Families and adventurers of all ages can enjoy a wild, wet, and wonder-filled day at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium.
Created by Bass Pro Shops founder and noted conservationist Johnny Morris, the sprawling, 350,000-square-foot attraction in Springfield, Missouri, showcases a vast range of fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds, including a remarkable collection of record-setting game animals and immersive wildlife galleries. In fact, the 1.5 million-gallon aquarium adventure was voted best aquarium in the nation, according to USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
There’s a lot to see and do while exploring the attraction, which will leave visitors of all ages awestruck by the natural world. Here are just five memorable ways to experience Wonders of Wildlife.
1. See stunning photography of nature’s beauty. The Nature’s Best Photography gallery displays the work of nature photographers around the world. The exhibit is home to the prestigious Windland Smith Rice International Awards—named for the accomplished wildlife photographer, conservation advocate, and late daughter of FedEx CEO Fred Smith—which recognize outstanding nature photography from around the globe.
2. Journey to extreme wildlife habitats. Step into the wildlife galleries to be surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of the planet’s most extreme wildlife habitats. State-of-the-art 4D displays include massive murals, native foliage, and special effects, which create realistic landscapes, from the tundra to the desert. The Great African Hall, for instance, spans 80,000 square feet and took a year to paint. Consider starting your visit to Wonders of Wildlife in the immersive galleries before moving on to the aquarium.
3. Get cozy with penguins. Chill out in the Penguin Encounter at Penguin Cove. Visitors to this goosebump-inducing environment are transported to the north and south poles and enjoy the company of a colony of gentoo penguins, the fastest-swimming, deepest-diving species of penguin in the world. You can also watch the penguins dive into the depths while breaking for lunch at Fish Tales Café, where you can choose from a menu of soups, sandwiches, salads, pizza, and more, including kid-friendly and gluten-free options.
4. Dive into oceanic wonders: At the Aquarium Adventure, visitors set sail on a voyage of the world’s oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams while connecting with the wildlife that call these environments home. Discover what it’s like to touch a stingray, traverse an underwater tunnel surrounded by sea creatures, and plunge to the depths of the ocean among spectacular sharks. An additional, interactive experience allows visitors to feed the stingrays that circle around Shipwreck Reef exhibit, including Atlantic, blue-spotted, cownose, mangrove whipray, ribbon tail, southern, and yellow stingrays.
5. Brave the depths. For a particularly memorable visit, consider the Out to Sea Shark Dive, which brings visitors face-to-fin with sand tiger sharks, brown sharks, and Atlantic goliath groupers. Participants can don state-of-the-art helmets and be submerged in a metal cage into a dive-like environment without scuba certification. In fact, Wonders of Wildlife is the only facility in the Midwest where visitors can dive with sharks. Afterward, participants also walk away with a commemorative T-shirt and photos of the experience.
Know Before You Go
Hours:
- 9 a.m.–7 p.m. daily
Admission Ticket Options:
Tour & Encounter Tickets:
This post was created by SLM Partner Studio on behalf of Wonders of Wildlife. To learn more, visit wondesofwildlife.com.
