Zoo Review: California Academy of Sciences, Part I

On a brief trip to San Francisco in 2022, I stopped in at the Aquarium of the Bay, located on Fisherman's Wharf.  It was a nice enough attraction, located in one of the most famous locales in San Francisco, but I was surprised that such a big city with such intimate association with the sea didn't have a bigger, more complete aquarium.  As it turns out, San Francisco has another, older, larger aquarium, which I would go on to visit the next year.  That facility is the Steinhart Aquarium, which itself is part of the California Academy of Sciences.

Located in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences is one of the world's largest natural history museums, as well as one of America's oldest.  It dates back to 1853, when California was barely a part of the country, and continues to be one of the leading natural science research institutes in the world.  It's present location is not the original one, as a combination of growth and natural disasters (both of which San Francisco has seen plenty of) have caused it to relocate several times.  The campus settled into Golden Gate Park in 1916, with the Steinhart Aquarium being added in 1923.  One of the most interesting features of the building is its living roof, with provides 2.5 acres of green habitat on top of the building and provides an attractive view of the park.

The facility features several exhibit galleries, including dinosaurs, taxidermy displays, and a planetarium.   Our focus, of course, is on the living animal collection, which is divided into two main sections - the aquarium, and the rainforest.

Many visitors first head for the Oscher Rainforest, a 90-foot tall class dome filled with tropical plants from around the world.  As impressive as the view is from the outside, the treat comes from going in. Note - on busy days, like the one in which I visited, there can be a bit of a wait to go inside.  The facility meters access to prevent the dome from becoming too crowded.    On the plus-side, you have a beautiful series of tidepools to walk over and peer down into as you wait in line.  If you're planning a day in Golden Gate Park, I'd recommended getting to CAS early, and going to the rainforest first.

Visitors take a series of ramps (or elevators) through the forest, working their way from the floor to the canopy, where they can observe a variety of butterflies and birds flying free.  There is relatively sparse animal life in the forest, and no mammals, so visitors who are expecting something like the big jungle buildings featured at many zoos may be disappointed.  The relatively light-load of wildlife here (and there's still a lot of birds here, they're just easily lost among the dense growth), however, means that the forest stays lush.  And, to be fair, as someone who has been in rainforests, this is a much more realistic experience.  I think all of my time in zoos spoiled me when I first went into an African rainforest and was confused and surprised by how few animals I saw...

Interspersed along the forest trail are different landing decks, each containing several large, well-furnished terrariums of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates from rainforests around the world.  Included among these are some zoo classics, such as poison dart frogs, as well as many obscure species that I had never even heard of or seen before.  The Malagasy orb weaver spiders are a special favorite of many visitors.  At the top of the rainforest, an overlook deck provides a spectacular view of the forest, as well as being one of the best places to spot the various brightly colored birds and butterflies from.  An elevator then descends to the aquarium, located below the rainforest.

California Academy of Sciences