Cougar Mtn. Zoo Reindeer Festival

The Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, WA (15 miles East of Seattle) is worth visiting year round.  The zoo is located, literally, on Cougar Mountain with a beautiful view of the Cascade Mountains and Lake Sammamish.  The primary focus of the Cougar Mountain Zoo is education and endangered species.  It’s an outing and it’s a cause.

But we’re talking reindeer.

The zoo has a large collection of reindeer and S. American reindeer (alpacas) that you can visit.  There are even treat stations where you can feed the animals.

You can spend some time with “Santa’s special kittens cleaning their stripes to make candy canes” or hear a story from an elf.  The special kittens are tiger cubs.  The elf is an actual elf from the North Pole.

Speaking of the North Pole, did I mention SANTA? Yes, Santa stops in for some photo ops and to pick up the letters that children leave him in his very own post office (not associated with the USPS).

The Reindeer Festival runs through the 30th of December (closed on Christmas and Christmas Eve – the reindeer are a little busy then). Admission is a bit steep, especially considering that the entire zoo – including time with Santa and stopping to write a letter, can be done at a leisurely pace in under two hours.  It cost around $30 for me and my two boys, but it is a charitable, non-profit event with all proceeds going to the reindeer and other animals, so it’s hard to get to worked up about it.

If you make the drive to Issaquah check out the local flavor of Gilman Village for lunch and shopping or grab a fantastic burger over at Jak’s (it’s really good!).

All photos by Whit Honea