Garden City: Zoo, Water and Culture

Garden City shows its different sides through wildlife, water, outdoor activities and local culture. Lee Richardson Zoo, the history of Big Pool, the Talley Trail, as well as the theater and museum each offer their own highlights. When choosing a vacation rental, it helps to first decide what brings you on your trip: Would you mainly like to see animals, plan water activities, spend time outdoors or attend a cultural event? This gives your accommodation search a personal direction.

Wildlife and Water Experiences

Lee Richardson Zoo is home to hundreds of native and exotic animals. This variety makes the zoo a clear highlight for anyone interested in animals from different parts of the world. It offers a different focus from the architectural history of Big Pool or the city’s cultural offerings.

Big Pool can also be explored through its history and recreational use. Garden City residents dug it by hand and lined it with concrete in 1921; its first season began in 1922. The community effort was followed by the first season the next year. Big Pool’s historical features included five slides, a diving pool and a divider wall that split the pool into a north and a south half.

Garden Rapids at Big Pool offers water slides and a lazy river. These features may change seasonally, so if a visit there is important to your plans, check in advance which attractions are scheduled for your visit. The history of Big Pool and its water attractions offer different ways to explore the subject of water.

Enjoy the Outdoors and Experience the Culture

The Talley Trail is a 3.5-mile recreational path in Garden City. If you’d like to walk or bike during your stay, it’s a specific reason to set aside time outdoors. Unlike a single destination such as a zoo or museum, the trail itself is the focus. Trail conditions can change, so check them before your outing.

The local theater’s history offers another reason to visit: Garden City Community Theatre was founded in 1996. Its members put on a play almost every year. If you’d like to plan around a specific performance, check the current schedule. Participants can take part from the end of kindergarten age through adulthood; participation requirements may change.

Admission to the Finney County Historical Museum is free. Together with the theater, it offers two different cultural highlights: a theater performance, for which the date matters when planning, and free admission to the museum.

Choose a Vacation Rental Based on Your Reason for Traveling

Wildlife and water attractions appeal to different interests than a trip along the Talley Trail or a cultural event. Choose your accommodation to suit the vacation you have planned, rather than treating every option as equally important.

Discover more destinations: Holcomb.

Return to the main travel overview: Finney.