ABQ BioPark Zoo, Albuquerque

ABQ BioPark showcases animals and plant life from New Mexico and beyond with a zoo, an aquarium, and a botanical garden. The Rio Grande Zoo—the most historical of the three as it dates back to 1927—features animals from Asia, Australia, Africa, and Indonesia in a 64-acre space. Seals and sea lions swim in plain sight of passersby, jaguars and Mexican wolves prowl the premises, and komodo dragons look for thatched-roof huts to burn down with their fiery breath.

Whereas the zoo introduces visitors to animals from around the world, the Albuquerque Aquarium focuses on what's local. Its exhibits trace the geography of the Rio Grande from shallow-water areas to its entry into the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors can spy on the sea life inhabiting an artificial coral reef or peer through a 38-foot viewing window at the aquarium's centerpiece 285,000-gallon shark tank.

Situated directly on the river, the Rio Grande Botanic Garden has even more water than the shark tank but without any hammerheads swimming in it. Instead, its 52 acres are populated with a butterfly pavilion, a Japanese garden, and a heritage farm. A huge dragon statue welcomes families into the Fantasy Garden, a castle full of giant-sized ants to ride and massive pumpkins to climb inside. At the north end of the grounds, the 10-acre heritage farm features an apple orchard and field crops as well as an adobe animal barn that's home to Percheron draft horses, Churro sheep, Alpine goats, and Dominique chickens.