Cohanzick Zoo and Bridgeton Splash Park

Cohanzick Zoo

The Cohanzick Zoo is one of the last remaining free zoos in the country.  It is small and there are not a lot of animals, but they do a nice job with what that have.  It was clean, the animals were fed and my son and I enjoyed it a great deal.  I especially enjoyed the fact that it was FREE!  We're on a very limited budget, so things like this are so valuable.  To give you an idea of some of the animals they do have, here are some photos I took:

Cranes

A sleepy little fox (Artic, if memory serves, but let's not put 100% trust in MY memory, folks!)

Peacocks galore!

White tiger

I can't remember what these little dogs are called, but they apparently 'howl' in a 'chorus' in mornings and at night.  Wouldn't be my choice of wake up calls, I'm sure!

They were holding a little show that day and time we were there.  Very cute with two men doing some tightrope and other events.  I wish I had gotten more info, but we just caught a little of the show.

There is a nice little picnic grove to have some lunch (no food sales, though there was a hot dog vendor in the parking lot), which we did.  It's neat to it so near the animals and hear them as you eat.

All in all, it was a great little trip and I would definitely go again.  

Afterwards, we headed across the parking lot to the splash park.

Bridgeton Splash Park

The splash park was FABULOUS!  It has a capacity of 95 people and we were some of the first in line.  This was lucky, because an hour later, when we left, there were people waiting to get in!  This was on a pretty nice day, so I can't imagine what it would be like on a hot day.  

I went with a one-year-old and 2 two-year-olds.  They all had a blast!  However, we did leave early because, as young children do, they got tired.

I did a lot of running and I got VERY wet, but I did plan for this.  There are two covered areas where parents can stand/sit.  Many with older children took advantage of this.  There are restrooms, but they are within the gate and cannot be used unless you, too, are inside.  I found it very cute that they had a zoo theme, considering they shared a parking lot with the zoo.

Some things to consider for the splash park:

1. They do 'require' swim shoes, or sandals with the heel strap (my son is 1 and wore the little flip flops with the strap that goes around the heel, which they deemed to be fine).  Many children took their shoes off, and many of them fell.  They will permit you to go in without these shoes, but will ask you to sign a waiver.
2. You will want to try to bring exact change.  I only had a $20 for 2 people and they do start to run out of change.  They even had a sign saying they could only take 1's and 5's.
3. There are three sessions.  The hottest time of day is during the second two sessions, so you may want to keep that in mind and plan accordingly, either arriving early or going to the early session.  The first session didn't have many people in it and we were in the middle session (1:30-3:30).

Here is a link to the Splash Park's page on the City of Bridgeton's site.

From their brochure: 

HOURS OF OPERATION 

 

Season—Memorial Day to Labor Day 

(Weekends only while local school 

is in session) 

 

Open Daily 11 am to 6 pm 

 

Three 2-hour sessions daily 

 

11 am to 1 pm 

1:30 pm to 3:30 pm 

4 pm to 6 pm 

All in all, it was a great day.  It is about a 30 minute drive for us, so it was well worth it to pay $4 for these two activities and we will absolutely be doing it again!