Are you looking for an awesome family travel destination? My family visited Arizona’s Bearizona Wildlife Park and we absolutely loved it! This wildlife park is not like any other zoo we have visited on family travels. Driving through all the animal enclosures was both amazing and wonderful. If you are taking a vacation to Arizona, you have to check this park out. I’m sharing the reasons Why Visiting Arizona’s Bearizona Wildlife Park is Awesome!
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My husband found this amazing park while doing travel research to plan our family trip to Arizona. I was excited to visit Bearizona because it sounded very intriguing and unlike any other zoo we’d ever visited in our lives. This unique park is amazing because visitors actually go into the enclosures with the animals, either by driving their own cars the three-mile trek or by taking the narrated bus tour.
Reasons Why Visiting Arizona’s Bearizona Wildlife Park is Awesome!
Bearizona Houses Adorable Kindergarten Bears Who Were So Fun to Observe
The kindergarten bears were my top favorite at this wildlife park! They were so cute and fun to watch as they climbed up to the top of the tree. They were constantly moving around and climbing just as all young creatures do. My kids really enjoyed seeing these baby bears also. Baby animals are so much fun to see! We had never seen so many baby bears in one location before. They seemed to be having fun with all their climbing hijinks!
The young bears were separate from the adult bears, only the adult bears were housed in the drive-through enclosure.
Bearizona Wildlife Park is Located Near the Must-See Grand Canyon
Bearizona Wildlife Park is conveniently located in Northern Arizona about one hour south of the Grand Canyon’s southern rim. This was perfect because we, of course, had plans to visit the Grand Canyon, so Bearizona was a fantastic bonus to add in to our travel plans. We had driven from Phoenix into the snowy mountainous area near the Grand Canyon on our road trip tour.
Bearizona is located one hour south of Grand Canyon’s South Rim at 1500 Historic Route 55 in Williams, AZ. Williams is called the gateway to the Grand Canyon.
Related post for more on what to do in Arizona: Family Travel Destination to Amazing Arizona
See Amazing North American Animals in their Natural Environments
We loved seeing the animals in their natural environment of the Ponderosa Pine Forest. It was so fun to see bears eating oranges right outside our vehicle. My favorite sight was a big bear walking down the road right in front of our vehicle, the same road we were about to drive on! The animals did not seem afraid of the vehicles at all. They seemed almost oblivious to them, probably because they have visitors driving through their enclosures daily.
Check out these amazing photos we snapped of the bears.
As we drove through each enclosure, we were able to stop our vehicle to observe the animals and take photos while inside the enclosure. Park workers would open and close the gate as you approached to enter the next enclosure.
I love dogs so seeing the wolves was another favorite of mine at Bearizona. Who am I kidding? I loved all the animals!!
The Wolves
We used to have a dog named Kaiya who reminded me of a white wolf. Kaiya developed cancer which was so heartbreaking. To read how I cared for her, click here.
Driving Through the Park Delivers Perfect Views of the Amazing Animals for Awesome Picture-Taking
It was awesome to see these North American animals up close in their natural environments without bars or a fence blocking our view. This made getting great photos easy because we could take them through the vehicle windows. Before our trip, we had purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T5 DSLR camera which we were so pleased took amazing and crisp photos. It was so fun to experiment with this camera by taking lots of photos of the animals.
We had just gotten the camera so we didn’t even know what we were doing, but we loved the photos it was taking on automatic mode. Now that I take pictures for my blog, I use the manual mode and I love the amazing photos I get with this DSLR camera plus my new 50 mm lense.
This is the camera we have and we loved the zoom feature of both lenses that came with this package.
Canon EOS Rebel T5 Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm IS II + EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Bundle
This is the fixed lense I just bought and it takes great up close photos. It has really improved my photos of food for my blog. I’m very hapy with it, but I’m still learning. There is so much to learn with photography!
The Self-Guided Walking Tour Provides a Wonderful Traditional Zoo Section to Explore
Barnyard Petting zoo
We ventured into the petting zoo. There were droppings everywhere so be sure to watch out for bombs so you don’t get your shoes all messy! My kids enjoyed getting up close to the animals in the petting zoo area.
Mineshaft
The mineshaft was fun to walk through. My kids just enjoyed the fun of walking through a cave, however, viewing the nocturnal animals inside was enjoyable for them too.
Young Bears
I mentioned these fun cute bears earlier in the post. These cuties are located in the self-guided walking tour section of the zoo. These little guys make the trip to Bearizona worth it all by themselves!
Other Information about Bearizona
Bearizona offers shows put on by animal keepers for visitors to enjoy. We did not see any shows going on while we were there. We visited in March, so be sure to check their website to find a schedule of shows for the month you plan to visit the park. Bearizona also offers trailside encounters to view ferrets, prairie dogs, opossum, invertebrates, and reptiles. The park also showcases raptors and birds of prey and puts on raptor shows for park guests.
On our walk through the walking portion of the zoo, we also saw otters, bobcats, and a few other species of cats.
The drive through the wildlife park is three miles long and the entire park is on 160 acres of Ponderosa Pine Forest. The forest with the animals roaming about was a very beautiful sight.
There are restrictions on what type of vehicles can drive through Bearizona, so be sure to check their website for guidelines. It was wonderful to sit in the comfort of our own vehicle while traveling through the park. We all had a great seat and we had all our snacks right at our fingertips.
The narrated bus tour is free and leaves every two hours. The bus does not have any windows, so if you plan to take the bus, be sure to dress appropriately.
What We Did
We stayed in the Comfort Inn Near Grand Canyon hotel in Williams on Route 66. This allowed us to do Bearizona one day and the Grand Canyon the next day. There was a fun little fifties diner we ate at in Williams chocked full of fun Route 66 signs for purchase. We enjoyed the diner food and the fun decorations inside the restaurant.
I highly recommend Bearizona as an awesome addition to your Arizona trip! I hope enjoy it! I’d love to hear about your trip, drop me a comment about your visit:)
Related US Travel Post: San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Family Travel: Family Fun at Gatorland in Orlando, Florida
I hope you enjoyed this post about the amazing wildlife park of Bearizona!
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Oh, my gosh!! To get such up close and personal shots of those great animals must have been breathtaking and exciting all at once! Thanks for sharing. I felt like I was there with you, Julie!
Awesome! Thank you so much! It was totally breathtaking and exciting! It was amazing to be in the same enclosure as those gorgeous animals! I’m so glad you enjoyed my post:) It is totally worth it to go if you ever get the chance. I highly recommend it!
This is truly awesome! The wolves have to be my favourites but the bears are adorable too 😀
I know, I love the wolves so much, they are so gorgeous!! Thank you:) The bears are adorable I agree, they are big but so cute! I loved the baby kindergarten bears climbing the trees!
Wow! This place looks amazing! I absolutely love Arizona, as I went to school there. I want to take my kids for a visit, so this would be a perfect place. I love the Kindergarden bears!!! Great review and awesome pictures!
Thank you! We’ve been to Arizona three times and had a great visit every time, it’s a great place to vacation! The Kindergarten bears were SO cute! I just loved seeing them climbing those trees, they were just adorable:) You kids will love it if you go!
This looks like you had a great time! If my family is ever in Arizona, maybe we will check out Bearizona!
It was amazing! Yes, definitely check it out if your family ever visits Arizona, I highly recommend Bearizona!! We loved it!
What?!? This place looks amazing! I can’t believe I haven’t heard about it until now. We have Northwest Trek near Seattle that has bears, but this is way more intimate!
Yes, it truly is a unique experience and one I totally recommend! We loved it! Thanks so much for the comment and I hope you make it to Bearizona some day:)