Cohanzick Zoo

Really awesome that this is a free zoo. It isnt the biggest, but when you want to go outside and enjoy the sunshine and animals while remaining local you cannot beat it.

I have the best childhood memories at this zoo!!! It is small and you’re able to see the whole place, the staff is friendly and they treat the animals nicely. The parking is usually free and the admission is free! It’s a great neighborhood zoo!!!

Great time for the children. I used to visit when I was a kid and it still holds it’s magic.

We are so thankful to have this little zoo nearby. The zookeepers are very friendly and we’ve learned a lot about the place through their programs for kids (Zoobrary, creature talks, and Zoo Camp in the summer). Is it the best zoo? No, but they do a good job of taking care of the animals they have and seem to really care about them. We love coming every other week or so and talking to our favorite animals (wallaby, fennec fox). My kids prefer this over the Philadelphia Zoo because it’s smaller, easier to see and talk to the animals, and not such a long drive.

It’s a free zoo. First off that’s all you need to know. Why not let your kids experience everything? My kids loved it. Is it the Philadelphia Zoo? Of course not, but it’s not about comparing the two. The local playground isn’t Great Adventure, but still gives the kids a great day out. Plus with all the fruit picking farms in the area you can easily make a fun day trip out of it. My kids are teens and 9 and they still liked it. Then we went out to get lunch.
The place relies on donations. So anything helps. And the more people that visit and donate the better it can be for the next adventurers.

What is it about South Jersey and free zoos? Between this place and the zoo in Cape May County it’s pretty awesome that the tax payers of the respective cities/​counties foot the bill for things like this.
Now with that out of the way let’s be really, really honest about this place. As much as the few others who have reviewed the zoo speak in glowing terms about it, what’s here is not by any means five or even four star material. Don’t let sentimentality trump reality. You pay at Philly because you get far more for the experience.
Most of the cages/​enclosures are in less than ideal shape and mix of animals currently at the zoo is well to put it mildly… interesting. There are some owls, coatis, a donkey, cranes, a small fox, a gibbon, lots of birds/​ducks, lemurs and some New Guinea Signing Dogs which is very odd to see dogs in a zoo.
Aside of that everything else during our visit was either hiding, off display or sadly in the case of their white tiger recently deceased.
On a sidebar, parking can be a challenge as when we got to the zoo it was around Noon and had no trouble finding a space. By the time we left an hour or so later there were several cars all sharking for spaces.
Look, this place is basic no doubt. This isn’t like Philly or even Cape May in that there is no food here, there is no gift shop here, there is one set of restrooms here which are on the dirtier side of dirty and aside of one woman who brought out a giant tortoise in a wheel barrow to the water wheel area I didn’t even see any staff here.
Now with said, the zoo has been going since 1934 and while not the most interesting it does have a certain charm to it and it is worth a visit + a donation to keep it going. The route to the zoo depending on the direction you’re coming from is also neat as once you get off of 55 there is nothing around for miles in every direction except produce farm after produce farm.
If you go: The zoo is open daily year round except for Thanksgiving & Christmas. Hours are 9 – 5 in the spring/​summer and 9 – 4 in the fall/​winter.

Very small, definitely appreciate that it is FREE!!! But you definitely get what you pay for. Me personally, I like the Philadelphia zoo better.

This is a great low-​key small zoo that unfortunately got hit pretty hard by the floods of 2011 & lost most of its water, but is working to fix that. Admission is free, but you can help out their cause with a donation & still save over the outrageously overpriced Philly Zoo!

New Jersey’s first zoo is in Bridgeton, NJ. And it’s really in the heart of «downtown» Bridgeton. I was surprised when we turned off of route 77 (right onto Commerce St) and there it was! Tip: don’t use the directions from your Unilocal app or you will not end up at park, but just down the street in opposite direction.
At any rate, once you find it there is a free parking lot, picnic tables, bathrooms and the zoo itself. They have a donation box there if you want to contribute, but the park is free otherwise. It’s the perfect size for lil kids, say age 6 and younger? It’s a tiny zoo, but if you have to chase after youngsters going in opposite directions, this can be a blessing. There were still enough animals to make the kids happy like wandering (screeching) peacocks, a black bear, red foxes, a porcupine and even a wallaby. The baby was obsessed with the wallaby for some reason! There are other animals too, but you get the drift.
It’s a wee bit of a hike into the country, although Bridgeton itself is somewhat urban ghetto in the middle of all that farmland. Say a 50 minute drive from the Woodbury/​Dept area down Rt 45 to Rt 77. We got to stop by a farmstand on the way home and saw some cows & horses. It was a nice half day trip all told. We packed a lunch and ate when we got there. A little water park is just across from the zoo also. If I had brought the kids’ swim suits, we would have stopped over. I think it’s just a few bucks for the kids to jump around in the spray. Again, nothing fancy, but it could be a nice addition to your zoo trip on a hot summer day.

My little ones and I love this zoo. It’s small, and nothing fancy, but it’s a great FREE place to take a walk and have a picnic.
The peacocks roam free, so be warned if you are uncomfortable with that. We love them!
Zipper the Gibbon is always fun to watch… And Ganesh (spelling?) the gorgeous white tiger is amazing. If you go around 2 on, you can watch his feeding and speak with his keeper. He is 17, which is old for a tiger… Don’t miss seeing this treasure! I will be heart broken when he leaves us!
The bear sleeps a lot, the serval cats are cool, and some new statues added over the last year are a fun touch.
There is a cute picnic area in the front of the zoo. We like to pack a picnic and have lunch.

I was a little disappointed about the animals not really being out, but it was rainy so I didn’t expect to many of them. We still had a good time and I was very impressed by the improvements they are making. I really missed seeing Sunset Lake and the creek you could canoe down. It was also sad to see the lion and lioness had passed and not been replaced yet. I can remember them being the high point of our childhood trips to this zoo. The lion did not like motorcycles, so whenever one would go by, he would let out a very loud roar, it was so cool! We will definitely be back!