Treetop Trail at the Minnesota Zoo

Copyright: © Corey Gaffer Photography

The Minnesota Zoo opened in 1978 as one of the first zoos to organize exhibits by their habitat rather than their species. Originally named the “Minnesota Zoological Garden,” this progressive zoo was designed to view animals in a naturalistic, outdoor, garden-like setting that aligned with their correct ecological and geographic environment. This design included a 1.25-mile-long monorail ride that looped throughout the expansive 485 acre grounds. The monorail was decommissioned in 2013 due to rising maintenance issues, leaving the steel and concrete infrastructure intact but unused. The Treetop Trail was born out of the unique opportunity to reuse this existing infrastructure to strengthen the overall mission of the Minnesota Zoo, which is to “connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife.” By transforming the monorail into a walking trail, visitors are given the chance to immerse themselves in nature, much like the monorail aimed to do, but with the freedom to curate their own adventure. The design provides multiple access points, rest areas, overlooks, and interpretative elements that frame powerful views of the surrounding landscape— both the existing animal habitats, and the less-developed, natural environment of the northern section of the trail. Construction reflected the mission even further via a modular construction process that preserved much of the ground habitat under the trail and eliminated any disruption to zoo operations. Construction began in May 2022 and concluded in July 2023, with the zoo remaining open for the duration of construction.