Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
June 24th, 2009 by leafworks
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
http://www.cmzoo.org/ * 4250 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Road * Colorado Springs, CO 80906 * (719) 633-9925
One of Colorado Spring’s hotspots of activity. Nestled on the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain, just below the infamous “Gold Camp Road” and Buddhist temple, snug in the middle of elegant housing communities just above the richy-rich Broadmoor, is a pretty elaborate zoo that allows close spaces in getting to know the animals. 146 mountainous acres with close to 800 animals of every variety. Also has a skyride and a restaurant. Originally founded in 1926 by philanthropist Spencer Penrose to house his growing collection of exotic animals that originally started out south of town where Fort Carson’s Turkey Creek Ranch now exists. In 1938 the zoo was established as a non-profit public trust for the people of Colorado Springs to “provide recreation, education, conservation and scientific facilities in the field of zoology and related subjects, and to preserve the Zoo in perpetuity for the people of the Pikes Peak region.” The zoo goes out of their way to make each attendee an active participant. Many of the animal areas for the animals that aren’t threatening to humans, are open-aired with little to no fences like the kangaroos, the giraffe’s, peacocks, and other critters. A little pricey but a wonderful experience. Rating: 4 stars out of 5.
