This family-friendly activity in Folsom costs less than $25. How I spent my day at the zoo

The Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary flips the original idea on its head.

Zoos were created to house animals for public display — the emphasis typically on spectacle, rather than preservation. Folsom’s animal sanctuary intrigued me because of its mission not to breed, sell or trade animals, but instead, enrich their lives.

Established in 1963, the then Folsom Zoo started with an orphaned cub who was burned in a forest fire, several deer and a coyote. The park eventually grew to what people know it to be today: A safe haven for animals that cannot be released back into the wild.

Since I started this affordability challenge last year — discovering Sacramento through one $25 activity at a time — I’ve visited a brewery in West Sacramento, an ice skating rink downtown, a soul food shack in Del Paso Heights and a drive-in theater near Rancho Cordova.

Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary was one of the most requested activities, so this month’s stop was a no-brainer.

One of the suggestions to spend an afternoon with rescued animals came from Bee reader Kally Kedinger-Cecil, whose first trip to the sanctuary was in the second grade. Decades later she would take her son Isaac who, similar to herself, is fascinated with peacocks.

“It’s unlike any zoo experience!” the Sacramento native told me.

I had to see what the hype was about.

How I spent my $25 budget at Folsom Sanctuary

I didn’t even come close to my max budget, spending only $7 for myself.

I pulled into a packed parking lot, adjacent to Folsom Public Library, on a sunny April Saturday afternoon and found a space near the entrance.

At the ticket booth, I paid $7 for entry.

A couple of things to remember before you go:

• Don’t feed or tease the animals
• Pets are not allowed, excluding service dogs
• Don’t bring bikes, tricycles, scooters, skateboards, shoes with wheels or roller skates
• You must stay behind the barriers

Location: 403 Stafford St., Folsom

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday (Oct. 1 through April 30) and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday (May 1 through Sep. 30)

There’s a gift shop situated directly next to the ticket booth but I didn’t get a chance to look around because of limited space. But Kally told me she bought her son a T-shirt.

My time at Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary

I started at the macaques exhibit of Old World monkeys and made my way around to the peacocks.

I have never seen the large, colorful pheasants in person before this trip and I have to agree with Isaac, they’re worth the stop. My picture of them isn’t great, but hopefully, you get the idea.

The next stop was mountain lions.

The large sleek lions hunt alone, ambushing their prey with their curved retractile claws from behind and killing with a bite to the skull. Let’s just say, I was more than happy with the distance between us.

If you squint, you can see them chilling on top of a wooden beam in the far right upper corner of their enclosure.

After a few stops in between the bobcats, parrots and deer, my last trip was to the bear exhibit. Unfortunately, I caught them tucked away inside their den in a middle of a mid-afternoon nap.

The Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary has nearly 100 animals but I didn’t see them all. Several of the animals were understandably hidden away from the sun and others weren’t in their habitats.

If you decide to visit, take Kally’s advice and go before the weather gets too warm and the animals don’t want to be out.

Is Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary affordable?

If you’re looking for an enriching, budget-friendly outdoor activity geared toward young children, Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary is the spot.

This zoo is small and it’s not going to take hours to get through, which gives you ample daylight to explore nearby Folsom attractions:

The sanctuary is close to the Folsom Historic District which houses a variety of eats from The Folsom Cafe to the restaurant Hacienda Real.

Zoo tickets go as high as $7. Children under 2 as well as zoo members get in free.

A group of three would spend less than $25 on tickets alone.

If you’re like me and get easily lost, pocket the zoo’s illustrated map to get around.

The downsides: visible barriers between visitors and animals and not having a little one to share the excitement with.

The Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary is a “simple” and “unassuming” park with a rich history and a mission behind it.

“There’s definitely more of an emphasis on the long-term care of the animals,” Kally told me.

Thanks for the suggestion!

If you were given $25 where would you go? Drop your suggestions in the form below and I’ll put it on my list of affordable Sacramento activities to try — or email me, Brianna, at btaylor@sacbee.com

This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.