Outdoors
in Chicago, IL (showing 1 - 11 out of 11)

The Lincoln Park Zoo was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest zoos in the United States. The zoo spans across 35-acres of Chicago's Lincoln Park. A unique feature of the Lincoln Park Zoo that really shows its age is a burr oak tree that dates back to 1830, three years before the city was founded.

The zoo houses nearly 1,250 animals, including big cats, polar bears, penguins, gorillas, reptiles, monkeys and many others featured in these exhibits:

Antelope & Zebra Area

Blum-Kovler Penguin & Seabird House

Helen V. Brach Primate House

Farm-in-the-Zoo, presented by John Deere

Kovler Lion House

Kovler Sea Lion Pool

McCormick Bird House

Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond

Robert R. McCormick Bear Habitat

Nature Boardwalk

Pritzker Family Children's Zoo

Regenstein African Journey

Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit

Regenstein Center for African Apes

Regenstein Small Mammal & Reptile House

The Children's Zoo and the Farm-in-the-Zoo exhibits offer hands on experiences for younger visitors. There's also an indoor play structure for kids to enjoy, and the Farm exhibit allows guests to pet animals like goats and feed the cows.

Millennium Park occupies about 24-acres of Lake Michigan shoreline in Chicago's Grant Park. The park is the second most popular tourist destination in the city following only Navy Pier, attracting between three and four million visitors annually. Millennium Park serves as a prominent civic center and is known as the "front yard" of downtown Chicago. The neighborhood surrounding the park is one of the city's most, if not the most, coveted residential areas.

The area showcases public art and is where places like the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the Laurie Garden, the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, the BP Pedestrian Bridge, Wrigley Square, the McDonald's Cycle Center, the Exelon Pavilions, the AT&T Plaza, the Boeing Galleries, the Chase Promenade, and the Nichols Bridgeway are located.

The John G. Shedd Aquarium debuted in Chicago in 1930. At the time of its opening, the aquarium was the largest in the world and was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. The Shedd Aquarium was the most visited aquarium in the nation in 2005 and 2007, and is an essential part of Museum Campus along with the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History.

The aquarium welcomes over 2 million guests annually to view their extensive collection of over 1,500 species of fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians and insects. In all, the Shedd Aquarium houses about 25,000 fish. The five permanent exhibits at the Shedd are Amazon Rising, Caribbean Reef, Waters of the World, the Oceanarium, and Wild Reef. The aquarium garnered the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' award for best exhibit in 1999 for Seahorse Symphony, in 2001 for Amazon Rising and in 2004 for Wild Reef.

Some of the animals and sea life that can be seen at the Shedd Aquarium are Alaska sea otters, beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, green sea turtles, Australian lungfish, Grand Caymon blue iguanas, sea lions, penguins, blacktip reef sharks, cownose rays, dragon moray eel, giant Pacific octopus, moon jellies, red-bellied piranhas, sea cucumbers, zebra sharks and sea stars.