Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

The Columbus Zoo grew from a modest municipal collection into one of the country's premier zoos over the second half of the twentieth century. Much of that rise came under Jack Hanna, who took over as director in the 1970s and transformed the zoo's fortunes, championing larger, more natural habitats and an ambitious expansion program.

The zoo earned early fame for a milestone in animal care: the birth of a baby gorilla raised at the zoo, among the first captive gorilla births in the country, which drew national attention and helped establish Columbus as a leader in the care and breeding of great apes. That reputation for animal science has continued to grow.

Jack Hanna became one of the most recognizable animal experts in America, a frequent and beloved guest on national television programs, where he would bring live animals on stage with an unmistakable enthusiasm. His fame turned the Columbus Zoo into a nationally known institution far beyond its region.

Hanna used that platform to promote conservation and wildlife education, and the zoo built out programs and partnerships to match. Though he has since retired, his long association with the zoo remains part of its identity, and the institution he shaped continues its work in habitats and conservation projects around the world.

The zoo is organized as a tour of the world's regions. An expansive African savanna area, an Asian forest, a North American and polar frontier with bears, and a Congo-inspired ape habitat each immerse visitors in a different landscape, with the animals given room to roam in naturalistic settings rather than bare cages.

A large aquarium and reptile complex adds an underwater dimension, including a tunnel where visitors walk beneath sharks and rays. Alongside the animals the zoo offers a manatee rehabilitation program, an adjacent water park, and family rides, so it functions as both a serious conservation zoo and a full family destination.

The zoo sits along the shore of a Scioto River reservoir near Powell, a fast-growing suburb on the northwest edge of Columbus. The reservoir and its surrounding parks and trails give the zoo a green, watery setting, and the adjoining recreation areas draw boaters and cyclists as well as zoo visitors.

This land is part of the ancestral homeland of the Shawnee, Wyandot, Lenape (Delaware), and Miami peoples, who lived across central Ohio before being forced westward in the nineteenth century, and whose descendant nations continue today, largely in Oklahoma. Columbus, the state capital just to the southeast, adds museums, gardens, and a lively downtown to a visit.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.