park (it was very fun). We are from Orlando, FL, and are used to large, overpriced attractions so this zoo was a wonderful surprise. The admission was reasonable and the parking (unlike anything in Orlando) was free. To our surprise, admission to the zoo also included admission to the Roy Rogers Shrine to the Sun, which was cute. I am five months pregnant, and found the zoo to be a bit challenging, as it is located on the side of the mountain, but well worth the walk uphill between exhibits. Just keep hydrated and you'll be fine. We especially enjoyed feeding the giraffes. You pay $2 for a couple of crackers and the giraffees come right to you and let you scratch their necks while they eat the crackers. This definitly beat paying $35 for a 'guided tour and feeding' at Busch Gardens in Tampa. The staff were great and willing to answer any odd question my husband could come up with. The food was also good, although there weren't very many choices and like any zoo, it was a bit pricey. My favorite exhibit had to be the prairie dogs. It was small and tucked away in a corner, but they were facinating to watch. You just don't see these types of things in Florida. Overall, the zoo is small, and will only take about three to four hours of your time, but it was a very enjoyable four hours. The next time we visit, we will definitly go back.

Save your money. You can see the whole zoo in twenty minutes tops. The only thing of interest are the giraffes (which you can pay through the nose too feed crackers) and the wolves (who weren't there for some reason when I went).

Otherwise it's pathetic.

We've been to Colorado Springs many times but had never been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We decided to go this trip and we were glad we did. Yes, it is small, and yes, it's uphill, but it's still fun. There are some very nice exhibits and play areas. Water fountains are rare.

They had a special exhibit of a white lion that was very popular - but of course people were rude and would cut in front of others trying to take photos or get a glimpse. It would have been nice to have had a docent to "keep the peace".

Like others have said, the giraffe feeding was really fun. We also liked the indoor hippo tank and had fun watching one hippo do laps in it.

We should have paid for the tram also, as our daughter is handicapped so we had to push her stroller (don't take her wheelchair on trips) up all those hills, which was hard at the elevation.

We were disappointed at the admission cost, even with the internet coupon, because once inside the zoo other things like the train, carosel, and pony rides cost a lot. The giraffe crackers at 4/$1 weren't too bad.

We went back out to our car for "snack time" and then drove up the road to the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun (worth the drive). However, since we returned down to the parking lot after 4 pm, we could not get back into the zoo to finish our visit (they close at 6 pm and we were counting on it). My husband decided to stay in the car with our daughter (we were exhausted from pushing her) and my son and I snuck back in the zoo when a family came out the exit. It felt like cheating, but there was no one around to let us in, as they don't allow any admissions after 4 pm. I had our receipt showing payment (the same one shown to the gatekeeper for the shrine) just in case anyone asked if we paid. We felt cheated out of the last 1.5 hrs of our visit.

We, too, were disappointed there was no reciprocation with other zoos (AZA). For a great zoo that does reciprocate, visit the Pueblo zoo ~45 miles south of Colorado Springs.