There are zoos in some surprising and off-the-beaten-path places that have features the "big guys" can't match. If you want to see the country's best exhibits of North American animals, you need to travel to rural North Carolina. If desert critters are your thing, head for Arizona. And the world's largest indoor rainforest isn't in the Amazon, it's in Nebraska!

Here are five "offbeat zoos" that will reward the journey.

Binder Park Zoo

Michigan's Binder Park Zoo is another just-off-the-interstate animal attraction for travelers. Halfway between Chicago and Detroit, this small zoo is just outside Battle Creek, the city famous for breakfast cereal.

At its world-class Wild Africa, the perception of a real safari adventure begins at the African Village, where abandoned bicycles and luggage are scattered about and buildings are topped with thatch or tin roofs. An overlook gives the first view of the 18-acre African Savanna, a grassy valley with ostriches, zebras, various antelope, and giraffes, who can be fed. Along the long walking path, tourists encounter a ranger station with African wild dogs, a research camp with mangabey monkeys, beautiful colobus monkeys in a wraparound enclosure, and aviaries with pretty African birds. The convincing African farm has Nubian goats, fat-tailed sheep, and long-horned Watusi cattle, available for petting.

The rest of the zoo is mostly standard exhibits of lemurs, kangaroos, Chinese red pandas, Mexican wolves, and more. More impressive are grassy habitats for cheetahs and Mongolian wild horses, while long-armed gibbons and bald eagles dwell in tall tree-filled enclosures. The newest exhibit is the natural snow leopard habitat with a 20-foot-tall climbing tree.

In the shadow of a five-story brachiosaurus dinosaur, the Miller Children's Zoo is popular, with its small animals to pet. The Z.O.& O. Railroad offers a fun ride through the forest. The new carousel is among the best in any zoo.