Applegate Park Zoo

Pretty small and half-filled with farm animals, but all very cute and admission is very cheap. You probably wouldn't need more than an hour here as it's a brief circuit.Free street parking and when we went it was cash only.

Small zoo, but well loved. Loved the misters on the hot day! The animals looked well cared for. I felt the bears' enclosure seemed awfully small for such large animals.

A wonderful place to take young ones. Great way to spend a couple of hours. There's also a really good playground nearby.

Such a cute and fun little zoo. Perfect for the littles who just need a quick outing or any animal lover.

Applegate Park has been a central place for family activities for anyone who's lived in Merced. I have so many fond memories here and spent many evenings running in the playground with my siblings. One of Merced's largest parks, it is home to the Applegate Park Zoo, a huge playground with swings, a skate park, an amphitheater, a rose garden and fountain, a small amusement park, and a nice, long bike trail along Bear Creek! There's plenty of room in the park to hang out and during certain times of the year, you'll find many groups playing volleyball in the evenings.

Hey Applegate,So.. I came with small expectation.. I expected a very small area with a few animals, hopefully a few interesting ones. The cheap ticket price was a plus bc I think it was appropriate to the size of the venue. If you charged like any other zoo, I would have been very upset, but the price was appropriate to the experience. $2 child 5 and older. $3 adults. Under 5 free. Can walk thru in maybe 20-40m if taking your time with kids. You are a very small and nothing too crazy or big BUT for my two toddlers it was perfect. Even better is that you are shaded so it's comfortable going thru it amidst the hotter temps of Merced. Great place to take toddlers for an hour or two. Some of the cages were empty but again I sort of expected that...Highlights were the Deers, Emus, the Alpacas because they were big. You have the black bear but feel sad looking at it in that small space. Not sure why you have raccoons, that seemed random. Liked how some animals were mixed in same area. Funny to see birds following turtles...Until next time I need to kill an hour with my toddlers :)

On the drive back from Yosemite, we decided to stop by here. It was such a fun place, it is small but for a quick pit stop, I think it's perfect. We had a great time seeing the animals and feeding the goats. The lady at the ticket booth was so sweet in giving us additional recommendations & even personally came over to us when we were leaving to give my kiddo a keychain! We will definitely be back & we've been recommending it to people we know.

I have been coming to Merced a lot with my co workers for training and being stuck inside a training room for 8 hours with no windows feel like I am in jail, I need Sunshine! So the co workers and I decided to take our lunch to the park. The park is right next to the Merced zoo, it has a play area, skate park and several grassy areas.However this park does lack shade under the shaded areas to sit. But overall, it is a good park...it was clean when we went but needs more trees for the tables. I did see a lot of kids especially since it is Spring Break and skaters skating.If I am in the area I will return.

Our 4 year old granddaughter had fun at the Applegate Park Zoo. We will visit again once she returns to Merced.

Nice small zoo. You won't see too many animals, but admission is cheap ($3 for adults).