Home

States

National Parks

Cheap Flights to Asia

Pictures of Top Cities

Hotels

Popular State Guides

• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Hawaii
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Washington
• Wyoming

Northern Trail

The Northern Trail is one of the most impressive exhibits of the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle. It was inaugurated in 1994 and it won the AZA Exhibit Award in 1995. The Northern Trail Exhibit is, in fact, an integral part of the Zoo’s Master Plan that aims at complete redevelopment into naturalistic habitats. It encompasses an area of 2.4 hectares (0.009 square-miles) that includes exhibition habitats, animal areas, service areas, off-view animal holding area, and visitor use and circulation area.

The Northern Trail is home to several American animal species like arctic foxes, grizzly bears, gray wolves, bald eagles, mountain goats, and Roosevelt elk. The major attraction in this part of the Zoo is the new grizzly exhibit. This exhibit features a number of plants and animals adaptable to the cold, rocky regions of the far north like Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia. There are three viewpoints that allow the visitors to observe the bears. The Taiga Viewing Shelter, hidden behind a virtual avalanche, offers views above and below the water. On the other hand, a walk-in cave provides keyhole views through glass. 

The Northern Trail also houses the northern habitats of Tundra, Montane, and Taiga and is landscaped is such a way that it resembles the actual trail in the Denali National Park, Alaska. The features of the exhibit boldly convey the three main elements-fires, permafrost, and flood- that define the northern landscape. Deadfall and upright snags have also been used. The multifaceted landscape offers several opportunities to the inquisitive brown bears for exploration and play. Also, there is a pool with ledges and slopes, which provides the bears with opportunities for resting, wading, and swimming.

Other major attraction here is the Tundra Center that houses a number of temporary exhibits and a small theatre. Besides, at the entrance of the building, there is a simulated fish-drying rack similar to the one used by the native people of Canada and Alaska. Visiting the Northern trail is a multi-sensory adventure that must be experienced when you visit the Zoo.

• Address: 5500 N Phinney Avenue, Seattle, WA 98103
• Telephone: (206) 684-4800
• Website: www.zoo.org

Top 5 National Parks

1. Great Smoky Mountains
2. Grand Canyon
3. Yosemite
4. Olympic
   
5. Yellowstone

All 58 national parks.