Henry Vilas Zoo
1330 Arboretum Dr, Madison, WI
Madison, WI
One of the country's few free zoos, given to a city as a memorial gift and kept open to everyone ever since.
Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison is a rare thing in America: a zoo that welcomes everyone at no charge. It came about as an act of grief turned to generosity, when a Madison couple gave the land and funds to the city in memory of their young children who had died, on the condition that the zoo remain free and open to all. More than a century later, the city has kept that promise.
The zoo is compact and easy to walk, set beside Lake Wingra among the parks and the university arboretum on Madison's west side. It is beloved by generations of local families as the place a child first meets a lion, a penguin, or a giraffe, a small, welcoming place whose charm lies in its openness as much as its animals.
What Guests Love
- That it remains free to enter, a gift the city has kept open to all
- A compact, walkable layout that suits families with small children
- Big cats, primates, penguins, and a variety of animals in a leafy setting
- Its location beside Lake Wingra and the surrounding parks and arboretum
Worth Knowing
- The zoo is donation-based, having been given as a gift meant to stay open to everyone
- It sits next to Lake Wingra and the UW Arboretum, easy to combine into one outing
- It is compact and family-friendly, a comfortable visit for young children
- Summer weekends are busiest, so mornings tend to be calmer
Details
Madison, WI
Learn about Henry Vilas Zoo
A gift born of loss
The zoo owes its existence to a gift from William and Anna Vilas, a prominent Madison family, who donated the land to the city in memory of their children who had died young. They attached a condition to their gift: that the park and its zoo be kept free and open to the public forever, a place where anyone, regardless of means, could come.
That founding spirit has shaped the zoo ever since. In an era when most American zoos charge admission, Henry Vilas has held to the promise made over a century ago, remaining a donation-based, open-to-all institution. It is a quiet monument to a family's grief transformed into a lasting public good.
The animals and the grounds
Though modest in size, the zoo houses a diverse collection, from big cats and primates to penguins, a range of hoofed animals, and creatures from several continents. Its compact layout means young families can see a great deal without wearing out small legs, and thoughtful habitats bring visitors close to the animals in a leafy, walkable setting.
Over the decades the zoo has modernized its enclosures and expanded its focus toward conservation and education, joining the wider effort among accredited zoos to protect species and teach visitors about the natural world. For many Madison children it is the first place they encounter wildlife they will otherwise only see in books.
A zoo for the whole community
The tradition of welcoming everyone is central to what the zoo means to Madison. Because it opens its gates to all, families of every background return again and again, and the zoo becomes woven into ordinary life, a stop on a summer afternoon, a rainy-day outing, a place grandparents bring grandchildren just as they were once brought.
That accessibility has made Henry Vilas one of the most cherished institutions in the city. Support from donations, memberships, and the community keeps it running and improving, a model of how a public treasure can stay genuinely public across generations.
The lakeside setting
The zoo sits beside Lake Wingra, one of Madison's chain of lakes, in a green corner of the city rich with parks and adjoined by the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. This is the ancestral land of the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose effigy mounds survive in the arboretum and parks nearby, a reminder of the deep history of this lake country.
The setting makes the zoo an easy piece of a larger outing. A visit pairs naturally with a walk along the lakeshore, a ramble through the arboretum's prairies and woods, or a picnic in the surrounding parks, all within a short distance in one of Madison's most beloved green neighborhoods.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Madison
UW-Madison Arboretum
Adjacent
A pioneering arboretum with restored prairies, woodlands, and marshes, and miles of walking trails around Lake Wingra.
Lake Wingra
At the zoo
A quiet spring-fed lake bordered by parks and the arboretum, good for paddling and shoreline walks.
Downtown Madison
About 3 miles, a 10 minute drive
The Capitol Square, State Street, and the lakefront isthmus at the heart of the city.