Welcome to Plumpton Park Zoo

A Family Zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland

Plumpton Park Zoo is a nonprofit family zoo in Cecil County, Maryland, only a short drive from I-95 and 5 minutes from Route 1. More than 180 animals live here, about half of them taken in from owners who could no longer care for them. Families get remarkably close to giraffes, white lions, tigers, bears, wolves, sloths and zebras, explore the zoo at their own pace, and meet the animals without the crowds or the cost of a big-city zoo.

Why families visit Plumpton Park Zoo

• More than 180 animals across mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians
• Meet our giraffes at the giraffe feeding station, at 12:00 noon on weekdays and 11:00am and 1:00pm on weekends (11:00am and 1:00pm daily in summer), weather and giraffes permitting
• White lions — one of fewer than 20 zoos in the United States to have them
• Tigers, bears, wolves and sloths, plus zebras, camels, alpacas and siamang gibbons
• Free parking, and a hand stamp lets you leave and come back the same day
• Snack bar and gift shop — hot food and hand-dipped ice cream at admissions, and a gift shop inside the 1734 mill; picnic tables if you bring your own
• Gemstone and fossil panning at the Jeremiah Brown Mining Company sluice — keep what you find
• Open seven days a week, closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day
• a short drive from I-95 — an easy day trip from Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania
• School and group visits, with guided educational tours available as an add-on
• A nonprofit 501(c)(3) — admission and memberships fund animal care, rescue, and education

There is history on the grounds too. A water-powered gristmill built here in 1734 by Jeremiah Brown Sr. still stands beside North East Creek, and the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Read the history of Plumpton Park Zoo.

Big animals. Small zoo. Remarkably close.

At a large city zoo you watch the animals from a distance, across a crowd. Plumpton Park Zoo is small enough that you don’t. The enclosures are open and spacious, the paths are quiet, and there is time to stand and watch — which is exactly why families with young children keep coming back.

Tickets and today’s hours  ·  Directions and parking  ·  Visitor FAQs