Rolling Hills Zoo

Rolling Hills grew from a private collection into a full accredited zoo, expanding its animal habitats and grounds over the years. Today its winding paths lead past a global cast of animals, giving families and wildlife lovers a chance to see species from several continents in habitats designed to give the animals room to roam and behave naturally.

The setting is part of the appeal. Rather than a cramped urban zoo, this is a spacious park in open country, with shaded walkways and rolling terrain that make a visit feel like a stroll through a wildlife preserve. It is the kind of place that rewards an unhurried pace.

The indoor Wildlife Museum is the zoo's signature companion and a destination in its own right. Its galleries carry visitors through habitats and eras with an array of exhibits and dioramas, many of them so detailed and lifelike that they have drawn national attention. The museum tells stories of animals, ecosystems, and human interaction with the natural world.

Because it is indoors and climate controlled, the museum makes Rolling Hills a strong choice in hot, cold, or rainy weather, when the living zoo might be less comfortable. Pairing the two lets visitors move between real animals and the museum's vivid recreations in a single trip.

Salina is one of central Kansas's larger cities, a longtime crossroads and trade center at the junction of two interstates. It grew up along the Smoky Hill River as a milling and railroad town and today anchors the region with museums, dining, and cultural life, making it a natural base for a visit to the zoo.

The surrounding Smoky Hills are rolling grassland and sandstone country, long the range of Plains nations, including the Kaw, or Kanza, for whom the state is named, and the Pawnee to the north. That deep history of prairie and its peoples frames a landscape that later drew farmers, ranchers, and the railroad.

Because the grounds are large and the museum substantial, Rolling Hills easily fills a half day or more. Comfortable shoes, water, and a relaxed schedule serve visitors well, and the cooler hours of morning and evening tend to bring out the most animal activity.

Combined with Salina's downtown and its other attractions, a trip to Rolling Hills makes an appealing outing for families crossing Kansas on the interstate or exploring the Smoky Hills, a chance to encounter wildlife from around the world in the middle of the prairie.

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