Spring River Park and Zoo

Lori and I both love to go to the zoo.  Me, I’d personally like to be closer to the animals (c’mon, who doesn’t want to hug a tiger?), while Lori is more the safe distance spectator.  If you are near Roswell, NM check out Spring River Park and Zoo.  This is a wonderful park that has a modern, small zoo covering about 34 acres of parkland with five main zoo areas located on the grounds. These areas include:

Some of the highlights of the Capitan Trail include the River Bottoms Exhibit in which several of our small native animals are showcased against a red clay river bank including foxes, bobcats, and raccoons. Further along is the wonderful natural Plains exhibit with bison, prairie dogs and burrowing owls. The prairie dog town features about 80 of these fascinating critters descended from a dozen or so animals brought here when the nearby Wool Bowl Stadium was built.

The Coyote Country and Wolf Woods each cover 2,500 square feet exhibits across from a large paddock where the deer and the antelope play! The trail culminates in the spacious, naturalistic enclosures of the Mountain Habitat housing mountain lions and black bear. 

The Children’s Zoo features a variety of animals that are child friendly including lemurs, birds of prey and a herd of pigmy goats.

The developing World Safari Exotics area contains a few large cats.  The cougar was the only animal on the prowl during our visit.

The ranch area has Texas Longhorns and miniature horses. The replicated ranch house façade has many of the types of plants and flowers our grandmothers planted around the ranch houses at the turn of the century. The World Safari is planned around the existing train track and currently houses South American Llamas.

Visitor service area with the concession, miniature train and antique wooden horse carousel

Unique to our Spring River Park is the antique wooden horse carousel located in the heart of the park. This rare treasure is one of about a hundred left in the country and features hand carved horses from various artisans and even a few from foreign countries. People come from all over to see the carousel on their travels.  The park has seasonal concession services so check before you go.

A miniature train was added in 1976 to give rides around the park and has become a popular tradition. The park also features a small lake, covered picnic shelters, an accessible play ground and shade trees for the visitor’s comfort. At Christmas time the park transforms into a small Christmas village and the Roswell Christmas Train provides transportation.  During the holiday season there is food and entertainment in the park each day.