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Last-minute summer road trip: Visit the San Antonio Zoo

What are you waiting for? Start planning your trip today!

Technically, summer starts June 21 and ends Sept. 22. But for most people, the season actually begins on Memorial Day weekend and ends with the arrival of Labor Day. Meaning, the finals days of summer are upon us and there are only a handful of weekends between now and Sept. 5 to get out of the house and soak up the last rays of summertime sunshine.

We’ve got a few ideas to help you make the most of this summer’s official last hurrah.

For this San Antonio native, nothing says summer more than a trip to the San Antonio Zoo.

San Antonio’s first zoo consisted of a collection of animals assembled in San Pedro Park in the 1800s. In 1914, Colonel George W. Brackenridge, donated buffalo, elk, deer, monkeys, a pair of lions, and four bears on land he had deeded over to the city in what is now known as Brackenridge Park. This collection became the San Antonio Zoo.

Fast-forward a century and the zoo, now a popular 57-acre tourist attraction, cares for thousands of animals, draws more than one million visitors annually, and is consistently ranked the best zoo in the state and one of the best in the nation.

A stroll through the San Antonio Zoo takes you on a journey around the globe. You’ll encounter exotic critters from the deserts of Africa to the jungles of Asia. Meet lorikeets in Lory Landing, watch hippos glide through the water, and feed giraffes lettuce.

When you’re done exploring the zoo, hop aboard the San Antonio Zoo Train for a train ride around Brackenridge Park. Various stops around the park include the Witte Museum and the Japanese Tea Gardens.

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Searching for more things to do in and around Houston? Visit our Things To Do page.


About the Author
Briana Zamora-Nipper headshot

Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.

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