Visitor’s Map of San Diego Zoo & Balboa Park

Beautiful stylized souvenir map of the San Diego Zoo.

Today, the San Diego Zoo is the most visited zoo in the United States, but it got off to an inauspicious start as the dumping grounds for exotic animals left over from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition (held in Balboa Park) and from the defunct Wonderland Amusement Park. This map reflects the zoo as it appeared in the middle of the 1960’s, with a distorted scale meant to emphasize the animals and exhibits. The latter is of note, as the zoo was a pioneer in cageless exhibits meant to represent the animals’ natural habitats.

Anyone who has visited the zoo knows about its significant elevation changes and the topographical information is cleverly distorted in the image so as not to dissuade any potential visitors from the impending hike. The Skyfari, the gondola that traverses the park, wouldn’t be installed until 1969. The mesas and canyons that comprise the park are listed with their animal attractions alongside locations of restaurants, souvenir stands, bathrooms and information booths.

On the verso is a bird’s eye view of Balboa Park and small scale map of downtown San Diego, in addition to a space where you can write about your trip and affix a stamp to the souvenir mailer.