Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, plus Thomas Dambo's trolls

November 14, 2026

Euri, Caitlin, her boyfriend and I spent the day at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. It's an amazing zoo. I think Tacoma has some of the best parks in America, and they're part of the reason I moved here. The zoo sits inside Point Defiance Park, which the zoo puts at 700 acres.

Jereme sitting in the open hands of Boge, a giant wooden troll, outside the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium entrance

The trolls

The bonus this time was a troll exhibit, and it was really cool. Danish artist Thomas Dambo builds giant trolls out of reclaimed wood, and his traveling show, TROLLS: A Field Study (opens in a new tab), put four of them at the zoo. The other eight are at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville.

Boge greets you at the front entrance with his arms out. The zoo says you're welcome to hug the trolls and take photos with them, just not climb on them, so I sat in his hands.

The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium entrance plaza on a cloudy day

The other three are spread around the zoo, all visible from paved paths. Birch, the measure troll, stands in the Asian Forest Sanctuary holding a tall measuring stick. Larke, the mask troll, crouches with a green box over her head between the Arctic fox and Rocky Shores habitats. Poppy, the curious collector, holds a net by the muskoxen.

Birch, a giant wooden troll holding a tall measuring stick, among the plants of the Asian Forest Sanctuary

Larke, a giant wooden troll crouching with a green box over her head as a mask

Poppy, a giant wooden troll holding a long-handled net, with hair made of branches

Two muskoxen resting on a grassy hillside near Poppy the troll

The trolls are 7 to 9 feet tall, and the zoo says each one weighs between 1,300 and 1,900 pounds.

A botanical garden as much as a zoo

The zoo is a botanical garden as much as it's a zoo. There are palms and spiky desert plants, bamboo groves, and flowers blooming even in November. The zoo calls itself a botanical garden (opens in a new tab) with hundreds of varieties of plants, and the keepers feed some of them to the animals, like banana leaves and bamboo shoots.

Caitlin and her boyfriend standing in front of fan palms and spiky desert plants

Spikes of yellow flowers in front of tall evergreens

In the Asian Forest Sanctuary, the path winds through tall bamboo.

Caitlin and her boyfriend walking a paved path through tall bamboo in the Asian Forest Sanctuary

The animals

There's a lot to see. The zoo says it has more than 430 species.

Three meerkats standing up and watching from their rocky habitat

A black-and-white ruffed lemur sitting on a rock among palms

Euri made friends with the goats.

Euri smiling next to a pen of goats, one reaching its head over the rail toward her

Two Malayan tapirs napping in a bed of hay

A golden gibbon sitting in a rope swing with its hand to its mouth

A group of penguins swimming in a pool among rocks

A penguin diving underwater, seen half above and half below the surface

Two seals swimming in a turquoise pool between rock walls

A sea otter floating on its back in a rocky pool

The aquarium

Your ticket covers the aquariums too. The zoo bills itself as the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest.

A tropical reef tank full of coral and small fish

The biggest animal in the aquarium is Fender, a bowmouth guitarfish. It's a ray, but it looks a lot like a shark.

A bowmouth guitarfish gliding past a reef

While we were there, people were in the water inside a cage in the shark tank. The zoo sells Eye-to-Eye Shark Dives (opens in a new tab) for ages 8 and up, with no diving experience needed.

Divers in red wetsuits standing inside a cage in the shark tank

An orange jelly with frilly yellow arms against a blue background

Euri looking into a glowing glass globe full of pink jellies

Caitlin and her boyfriend in front of a glass globe full of jellies

A bright red rockfish swimming past kelp

Planning a visit to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Parking is free, and the zoo is cashless, so bring a card or your phone. As of November 2026, the zoo's prices page (opens in a new tab) lists online daytime tickets at $25 for adults (13 to 64), $23 for seniors and $17 for kids 3 to 12, with kids 2 and under free. Tickets at the front gate cost more ($32 for adults), so buy online.

From October 5 through December 20, 2026, the zoo is open 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and closed on Thanksgiving. From December 21 through January 3, it's open daily, except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The trolls are included with daytime admission through January 24, 2027. If you want to see the other eight at Northwest Trek, ask for the troll coupon when you check in at the zoo. It takes $10 off front gate admission at Northwest Trek for up to five tickets.

Zoolights runs in the evenings from November 27, 2026 to January 3, 2027, with its own timed tickets. Three of the four trolls are out among the lights, but the aquariums are closed during Zoolights.

Make a day of it in Tacoma: start with biscuits and gravy at Cooks Tavern.