Charles Paddock Zoo

Small but cute zoo. Only 7 dollars to get in. I think the best animal/​attraction they have here is the tiger. The zoo is very well managed compared to a few smaller zoo’s I’ve been to. You can tell they take good care of the animals there and that they’re well fed and the habitat is kept cleaned.
I would recommend this to anyone who has the time to stop by and stretch their legs before making the long drive home (if you’re like me and you were on a road trip) or just to walk around with your kids.

Very small but you get up close to the animals. Loved seeing parents with there kids walking around, smiling, laughing and enjoying the park. Only $ 7. Early morning was great, red panda was running around, tiger was out, Saw feeding time for a few animals. You can get great close up pics of all the animals and they look very well taken care of.

A small zoo but they had surprising and cool animals around every turn. We went with two toddlers and they had a blast running around. It’s in a big park and there was a playground right outside.

This little zoo is a fun activity to do if you live here or are just visiting. My child gets a kick out of the exhibits. It’s clean for a small zoo, they take very good care of their animals. Zoos are usually very sad, but this zoo is a rescue and you can tell the animals are happy to live their life out there.

It was a beautiful fall day until we went into the Zoo. No energy at all, most animals were hiding, napping or trying to lap up the last of the sun. Small cages, sad, sad, sad…

Not to expensive I think it’s a great stop for families especially if you have little ones. I used it to wear out kids be for the 2 hour drive back to the Central Valley. Between the zoo and the park right next to it the drive home was quite

Perfect little zoo for toddlers! It’s small for sure, but for little ones this is really nice. They can run around and it’s never crowded. The tiger is amazing!

A great way to spend 10 minutes.
They say they are home to hundreds of species, but I think at least 80 of those are flies.
The flamingo exhibit is cool, unless you’re Roy, in which case the giant tiger statue would scare you. We saw a baby flamingo. He was grey because flamingos get their color from their food, according to a lady who hangs out there often and reads Wikipedia to learn about them. I told her Wikipedia is not a reliable source but she insisted. When I asked her what they eat that makes them turn pink and she said they eat baba booey.
We also saw a teenage flamingo, but she was just texting in the corner.
The malayan tiger was probably the biggest draw. Well, at least his tail was (that’s all we saw). With this heat, they could save a lot of money and just have robotic tails wagging from bushes and fool us all. He was just malayan around, sleeping. Dreaming of being in a cage bigger than a Jamba Juice.
The aviary is probably the best thing there, but it was closed. Not sure why. Wrenovations, maybe.
Some of the animals were ho-​hum. We saw the butt of one of the two types of porcupine, two slender-​tailed meerkats, an emu, two lemurs (for whom we sang «I like to move it, move it»), a macaw, some tortoises, a sheep, some alpaca, a turkey, a buzzard, ducks, a pair of spider monkeys, and two titi monkeys (or a pair of titis) near the restrooms, stuck listening to the roar of flushing toilets.
Some were rather cute, like the bat-​eared fox. The baby wallaby climbing all over mama wallaby was cute. The red panda was probably the biggest surprise. At first I thought he was just a regular panda, red from the direct sunlight, but no, he is a red panda, looking like the offspring of a raccoon and Snuggle the fabric softener bear, pacing the same lap over and over again until the next day when he mixes it up and paces counter-​clockwise.
Some were rather cool surprises, like the deer-​like duiker, the fossa (a hairless catlike weasel dog), and the maras (rabbit-​like dogs). I think these creatures were named by the same people who design IKEA furniture.
OK, so the red river hogs were gone for the moment, and the squirrel cage was there but he may have been hiding, but I don’t even recall seeing a spot for the fisher, hyrax, red river hogs, kinkajou (gotta catch them all!), sloth, channel island fox, chinchilla, sugar glider, or hedgehog listed on the website. Kind of a rip off.
That all said, it’s an okay diversion if you’re in the area or passing from Morro Bay to Paso Robles (like we were), with lots of shade and free parking. I’d say it’s worth $ 5, meaning you’ll only feel ripped off $ 2.

Today’s trip left me really sad. Pacing and weaving are behaviors never seen in the wild and are caused by under stimulated animals. The fossa, red panda and tiger paced the same paths the entire time we were there. It’s no wonder, their exhibits were so small. Like shockingly small. I’m not necessarily anti-​zoo but this was upsetting to me. How does a tortoise have a bigger area than a tiger? Surely they can do better by these animals. I felt guilty being there.
The pluses are that it has a lot of shade for visitors, is inexpensive and is set up so that visitors, especially little kids, can be pretty close to the animals and have a clear view to see well.

Due to «water conservation efforts» staff have drained a majority of the animals’ watering holes. This was the saddest zoo I have ever visited. Not because it was small, but because of the poor conditions of the animals. The Flamingo exhibit was most depressing; 2 out of the 3 main pools of water were drained and only a small murky pond was left. All of the birds were visibly distressed (today was one of the hottest days due to a heat wave) and crammed into a small shaded corner that once contained water and were pecking around on the empty cement pool. In the Ring Tailed Lemur exhibit, the pool was also drained and there was no available drinking water. Most of the exhibits were only dirt floors with dead logs and branches for «decoration» rather than for actual use. Animals that the signs boasted as rainforest dwellers sat in small cages with a few dead sticks and no vegetation whatsoever. I’ve been to many zoos, but the animals here looked the most depressed. Most cages were in direct sunlight and did not provide meaningful shade on this hot summer day. Animals were clearly overheated, and without their pools of water to cool down, I would say it is a very dangerous situation for those animals. I walked the zoo for over and hour and did not see one zookeeper the whole time to inform them of the status of their animals. I understand the need to conserve water during this drought, but cutting the necessary water sources for an animal’s well being is entirely inhumane and unacceptable. I hope for the animals’ sake that this comes to the attention of those in charge and changes to animal conditions will be made.

The Atascadero Zoo is small, very small. It is a fun trip with small children, so that they can have an experience with some birds and animals that they would not otherwise encounter. For adults without children, it will be a quick trip and not too exciting. There is at this time a lot of upgrading and renovating going on! I can hardly wait to see the results of the changes. The aviary is undergoing changes and was closed. In the past it has been one of my favorites, so I can hardly wait for that upgrade to be finished. On the way in the flamingos are very nice accent to the entry way. To compare this zoo to the larger zoos in LA or San Diego is silly. The primary value in this zoo is for the children of our town and county. One of the crown jewels of this zoo is that it is accredited by American Zoos and Aquariums. This is a big deal. The accreditation and connection with other accredited zoos means reciprocal agreements on admission for zoo members. Let me translate: if you buy an annual pass it is good for free or reduced admission to zoos and aquariums across the state and country. It doesn’t take a math degree to figure out that this is a really sweet deal. Check out the zoo website for a list of where this applies and go for it! I did and it is great!

This is a great small zoo for toddlers and young preschoolers. They can walk around inside safely without being overwhelmed by crowds or a large space. (Or they can ride if you rent a little safari wagon to push them in — we’ve never done this so I don’t know if it’s a good value). The flamingo exhibit just inside the entrance catches their attention; the store where you pay (if the window is not open outside the gate) lets them look at just enough gifts and souvenirs — it also sells ice cream bars. The zoo has a representation of different types of animals (birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and barnyard) with the tiger being the most impressive to my child (save the tiger for last).
There is a lion-​shaped water fountain, a spiral wishing well coin funnel for donations that my child currently loves using, and a small green space where we’ve seen puppet shows in the past. We’ve seen an extra area open, too, where they had rabbits and chicks around Easter. You can check the zoo’s web site for special events if you want something extra going on when you visit. If your child gets tired of being in the zoo, you can walk to the playground in the park that the zoo is located in.
The drawbacks are that with these mostly being small animals, many of them are hiding rather than active when we want to look at them, or they’re hard for little kids to spot even when they are active. You can’t even see most of the reptiles and amphibians because of the location of the exhibit with the sun shining on the aquariums and the glass misted. These things just make it hard to convince a small child to stick around in the zoo. Also, the smallness of the zoo means you’re done quickly when you might’ve wanted to make a morning of the visit. We’ve also encountered some very unfriendly staff in the store where you pay your admission. I wish employees would remember that they are representing the zoo (and the adult world) to little kids even if they don’t care about the parents.

A cute little zoo! The tiger was the best part, but it was interesting seeing the red panda and the lemurs! A good place for kids with a cute little interactive show. Plus baby flamingo!

honestly… being here was extremely depressing. all the animals looked miserable. none of them moved very much…
seven dollars to witness hungry, sad animals in extremely small enclosures…
and of course california is suffering a severe drought and atascadero lake which is right next to the zoo is completely dried out… man this was a depressing trip.

We love taking our son here. It is a small zoo but it is quaint. We love going into the aviary and I personally enjoy checking out the Red River hogs. The thing that cracks me up is the security turkey across from the tiger. He’ll stare you down, fluff up his feathers, and follow you until he feels you are out of his domain. I don’t think I would want to take him on.

I brought my son here and had a GREAT time! What a fantastic, amazing zoo!!! Make a point to go see it. My favorite animals were the Emu who is so friendly it even plays drum rhythms with it’s chest for you and the bird sanctuary where you can walk around and the shorebirds are tame!
I enjoyed seeing the Tortoises, Meerkats, Flamingos and even the large Snakes. The Alpacas were what we went to see and they were so adorable!!! There was a large vulture, monkeys that were fun to watch, a hog, exotic birds, a small deer, a special sheep with four horns. This is a great place to bring small children but also has enough interesting animals that adults will also find it fascinating. It is very intimate and you can see and get close to the animals and birds. It’s a lot like the San Diego zoo but at a size that you can walk around in easily for an hour.
The only thing I would change is to send the incredibly beautiful tiger to a zoo with more room for it and bring more smaller animals here. There is also a grassy park and climbing area outside plus a lake nearby so a family can make a day of it.
I highly recommend this zoo!!! All of the animals were very happy looking and alert except the fox and porcupine who slept through our visit. Go enjoy this zoo and do not miss letting the Emu make music for you!!!
Ellen

We arrived at Charles Paddock Zoo an hour before they closed and it was the perfect amount of time to explore with our preschool age child. The admission price was just right for the size and type of animals they have to explore.
My son loved the flamingos, meerkats and even named the tiger «Stripes» we must have watched him for 20 minutes. The old lion water fountain was also a hit for both my kid and my husband and I as it has a hint of nostalgia to it.
This zoo is perfectly located within a beautiful park setting in this small town, worth the stop when heading down to the Central Coast.

I love the Charles Paddock Zoo. Yes, it is small, but it’s a small town and the admission price is very cheap. And there are quite a few animals considering how small of an area it is, including some that you don’t see in zoos too often, such as a fossa, bat-​eared foxes, and the super adorable red pandas. I visited this zoo fairly regularly when I lived in the area. I live in Oregon now, but whenever I’m in SLO County visiting family, I always make an effort to visit the zoo while I’m there.

We went to Pismo for 4^th of July weekend. I made an attempt to do something cool with the kids before heading home. I found a pamphlet for this place as I was checking out of my hotel.
With the directions provided by the website we thought we had got lost. But it was actually due to the fact that the zoo is next to a park.
We got all 4 kids out and they showed much excitement to be at the «Zoo»
We were quickly disappointed.
I paid for 2 adults and 2 youth. We entered and walked out within 10 – 12 minutes. This place is WAY over priced for the animals it has. Which is like 5. Swear all we saw was flamingos, a emu, wallaby, tortoise, 2 parrots, some flamingo and a tiger. I was confused. I went to the gift shop to look for a map. The cashier said «we don’t have a map. It just loops around, you can’t get lost» I said «I just paid like 10 minutes ago»
It actually took us longer to unload all the kids, apply sunblock, then to walk in, pay, and walk out. I requested a refund… But I was denied. I felt robbed.
THIS PLACE IS DISAPPOINTING. We have a WAY better amount of animals and activities at the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno.
My suggestion? Save your money. Visit the SF Zoo…

This is a small zoo, and unfair to rate on the same scale as the San Francisco Zoo or San Diego Zoo, for example. It’s located right next to a large park, and in some ways this reminds me of the Sacramento Zoo. I do worry about the size of enclosures for the animals, especially the tiger, but I tend to worry at all the zoos, not just the small ones. They have a decent variety of animals, my favorites were the lemurs and spider monkeys. I went on a weekday afternoon and it was not crowded at all. On a weekend in good weather, I can see how this place would be packed! The parking lot is not super large but when I went it was nearly empty, and I appreciate that they don’t charge for parking.
A fun place to go if you’re in the area and haven’t been, but not sure (unless I had kids) I would return anytime in the near future.