Riverbanks Zoo and Garden 
Top South Carolina Field Trip Attraction 2009/2010

Even with a slight drop in overall field trip attendance numbers during the 2009-2010 school calendar year, the Riverbanks Zoological Park and Centennial Garden once again sits at the top of the annual South Carolina Field Trip rankings survey conducted each year by Carolina Field Trips Magazine. This marks the seventh consecutive year the Columbia based attraction has been  the most visited field trip destination in South Carolina.

While actual student visitation numbers fell from 154,873 in 2008-2009 at the zoo to 138,420 during the past school calendar year, Tommy Sringfellow, corporate communications director for the Riverbanks Zoo was still pleased with the top field trip ranking.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on the educational experiences and opportunities we offer our students and guests,” said Stringfellow. “It’s nice to remain the biggest and top ranked field trip attraction in the state. They’re plenty of wonderful field trip friendly attractions in South Carolina. A visit to the Riverbanks Zoo brings the plants and animals that kids are learning about to life and allows them to connect with the worlds wildlife and wild places.”

The Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville was the second largest field trip attraction in South Carolina followed by another Greenville based facility, the Greenville Zoo. Rounding out the top five in the survey were the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia along with the Ruth Patrick Science and Education Center/ Dupont Planetarium in Aiken.

The other attractions included in the top ten field trip rankings were the South Carolina State House in downtown Columbia, the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, the Cultural Heritage Museum of York County (Historic Brattonsville, McCelvey Center, Museum of York  County) Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant and EdVenture Children’s Museum in Columbia.

The Charleston region had six different attractions in this year’s survey led by the South Carolina Aquarium and the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum while the Columbia region had five educational attractions among the top 20 this year. The Myrtle Beach region also had five field trip attractions included in the survey.

Top 20 in South Carolina

1. Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens
   Columbia, SC                 803-779-8717    www.riverbanks.org    114,652
2. Roper Mountain Science Center
   Greenville, SC                864-355-8900    www.ropermountain.org    111,202
3. Ruth Patrick Science Education Center/ Dupont Planetarium
   Aiken, SC                  803-641-3313    www.rpsec.usca.edu    78,000
4. EdVenture Children’s Museum
   Columbia, SC                803-779-3100    www.edventure.org    72,744
5. South Carolina State Museum
   Columbia, SC           803-898-4999    www.scmuseum.org    59,811
6. South Carolina State House
   Columbia, SC      803-734-2430    www.scstatehouse.gov    50,000
7. South Carolina Aquarium
   Charleston, SC                    843-579-8600    www.scaquarium.org    49,146
8. Greenville Zoo
   Greenville, SC       864-467-4300    www.greenvillezoo.com    30,000
9. Cultural & Heritage Museums of York County (Historic Brattonsville, Museum of York Cnty, McCelvey Center)Rock Hill, SC                    803-684-2327    www.chmuseums.org    20,175
10. Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum
    Mount Pleasant, SC    866-831-1720    www.patriotspoint.org    14,914
11. Boone Hall Plantation               
    Mount Pleasant, SC    843-884-4371    www.boonehallplantation.com    12,175
12. Drayton Hall
    Charleston, SC              843-769-2600    www.draytonhall.org    11,000
13. Wonder Works
    Myrtle Beach, SC        843-626-9962    www.wonderworksonline.com    10,164
14. Greenville County Museum of Art
    Greenville, SC            864-271-7570    www.greenvillemuseum.org    9,214
15. McLeod Farms
    McBee, SC                        877-789-9252    www.MacsPride.com    8,700
16. Palace Theatre
    Myrtle Beach, SC          843-626-8927    www.palacemb.com     7,200
17. Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry
    Charleston, SC       843-853-8962    www.EXPLORECML.org    6,152
18. Dooley Planetarium
    Florence, SC                  843-661-1355    www.astro.fmarion.edu/planet    4,217
19. Historic Columbia Foundation
    Columbia, SC          803-252-1770    www.historiccolumbia.org    4,000
20. Columbia Museum of Art
    Columbia, SC    803-343-2163    www.columbiamuseum.org    3,500