Zoo Boo opens an hour earlier this year, with two Detroit Zoo weekends left

ROYAL OAK, Mich. — The Detroit Zoo’s Zoo Boo has two weekends left this October after the Oct. 9-11 dates, and this year it starts in daylight. The event runs from 3 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 16-18 and Oct. 23-25. The first weekends were Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 9-11.

WXYZ reported that the zoo moved the start up an hour so visitors get more time to see the animals before dark. Zoo Boo guests can walk the whole zoo until 6 p.m. After that, the eastern part of the grounds, from the main gates back to the Table 28 area, turns into a lit-up Halloween route until 8:30.

Plan the day around it. On Zoo Boo dates the zoo’s regular hours are only 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and then it closes and reopens at 3 for the event. Zoo Boo needs its own ticket, and the zoo lists prices from $21 to $27.

The zoo’s list for the evening includes trick-or-treat stations near the front of the zoo, live entertainment, costumed characters, zookeeper chats and fall enrichment treats at animal habitats in the afternoon. There are also craft and story areas for kids. Face painting, the carousel, the VR ride and the 4D theater cost extra.

This year’s Zoo Boo also includes the new Fred and Barbara Erb Discovery Trails. The 7-acre area has hands-on animal encounters and climbing features. According to the zoo, its animals include bush dogs, a giant anteater, southern stingrays, prairie dogs, alpacas and burrowing owls. The zoo’s event page lists the trails among the Zoo Boo attractions.

The zoo sits at Woodward Avenue and 10 Mile Road in Royal Oak, just off I-696. Its water tower, painted with the zoo’s name, is easy to spot from the freeway.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The Oct. 9-11 Zoo Boo weekend is now past. This guide was published before them, and its schedule language has been changed to the past tense. Remaining dates are Oct. 16-18 and Oct. 23-25.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were updated because some of the events listed have already taken place.

Sources:
Detroit Zoo, “Zoo Boo 2026” event page, https://detroitzoo.org/events/zoo-boo/zoo-boo-2026-10-09/
WXYZ Channel 7, “Detroit Zoo announces Zoo Boo will return this October with expanded hours”, https://www.wxyz.com/news/detroit-zoo-announces-zoo-boo-will-return-this-october-with-expanded-hours
Detroit Zoo, Fred and Barbara Erb Discovery Trails, https://detroitzoo.org/discovery-trails/
Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture, “Detroit Zoo Water Tower,” July 23, 2021, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detroit_Zoo_Water_Tower.jpg

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Tags: Detroit · Michigan Travel · Halloween · Things To Do · Parks and Recreation