The Minnesota Zoo has a major new attraction, and it’s not an exotic animal but a new way of touring the zoo and its surrounding woodlands from the world’s longest elevated pedestrian walkway, dubbed the Treetops Trail.
Opened just a week ago on World Conservation Day, the 1.25 mile pathway takes visitors as high as 32 feet above ground level for views of many zoo animals, including moose, bison and camels. It’s a year-round attraction open in all of Minnesota’s changing seasons.
And, it’s also a major recycling project: It reuses much of the route and materials of the Zoo’s former monorail, which operated from 1979 to 2013. The project also added more than 70,000 square feet to the Zoo and includes 22 ‘bump-out’ overlooks along the route.
The Minnesota Zoo is located in Apple Valley, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.