Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo in Monroe, LA

Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo sits inside Bernstein Park in Monroe, about ten minutes from I-20. It's been here since 1971, when the city renamed the old Bernstein Park Zoo and expanded it into a full gardens-and-zoo complex. I went on a Wednesday in July with a friend and her two kids. We got there at 10 AM when the gates opened and left around 2:30 PM, and honestly, we could have stayed until the 5 PM close.

Past the ticket window, the grounds split into two sides. Animals and walking trails on the right, splash pad and boat dock on the left. Between the two, the gardens are planted thick with cannas, crepe myrtles, and tropical plants that were going off in July heat.

What to Expect at Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo

About 80 acres total, though the walkable area feels more compact because the paths loop through shaded sections of Bernstein Park. Right past the entrance you hit the flamingo habitat, and right next to it a small concession stand selling coffee for about a dollar a cup. We grabbed one each before doing anything else.

I was surprised at how much the place has been updated. Paths are smooth instead of cracked, the signage at each exhibit is new (species name, diet, native habitat, QR code for more). You can tell someone's been fighting a winning battle against the summer weeds. This isn't the same zoo I came to years ago.

The Splash Pad and Bayou Safari Boat Ride

Kids under 10 will spend half the visit on the left side of the zoo, and honestly the adults will too once the heat sets in. My friend's youngest made a beeline for the dump-bucket tower and just stood underneath it waiting for it to tip, getting absolutely soaked, then going back to wait again. Repeat for about 45 minutes. It's included with admission.

Shaded picnic tables and covered pavilions ring the whole area. We grabbed a table, unpacked sandwiches, and let the kids rotate between the water and the food for a couple of hours. If you're organizing a birthday party for kids, this is honestly one of the better setups in Monroe: water features, shade, and the zoo itself, all for $7 a kid.

The Bayou Safari Boat Ride has been running since 1971 and it's one of the few zoo boat rides left in the country. A captain narrates while the boat loops through the bayou, where you can spot ducks, swans, turtles, ostriches, zebras, and bison from the water. $5 per person at the front gate, max 25 riders. We didn't ride this time but the dock was busy and a staff member was actively waving people over.

Animals You'll See on the Walking Trail

Right side of the zoo, connected by paved paths and a raised wooden walkway called the Cat Walk, built in 1994 and it still holds up. From up there you look down into enclosures instead of peering through fencing, which changes the experience more than you'd expect.

We spent a long time watching the sloth bear. He was pacing steady laps and the kids kept debating whether he was bored or just getting his steps in. The tiger, meanwhile, was completely passed out in the one shady corner of his enclosure. Deeply relatable at 95 degrees. At the far end of the trail, zebras. We also saw a Cape buffalo, flamingos near the entrance, Military Macaws and scarlet macaws in the bird section, alligators, and an ostrich doing absolutely nothing.

The bird section is mostly a series of big open-air aviaries where you can get a much better look at the macaws than you can through a fence. Years ago I went into the interactive exhibit where Australian parakeets land on your shoulders. Still operating, we just didn't make it in this time. On a weekday we had most exhibits to ourselves.

Tickets, Hours, and Parking

• Adults (13-64): $10
• Seniors (65+): $7
• Children (3-12): $7
• Children 2 and under: Free
• Bayou Safari Boat Ride: $5 per person (all ages)
• Train Ride: $5 per person (all ages)
• Parking: Free

Open daily 10 AM to 5 PM. Parking lot is just outside the main gate. Bernstein Park surrounds the zoo with its own green space if you want to extend the outing.

Tips Before You Go

Pack food. There's a small concession stand by the flamingos (coffee and snacks) but no full restaurant. Shaded pavilions around the splash pad make it easy to eat your own stuff.

Bring swimsuits. Don't skip the splash pad in summer. Bring towels too, you'll need them.

Do animals first. They're more active in the morning before the heat sets in. Save the splash pad for after noon when everyone needs to cool down anyway.

Budget the full day. You can walk through the animals in about 90 minutes if you keep moving, but between the splash pad, lunch, the bird exhibit, and the boat ride, we were there four and a half hours. For context: this is cheaper than a movie for a family of four, and unlike Surge Entertainment in West Monroe where everything adds up per activity, one ticket here covers nearly all of it.

Worth knowing: one of the rangers offered us a ride in a zoo cart when she saw me stretching on a bench. Everyone we ran into was easy to talk to.

More things to do in Monroe worth your time.