Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero, California is the only zoo in San Luis Obispo county.
When you walk through the entrance of the zoo, you'll immediately find the pretty pink flamingos to your left!
It's a small zoo but for a small admission, it's really worth it. My favorites are the red pandas!
The kids will be entertained (See Lemurs below from Charles Paddock Zoo).
Zoo prices for children are by age group but children who are 2 years old and under are free. If you're planning on taking the kids to the zoo often, it might be in your best interest to pay for an annual membership. They also have a military, student and senior membership discounts for memberships.
For 2024, the Family Membership costs $100 for the entire year! If you don't plan on visiting more than once a year, it may not be worth it and you might just be better off buying the individual tickets once a year. If you're a military family, the family membership is only $90 a year. We're a veteran's family and had been able to take advantage of this discount family membership before.
The cutest animals to watch were the cute red pandas! They arrived at the Charles Paddock Zoo in 2019 and every time we visited, they look so happy and healthy here.
I think it only took us about an hour to go through the whole park. After you're done, you'll find the playground right outside of Charles Paddock Zoo called the Atascadero Lake Park. You can rent paddle boats here and sometimes they have really big ssonal events for the public.
See a reel of the Zoo Boo event that my kids and I went at Charles Paddock Zoo for trick or treating.Pictures/video below is: Anteater, Meerkate, Malayan Tiger and Tamandua.
Besides for the
Zoo Boo event, we also visited the Charles Paddock Zoo during Christmas time when they had Christmas decorations up.
They don't sell food inside so don't plan on buying food at the Charles Paddock Zoo. There are a couple of restaurants within a few blocks from the zoo so you can make a drive out nearby.
Charles Paddock Zoo Address: 9100 Morro Rd, Atascadero, CA 93422
(All photos taken by SanLuisObispoMom.com.) To see all family-friendly things to do in San Luis Obispo county including upcoming events at Charles Paddock Zoo, go to:
http://www.sanluisobispomom.com/family-friendly-events.php
I've chaperoned for a field trip at this zoo before and it was a very nice size to navigate around with a group of kids that I was responsible for. I've chaperoned for a total of 8 different class field trips throughout the years.
Read about my chaperone tips and see a list of field trips that I've chaperoned for.
See upcoming family-friendly activities for kids.
Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues.
@sanluisobispomom