We recently drove to Arkansas from St. Louis, which is a great weekend getaway. We spent our first day in Hot Springs, Arkansas and our second day in Little Rock, Arkansas. We had such a great day and I can’t wait to share more with you about it!
We woke up bright and early to drive to Little Rock, Arkansas. We had plans to visit the Little Rock Zoo, which opened in 1926 and now features nearly 700 animals representing 200+ species, many on the endangered list. We absolutely love visiting zoos when we travel so the whole family was excited for this adventure.
We had a lot of fun exploring Little Rock Zoo – there’s so much to explore! From the penguins and zebras to the lions and reptiles, my kids loved it all!
As we explored the Zoo, they had these great pieces of art with a cut out hole that you could stick your head into. Hayden made it his mission to get his picture taken with each one – I have at least 10 pictures taken!
One thing I really loved about the Little Rock Zoo is how the animals had such open spaces. I loved watching the Zebras walk around and could have watched them forever!
I noticed that the Little Rock Zoo doesn’t have that much shade, so we made sure to apply sunscreen several times. Of course, the kids all wanted some souvenir safari hats from the gift shop that helped keep the sun away.
Something that I thought was so fun and interesting was the Arkansas Heritage Farm – a part of the zoo where families could learn about agriculture in Arkansas!
Other fun for the kids was the carousel, train and the chance to feed fish and lorikeets!
There’s no outside food allowed but the Little Rock Zoo has plenty of places to choose from when it comes to snacks or lunch! Cafe Africa is the main place to eat but there is a snack shack also.
We spent a fun few hours at the Little Rock Zoo and my kids loved it. If you’re in Little Rock with the family, definitely make this a stop.
Read more about the Little Rock Zoo!
After we left the Little Rock Zoo, it was time to head back home to St. Louis. We had to make one stop for lunch though and that was The Purple Cow. We had several people on social media recommend it to us a family-friendly restaurant and there’s one not far from the Zoo.
The Purple Cow is like an old-fashioned diner and soda fountain and it’s decorated with lots of – you guessed it – purple cows! It was definitely a family friendly restaurant with yummy sandwiches, burgers and desserts!
It was the perfect way to end our fun weekend in Arkansas! As we made the drive back to St. Louis, we couldn’t stop talking about all of the fun we had and how we will have to make another trip soon – this time a little longer!
If you’re planning to do the same itinerary as us, I recommend driving to Hot Springs first as it’s a little over 6 hours from St. Louis. Hot Springs to Little Rock is a little under an hour and then Little Rock to St. Louis is 5.5 hours. It definitely makes more sense to spend time in Hot Springs first since it’s further away!
Make sure to check out my two previous posts on where we stayed in Hot Springs and what we did while there!
Make sure to connect with Visit Arkansas to start planning your trip and share your traveling experiences using #VisitArkansas on social!
Disclosure: I received compensation on behalf of Visit Arkansas but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
I lived in Arkansas for 6 month. Love visiting Hot Springs, but never went to the zoo.
This looks like such a fun family day! They are so cute in the safari hats and I love that this zoo has a snack shack. It’s been almost one year since our last zoo trip so it’s time to plan another soon!
Looks like a fun place!
This looks like a great zoo! I don’t get to travel much but would love to take a family trip to a zoo someday.
THis zoo looks like fun!! will bring my son there when we visit Little Rock