Worth Leaving Town For: Beauties & Mysteries at The Reptile Zoo

How do you travel the world and see some of its most exotic wonders alive, in 3D, without leaving Snohomish County?

You finally stop at The Reptile Zoo just outside Monroe that you’ve been driving by your whole life. That’s how!

Okay, maybe I haven’t been driving by it my whole life. The Reptile Zoo opened in 1996, so I’ve only been driving by for 25 years.

Until now.

After being closed for COVID quarantine, we learned the zoo had recently reopened. Feeling a little too cooped up quarantining ourselves, we decided it was the perfect outing to enjoy with our toddler.

Just East of Monroe on Hwy 2 // Garret Hunt

The Reptile Zoo was founded by Scott Petersen, a former biology teacher. AKA: the Reptile Man. Peterson opened the zoo “to help others appreciate more fully the beauties and mysteries the natural world has to offer.”*

Now you may be thinking, “Reptiles ... gross!”

I get it.

If you even say the “s” word (snake) in front of my Mom, she’ll probably never talk to you again. For many years, I had my own phobia of spiders I even still struggle with at times.

Reptiles aren’t naturally intriguing to all. As I’ve gotten older, though, I have come to realize fear of reptiles has largely been conditioned through media, mirroring, and even our genetics.

Which makes sense when you think about it. It wasn’t too many generations ago our ancestors lived among some of these lethal creatures and rightly did have a deep sense of fear instilled in them.

But thanks to the Reptile Zoos’ safe displays, even the most poisonous of these creatures can be appreciated from close range. And there really is much to appreciate.

Aside from the many wondrous colors and textures of snakes, turtles, alligators and more, there are a few standout stars.

Brutus, the zoo's largest crocodile, adorns t-shirts in the gift shop. And we can’t forget the albino crocodile. And perhaps the most perplexing, the two-headed turtle. Not to mention the many impressive varieties of snakes, including a King Cobra, Black Mamba, and more.

For me personally, while pausing to lock eyes with many of these creatures, and seeing them in all their uniqueness, the experience felt almost like a practice in compassion. There’s something therapeutically peaceful to eye-gazing with snakes. For me, embracing otherness is a means to self-acceptance, and that’s pretty neat to nurture while running my fingers along the texture of a turtle's shell.

Yes, just recently The Reptile Zoo started allowing visitors to touch the turtles once again. They have bottles of hand sanitizer spread throughout, enforce masks, and they’re also limiting capacity to ensure visitors can safely distance.

Turtle power // Garret Hunt (side note: the zoo had not yet removed the “Please Don’t Pet Me Signs,” as they had just removed that restriction the day of our visit.)

The zoo is relatively small. We spent about an hour there, which was perfect for our busy toddler. There were three of us total in our group. Two adults ($8.95 each) and our toddler was free since she’s only two. So for all three of us it only cost about $18.

You can learn more about “feeding” events, conservation, education, and parties over on The Reptile Zoo website.

Puzzling wonders of the world are waiting just 26 minutes from Everett. Slither on in with an open mind, you may even find this snappy little zoo to be worth leaving town for.