Founded in 1868, the Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the United States and one of the few free zoos of the nation. It is not a terribly large zoo but it gives enough reasons for you to plan a visit.
Set upon a wonderful park and gardens, the zoo is so picturesque and offers an educational and fun atmosphere. It's located at 2001 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614 and just minutes north of downtown Chicago. The location brings you a unique experience - when you look above the trees in the zoo, you will see the skyscrapers of downtown and high-rise buildings of the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The great central location of the Lincoln Park Zoo makes your self-driving quite convenient. There is no need to worry about your parking.
If you reach there as the zoo opens, you probably have the chance to get free parking. Just exit Lake Shore Drive at LaSalle and turn right on Stockton Drive. If you can't find anything south of Fullerton Avenue, continue north on Stockton until it runs into Cannon Drive, then turn right on Cannon. There will be the last chunk of free parking.
Once you cross Fullerton on Cannon, you'll have to pay for parking over 30 minutes. The rates are $17 for 30 minutes-3 hours, $19 for 3-4 hours, $25 for 4-5 hours and $30 for 5 hours and above. Please note that rates may differ for special events of the zoo. The disabled visitors can find 19 parking spaces along Cannon Drive exclusive to them.
If you're a zoo member, you can enjoy parking benefits during zoo hours.
(1)Zoologists level members will receive 6 free hours of parking through swiping the member card.
(2)For household and individual members using a complimentary parking coupon, you can get a white parking ticket at the parking lot entrance. Upon exiting, insert the ticket and the yellow coupon into the ticket slot in turn. To enjoy the $7 flat-rate parking, swipe your gold membership through the machine's slot at entrance. When you drive to leave the zoo, swipe the card at the exit, then insert a credit card or cash into the unit. When the payment ends, you can exit from the lot.
Parking Tips for Field-trip Season: Lincoln Park Zoo each year welcomes more than three million visitors. It's always crowded by students during field-trip season. If you will have your visit during that time, you'd better plan for the increased volume of visitors and the quick-selling parking lots.
Please realize that the lot is often congested on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from late March through early June and specially jammed during bus drop-off time (9 to 10am) and pick-up time (noon to 2pm).
