Reviews of Big Joel's Safari Petting Zoo & Educational Park (Zoo)

Krista Carver

An amazing place with so many different types of animals! Friendly and helpful staff everywhere. Perfect for ALL ages.

Debbie Schulz

Great time seeing, feeding and learning about animals from other places. Can't wait to bring my grandkids.

Kimberly Gianopulos

We just moved less than 10 minutes from here and today was our first time. I was sooo excited to take my 2.5 and 4 yr old (plus 7month old in tow). Literally dreaming of our days filled with exotic animals through the summer... Pros: cool and friendly animals you don’t normally see, educated staff, small cheap gifts to make your kids happy, front desk lady was super nice Cons: outdoor staff doesn’t seem to like things like running (I was told rocks shouldn’t be ran on cuz it will hurt if they fall-didn’t know that

anita held

Went on a 1st grade school field trip this morning. The staff was excellent/very friendly/informative. The only reason this is not 5 stars is it was 85 degrees and sunny and there was no water to drink/buy. No water fountains/no vending machines.

Amanda Canete

Awesome!!! We had a great time. Very clean. Lots of different animals ♡

Aaron Fouste

Fun and great for kids.

Eric Wilson

Great place for kids and family. Workers are knowledgeable. Great interactive experience

Julie Thompson

Great place to visit. Staff are knowledgable and helpful. It was a great surprise to meet Joel and enjoyed our chat. Thank You!!

Sheila Cleek

I love Joe's Safari I have fun going there

Nick Thalhammer

One of the best petting zoos my family has ever been to and we've been to a lot

Mike Lecompte

Awesome place to check out, everybody has been to the STL Zoo but here you are more up close and personal with the animals. You can feed a wide array of different species this guy has got most everything. Must check it out

Teresa Rivera-Montoya

This is an amazing place to take the family

Megan Pohlman

Family owned petting zoo. Playground. Snakes. Spiders. Camel and pony rides. Birds. My kids loved it.

Regina Nichols

Grandkids love feeding the animals.

Deanna Schmitz

Second time here. Their are many animals and are all very visable. Our 4 year old grandson cloves to feed each one and enjoys their playground area.

Kyle DuPerrett

Great place, especially for the kids. Love the variety, and they treat the animals well too.

Tabitha Waldron

Fun, family owned, family centric Petting zoo/playground/farm/gift shop. We enjoy the birds where you can go in and feed them while the parakeets eat and land on you. There is a camle ride. And you can feed most of the animals. Definitely a fun place to go for a couple of hours.

Kevin Clark

A ton of fun for kids! It takes about an hour and a half to walk through. You can feed the animals, take a camel or donkey ride, feed parakeets, and play on their large playground. Prices are amazing for the amount of entertainment it offers.

Cassandra Robb-Best

What a great place!! Such a wonderful up close and personal experience with all the animals! Price is very reasonable. And Big Joel himself a very pleasant informant on all things. Highly recommend to all ages! Hope to visit again myself very soon.

Kristen Christoff

Amazing ! So much fun ! This place is wonderful for both adults and kids. I prefer coming here than to the STL zoo. Wide variety of animals. The camels are the biggest I’ve ever seen ! I wish there was a food shack but I understand that is in the works. I highly Recommend visiting this place. I have 7 friends with kids coming from Kansas City this weekend specifically coming down to go here. I told them how incredible it was. We are making a full Saturday of it. Can’t wait for them to experience it !

Sarah Hayeslip

It was so much fun thanks

Shane Bernskoetter

Fantastic place to bring the kids! Went here with a group of people and the kids had a ball. You start in the main building with lots of cool reptiles, then move outside to the various enclosures. Bison, donkeys, goats, peacocks, macaws, hogs, horses, ponies, camels, alligators, turtles, elk, antellope, deer and a plethora of other animals all await you here! Big Joel himself came out at 1:30pm and we got to watch him feed chicken parts to the alligators, that kids loved it! Excellent family fun place to see, feed and interact with animals of all sorts!

Peter Catalano

A wide variety of fascinating animals.

Robert Wood

Where else can we feed parakeets in a controlled pen? A relaxing place to get up close to many different animals. We interacted with several staff members this trip. 5 stars for the package today.

Faruq Khan

Great place for young children. Quite a large number of farm and other animals within easy petting access. They close for the winter from 4th Nov.

Don DeFreese

Great place for kids to get up close to the animals. Plenty of employees around to answer questions.

Jim Herter

Love it!!! Took the grand son and daughter and they had a great time.

Janet Hampton

This place was a hidden gem! My kids and I loved it. We were only there for 1.5 hrs before they closed but we easily could've spent way more time there. Everything is fairly priced and we liked it more then the St Louis Zoo. We're definitely going back ASAP

John Aston

Great fun for the grandchildren.

Amber Mitchell

So much fun. My kids loved it.

StephanieTheWizard

I have been here two times now and I can honestly say I love this place. The price is definitely worth it

S Ritchey

Fun place to take kids. Friendly staff.

Ashley LaBanca

Fun small zoo

Nancy Jane Wilkes

Such a great place to have some good family fun. Friendly staff. Lots of animals. We arrived just in time for feeding of the alligators.

Deborah Jones

Great place for kids! Prices are reasonable.

Doug S

This place is awesome for the kids. Just laid back fun feeding all kinds of animals. You won’t regret going. Big Joel was just walking around like anyone else, talking and high-fiving the kids. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

Erica Byas

Great for kids and adults alike! I have been coming here since they opened, and love seeing it grow every year! So many beautiful animals and hands-on experiences.

Rachel Faulkner

Big Joel's is the perfect size for young kids. The animals are very attentive and the kids love feeding them!

Scott Orlando

Great place to take the little one's. I like the way they have it set up and good assortment of different animals. Staff was great as well.

Trisha Freitag

Great little park! The kids loved it. The animals are treated well and have plenty of room. They even have a few areas where you can go in with pygmy goats & some deer. It was a nice place to spend Sunday afternoon.

Mallori Duren

Always have fun here. It's fair priced and everyone's so nice. Big Joel, who walks with the camels is super nice and funny. I loved the deer encounter as well. So cool! We go here every year and will continue to go!

Regina Meyers

Big Joel's Safari has expanded and is AMAZING fun for kids and adults as well. Joel takes very good care of his animals.

Dan Burch

Joel's Safari was one of the best we have seen. Would recommend it to anyone.

Lera Poignee

I love The animals ❤️❤️

teewww

Incredible number and variety of animals. Definitely a fun place for kids and adults. Visit them next spring when they reopen.

Yvonne Weber

Went to my Granddaughters birthday party! The party room was very nice! Thank You!

Ryan Hoshield

Always a great place to have fun! Way less crowded than most attractions and much more fun! Lots of up close encounters with some amazing animals!

Benjamin McVicker

For $8 you get to experience up close interactions with way more animals than you could expect. It was a blast hanging out there and my only regret is we couldn't stay longer!

Frank Brooks Jr

Kids love this place. Easy to get close to and feed lots of different animals.

Willy Hackworth

A nice laid back petting zoo with a wide variety of animals to interact with and activities to keep you and the kids occupied

Michelle Carmichael

Great place to take the littles to see, feed and pet the animals.

Patrick Sellers

Great place to take the kids.

Patty Bunner

So much fun!! One of our favorite placed

Claire Stone

This is an incredible hidden gem. As much as I love the St. Louis Zoo, this place is every bit as enjoyable. I have been to many zoos all over the world and I’m usually very leery about supporting privately owned zoos who may not adequately maintain their animals. These animals seem to be loved like family pets. Admission charge is minimal, considering the costs that must be involved for the owners. 8$ for adults which is less than a movie these days. This place undoubtedly puts so much work and love into caring for all their happy, friendly and well fed animals. I’ve noticed that so many reviews mention that it’s a great place for kids, but I believe it has an equal amount of value for any adult who has dreamed of recreationally raising any type of livestock. My family and I loved the close encounters, well manicured grounds and educational programs. I was beyond impressed. Many thanks to the proprietors, you’ve done something fantastic for the community! We will both recommend and return!

Mark Schulte

Lots of animals to see. Fun to feed them right out of your hand. Staff very knowledgeable about all the different animals.

Ty Eaton

This place is truly amazing. Not only are the animals diverse and entertaining, the staff is very welcoming and knowledgeable. Family friendly and great with kids that have special needs. I would highly recommend this place to everyone.

Jon Oliver

Lot of fun for family or even a date! We will definitely be back!

Josh York

Lots of fun for kids and animal loving adults. Big Joel is a really nice guy and has a genuine passion for what he does.

jenn burkhardt

What a neat place for kids! Lots of animals for them to pet. They even have a camel that you can ride!

Liberty Bishop

So much fun! I loved seeing the animals in just some dude's backyard. It made it more special because you know he must REALLY love those animals! Also, it's super fun to feed the animals. Let's not forget that even the fancy St. Louis zoo could not keep their bird feeding aviary open for more than a couple months!

robert hartman

Pretty cool place. Only 5 dollars to get in. Lots of different animals to see. Some animals can be hand fed. Pony and camel rides. Very good place to take your family.

Toni Null

Very nice. We really enjoyed feeding all of the animals.

Jen Haslag-Minoff

Great experience!

Shaik Taleb Gufran

This is a great zoo if you love petting animals. You get to pet almost all the animals and feed them. The parakeet is awesome! It's on a smaller area but the owners make sure you can go up close with the animals and feed them.

Sara Davis

This is such a fun place. My 2 1/2 year daughter and my 6 year old niece both love this place! They have a lot of different animals and the kids think it’s really cool to feed them. There is a cool little playground area in the middle of the park. Staff was very polite, prices reasonable. Park and the restrooms were both very nice and clean. It’s perfect size for younger kids that can’t run around the bigger zoos all day. Always a good time and worth the drive to check it out!

Zack Hoelscher

Absolutely a blast, they let you get up close top your favorite animals! We loved our experience and got to see and feed all of the coolest and sweetest animals! They even had a camel when we went, will be planning to go back soon! 10/10 perfect afternoon

Josh Varga

A little out of the way but a lot of fun for kids

Matt Miller

Very nice place and friendly staff

Myeh Bellah

Such an awesome place for families to go.

Sarah Nicole

Excellent place to visit on the weekend. Staff is very friendly, feeding the animals is very reasonably priced. My family loves this place!!

Kevin Catiller

Had a wonderful time at BIG JOEL'S SAFARI. Their workers are very kind and knowledgeable of the animals that we interacted with. Will definitely go back and visit again.

Mariann Ledford

Granddaughters loved it so did mawaw and popi

Rebecca Hennessy

Fantastic educational place, great for kids above the age of 2

Patrick Gross

It's like a regular zoo but the animals are very up close and personal. Big Joel is very friendly!

amanda stradford

This is one of the best places for a day with the family. Especially animal lovers!! Haveva good time every time we go.

Gina Evans

Very cool petting zoo. Has a lot of different animals to get close too! You can feed them also. Plus, there are camel and pony rides. My son liked it! I loved it!

lydi 745

It's actually my first time in Missouri and we decided to check this place out and it was amazing all the animals are friendly including the staff it was amazing experience and will definitely come again.

Sarah O'Leary

I had no idea what to expect, but I am so glad we visited! Cannot wait to come back!

Amy Shields

So much fun

Nick Adams

Absolutely amazing place. By far the best petting zoo I’ve ever been to in my life. Highly recommended. The staff are friendly informative and appreciative. Prices are very reasonable. I would rather come here then the St. Louis Zoo. Thank you for an amazing day with my family!

Rio Tarbo

Fabulous place, especially for little kids. They have no area for eating food, but completely understandable. We ate our lunches in car trunks and van. Nothing bad to say. Kids loved eating lunch "in the car". Lol Gravel pathways, a tiny bit muddy after weeks of rain, so pretty good. Staff are excellent. Animals are very happy! Buy cups of feed and refill for half price (roughly). So good! Keep it up, Big Joel!

Andrew M

The admission fee is reasonable, the park is well organized and clean, most importantly the animals seem very well cared for and happy. A few quite exotic animals reside here, good selection of species as compared to other animal parks. I would definitely go again and recommend Big Joel's.

Mike Ghafoori

Love being able to see and feed the animals, the employees are great and kind and always helpful!

Kimberly Niehaus

The people working there are amazing and my son had a great hands on experience with friends.

Melissa Ford

Great place for everyone.

zarina Amo'in

Love this place. They are friendly. We enjoyed the feeding of the animals. It is good outing and educational for children.

Matt Spaunhorst

This is such a great place! We go about 3 times a year because it's so much fun for the whole family. I highly recommend Big Joel's if you're looking for something to do.

Andrew Delleart

This place was very cool. I was surprised about the amount and kind of animals they had. I figured where it was located they would not have many different animals, I was wrong. I will definitely be going back.

Tina Dunkin

Amazing! Good price, fun animals, lots to see and do. A few activities are extra, like camel rides.

Josephina Hinds

Everyone there is really nice and helpful

Chris Melson

My kid loves this place. Giant snakes, sheep born that morning, deer petting zoo, pigs, goats, zebra, it would be easier to list what we haven't seen at Big Joel's.

kenny james

Had an amazing experience. A bit expensive but don't let the price scare you off. Worth every penny. Staff was on point as well.

Andrew Starr

Big Joel's is a great place to visit, young or old, if you love animals. The animals are well taken care of and it's apparent the staff is dedicated and knowledgeable. You'll be able to get up close to animals from all over the world, and probably learn a little something in the process.

Andrea Bahr

There were so many animals. They all appeared to be well cared for. My toddler absolutely loved the place and so did I. You could stay for an hour or all day. Multiple staff members talked to me. I highly recommend this place.

Tracy Maietta

Some thing to do with the kiddos before school starts!

Daniele McGuire

Went for the first time today and we will definitely be back. Very awesome experience. They have a very wide variety of animals and being able to feed and pet the animals is totally worth the admission fee which is only $8. They charge for the feed for the animals but everything is so reasonable and you get refills on the feed for half the price. I will be recommending this place to friends and family.

Chris Patrick

This place is great and my boys love it!! Big Joel and his staff are very friendly and knowledgeable!! They keep adding new areas every year and the price is very reasonable!! Also, it's a must that you ride Clarence the Camel!!

Amanda G

All of my family completely loved it. Its not free like the zoo but after paying for zoo parking , gas to the city and treats. In the end Big Joel's Safari is probably cheaper. And so so so much more fun.

Steve H

My kids loved it. Does not require as much planning and hassle as the STL Zoo. Just enough variety but small enough that it doesn't become a chore

Sandra Reeves

Little hidden gem for children.

ryan mecz

Kids love feeding the animals and the wooden playground

Jared Maule

Great plce for afternoon with kiddos.

Edward Williams

Lots of animals. Affordable. Clean bathrooms. Party room is nice

Lydia Birk

Fun place for all ages!!

Barb Range

1000% better than I imagined! I recommend you get there early. Not the cheapest day though.

David Segers

This is a neat little place for kids to feed most of the animals. Doesn't cost too much just don't wear your good shoe bc your walking most on dirt or gravel. But we loved bc they could get really up close with all the animals.

ADAM BLAIR

Amazing hands-on experience for the kids; friendly staff and tons of animals. Only negative is that some of the animals, particularly the reptiles inside, could use a little more attention.

DW Palme

Decent place and friendly

Keith Andrew

Nice place. Lots of animals, most of them really cute (especially when begging for food). The parakeets are really beautiful. Overall a great place and a great value. We met Big Joel - he is big alright, and a nice guy. He’ll tell you all about the place. We’ll definitely be back.

Kurtis Maynard

This is a really cool place to go and see lots of animals up close. The people who work there are very knowledgeable and seem to really care about the animals. There is an awesome new deer encounter this year where you get to go in with the deer.

Michael Bogaski

My 2 year old really enjoyed it. He loved seeing all the different animals, feeding the animals, and most of all the camel ride. Great place to take the kids on a nice day and not overly crowded.

Christine Layton

nice zoo very interactive for children...great pricing on admission and feed for the animals..

Chad Weiler

Awesome place to take the kids; nice variety of animals to see up close.

Diana Powers

Great place to take the whole family. So many things for the kids to pet and feed. The parakeet cage was the highlight. Wear walking shoes.

Gerri Archambault

I love having a season pass to Big Joel's. The staff is wonderful and the animals are very well taken care of. See you next spring.

mariah saldana

This place is pretty cool. Friendly staff and plenty of animals to see. There's goats, llamas, deer, a sloth and a bunch of other stuff. You can buy feed for the animals in the gift shop. Seems like the animals are kept as best as ethically possible. Keepers were knowledgeable about the critters. We went on a super cold and windy day, and the staff accommodated perfectly. Thank you.

Susan Ingram

So many cool animals

nikki preis

We always have a great time!

Michelle Mabry

We love the camel and pony rides, feeding the goats and llamas, and playing in the playground! This is one of our favorite places to take our grandchildren.

Stacy Gerdes

Lots of animals to see and friendly helpful staff made my sons first kindergarten field trip a breeze and we had alot of fun!

Emily Aceituno

It was fun. I think we have been spoiled with a free zoo. Some of the animals looked like they had some medical issues going on I wish there had been signs stating they had where being treated for whatever they had going on. We are sure they are being taken care of that was never a question it was just difficult to find employees to ask and signs would have eliminated the need to pull employees away from taking care of the animals. I'm glad they have some place they are being taken care of.

Bob Lynn

Nice place. You can pet almost all the animals clean and. Friendly

Candace Love

Lots of close up experience with the animals Lots of fun from feeding the animals and birds to the pony and camel rides!!

Steve E

Great experience for all ages to interact with many animals. Educational and gives you understanding of how important they are to our ecosystem.

melanie mawyin

Cute i loved it.

William Brown

Took my 3 yr old grandson. He loved looking at at the animals and going down the slides.

Erica Porter

A really fun place to explore many different kinds of animals! You can pet and feed all the animals, too!

Debby Eckard

Great family place. Great fun for the kids!

Dan Johnson

Just my wife and I. We had a blast! Love seeing animals that are actually happy and enjoy getting feed. It's a must visit for all young and old.

Linda Breen

Has a private birthday party and it was wonderful.

Nicole Wampler

Better than the zoo! Animals are SO loved and you can tell they are taken care of very well! Everyone is extremely friendly! My babies loved it

Thatipatri Kirthi

Very nice and my kid enjoyed feeding animals. Beautiful peacock... must go place.

Kendra Scott

This place is great. It’s not too pricey and beats driving to the zoo and dealing with the headache of parking. It was not a large place so it’s great if you just wanna spend a morning there and move along. My 3 year old enjoyed feeding the animals and riding the pony. The staff was friendly. The guy doing the pony rides really seems to enjoy his job and actually trying to make conversation with the kids while walking them with the pony.

Angela Pender

As an animal lover, Big Joels is one of my favorite places to visit. Fairly priced and so much to see and do. You can tell Joel really cares about his animals and they absolutely enjoy the beautiful spaces he creates for them. These animals are happy and very loved. Exotic and domestic animals alike and a great experience.

Hannah Booth

Wonderful place you can get in the deer and baby goat pens and feed them. I almost died from cuteness overload.

MJ Johnson

This is a great petting zoo! The kids loved it. I was surprised by all the different animals they have.

Sam Ambrose

Great atmosphere, great staff and the animals are equally amazing and well cared for. The passion that Joel and his staff has for the animals and the business is well received.

Jenni Weber

Enjoyable little place went with his field trip with my son's school it was cool

christopher osborne

As a school bus driver, I had the opportunity to take a school on a field trip here. It is a fascinating place to bring your child or if you love animals. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable to explain what the animals are. And there are a lot of different kinds of animals. I met Big Joel and he's passion for animals and children shows. I highly recommend Big Joel's Safari to take the trip to pet the animals.

Holly Koehler

This place is great for little kids and big kids. There all kinds of different animals and you can feed many of them. The cost to enter is minimal and the fees cups and bird sticks are cheap too. If you have the opportunity to visit you definitely should!

Benjamin Thompson

I went here for my nephew's birthday party, and I had a blast seeing all of the animals. It's a great place for people of all ages to see and learn about animals from all over the world. My nephew had a great time getting to feed a majority of the animals. My personal favorite critter is the giant African porcupines. Even though my wife and I don't have children, I brought her here after she got back into town and she loved it too. Her only concern was that some of the goats looked much too well fed.

Nicole Johnson

My family and I had a great time!

Donna Hudson

Really nice place to go for young kids to learn and have fun

Sean Parmeley

This place is awesome. We try to go once a year. They always have new animals. The new close up deer encounter area is a great idea. You can pet and feed the deer with out a fence in between. Just amazing. Thank you big Joel for such a great experience.

Aaron Buchok

Little kids love it here. Large enough to have some really cool animals but not so big that you spend a whole day. Well worth the trip.

Kayla Deterding

Great experience! Very clean and well kept! Perfect morning with our almost 2 year old and 8 month old. Plenty of room for big strollers and stroller friendly! Only place you couldn't take your stroller was the deer encounter and bird cage. Had a great family morning outing and will definitely go again! Also very affordable. So many different animals to see and was also very safe.

Sarah Fieck

$8 per person then plan on spending money to feed the animals. Kids loved it. They loved the up close experiences with the animals.

Amy Korenchuk

Had a great time!!!! This was a fun way to spend the afternoon. Go there!

Darlene Crawshaw

I was here with my daughter's first grade field trip. The place is really cool, and it's neat to learn about the owner, feed the animals, and watch the demonstrations. Great place to spend an afternoon. They do need better signs on the road, though. The school busses passed the entrance up and had to backtrack on the very curvy road to get parked.

JoJo Clark

Afforadable family fun. Love it better than the zoo

John Foughty

Wonderful experience for the kids, and Big Joel is a kind, good natured guy who isn't afraid to strike up a lively conversation about just about anything. He knows his stuff and his expansive petting zoo inside and out. We'll definitely visit again when we're in the area.

scott medcalf

Great place to see a wide variety of animals and not have to walk miles

Andy Shorley

Brought or kids here on Saturday and they loved it. Tons of animals to interact with. Very friendly staff. Nice little play area for the kids to run around in. They even had the opportunity to pretty an alligator.

Nicole Wilson

Love Love LOVE this place! If you are an animal lover this is heaven! Very affordable and my 2 year old LOVED it! You can feed just about everything there by hand or with a spoon and for just a few dollars you get a very large cup of feed! (Cup seen in pics) all the animals are sweet and come right to You! You can get sticks with bird seed and have tons of birds flock to You! Stafe very friendly and animals well cared for! Wonderful place for kids!!

Kenny Bishop

Awesome place!

Dianna McCann

The animals are taken care of really good. Doesnt smell at all. The stuff r awesome. The party room is clean and roomy.