Animals, decorations, winter magic.
Free with admission. Dec. 26-Jan. 1

The most fun you can have with a pumpkin.
Free with admission Oct. 29-30

Gobble, munch, devour.
Free with admission. Sept. 3-5

May the slime be with you.
Free with admission. July 30-July 31

Learn what it takes.
Free with admission. July 16-17

Celebrate Pride and our LGBTQIA+ community!
Free with admission. June 25 and June 26

Get outside. Watch nature. ID and discover.
Free. All ages.
Help the Puget Sound area (including Tacoma, Eatonville, Seattle, Bellevue, Everett and any place within Snohomish, King and Pierce counties!) show the world how biodiverse our region is by making observations of local species during City Nature Challenge!

If Dr. Karen Wolf needs another skilled set of hands for a polar bear procedure, she knows who to call. And if Dr. Allison Case has a beaver or owl that needs attention while she’s out of town, she has a second clinic just a van-trip away. The two women are head veterinarians of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, respectively – and these sister zoos have veterinary teams with a long tradition of helping each other. “People don’t realize there’s this crossover,” explains Dr. Wolf of the unique veterinary partnership. “I have absolute confidence that …

Our Free-Roaming Area is a 435-acre Northwest paradise for herds of Roosevelt elk, bison, moose, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, deer and swan. In addition to the elegant trumpeter swans—the largest extant species of waterfowl, there is a varied and wide-ranging number of waterfowl species that—for at least part of the year—call the ponds and lakes at Northwest Trek their home. The Green-winged Teal is North America’s smallest dabbling duck. What is a dabbling duck you may wonder? A dabbling duck is a type of shallow water duck that feeds primarily along the surface of the water or by tipping …

There are plenty of signs of spring at Northwest Trek: skunk cabbage and red flowering currant are blooming, fern fiddleheads are unfurling, Oregon grape is blossoming, birds are chirping, and the grizzly “brothers” are waking up from their winter naps and becoming more playful every day. After being in a state of torpor (a form of hibernation) all winter, Huckleberry and Hawthorne can be seen playing and exploring in their forested habitat. “A stick in their habitat recently caught Hawthorne’s attention and he rolled around with it all day,” said keeper Carly. Carly says Hawthorne is the more excitable of …