Lake Superior Zoo
72nd Avenue West and Grand Avenue, Duluth, MN 55807
About Lake Superior Zoo
The Lake Superior Zoo sits at 72nd Avenue West and Grand Avenue, inside Duluth's Fairmount neighborhood, with Kingsbury Creek running through the grounds. It is the city's zoo and, for most Duluthians, the only reason they know the name Fairmount.
For the surrounding neighborhoods it functions as something more useful than a tourist attraction: a full-scale family destination within walking distance of some of the lowest-priced housing in the city. Households in Fairmount, Cody and Irving can reach it without a highway.
The creek that gives the grounds their character is also the source of the institution's hardest chapter. The June 2012 regional flood tore through the Kingsbury Creek corridor and hit the zoo directly, killing animals and destroying infrastructure, and the recovery reshaped the organisation. That history is worth knowing both as context for the zoo and as a due-diligence prompt for anyone buying property near either creek in this part of the city.
Good to know: animal exhibits, family attraction, Kingsbury Creek through the grounds, seasonal events, education programs.
Neighborhoods it serves
The zoo neighborhood, between two creeks on the Grand Avenue corridor.
CodyA quiet slope above the Spirit Valley main street, with a creek through the middle.
IrvingFlat streets, a real playfield and a point of land on the bay.
Norton ParkWhere the Munger Trail starts, between two creeks on the river.
Spirit ValleyWest Duluth's main street, with a ski hill at the end of it.
DenfeldThe most house per dollar in Duluth, and a high school worth the walk.
Where these facts come from
- Lake Superior Zoo accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.