Field Trip: Wildlife Safari

Calling all bushwackers! One needn’t venture abroad in head to toe khaki to experience a real-live safari excursion through herds of exotic animals. At Wildlife Safari in southern Oregon Husband recently piloted our Jeep along a pockmarked dirt road, dust billowing in our wake as on the African savannah.

Patrons man their own vehicles through the park and our kids clearly enjoyed the novelty of the bumpy, unrestrained expedition doubled up in the front seat, binoculars at the ready like authentic wilderness explorers.

Like Enchanted Forest to it’s north, Wildlife Safari is a classic Oregon roadside treasure that any I-5 traveler should pull off to tour. I first visited with my cousins and much older sister as a youngster in the maiden voyage of our grandparents’ motorhome. I’ll never forget the thrill of pulling up alongside the sinewy stilts of a friendly giraffe (Gram’s fave) the first time, unable to see it’s towering head from the close proximity.

guests can alternatively take a guided tour with the option of hand-feeding the giraffes

Decades later, it’s a thrill to share the same experience with my own kids. We’d visited a couple times before moving to Montana five years ago, but the girls were tiny and of course Little Man wasn’t yet born. It was a delight and a terrific way to flesh out the girls’ Zoology curriculum.

The well curated “walk about” portion of the park allows explorers to observe the daintier species including reptiles, marsupials, aquatic animals, petting zoo, and walk-in aviary. Guests can also pay extra to ride a real camel!

Throwback pics from a visit in the 80’s, when you could ride an elephant… I’m the one with the spectacles the size of dinner plates. 

We love critters, we love adventure, and we love field trips– Wildlife Safari ticked each of those boxes and we’ll surely visit again.

Marilyns Treats

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5 responses to “Field Trip: Wildlife Safari”

  1. […] my dad turning sixty recently, we rented a giant passenger van and bumbled down the freeway to a nearby drive-thru safari park for a leisurely Sunday adventure. With my two sisters, brothers-in-law, and nieces, we’re […]

  2. […] westward, landing in the town where Husband was born (we even found the street!), and drove through Wildlife Safari before turning north towards home […]

  3. […] The most clicked-on post from last week’s Gorilla books was this post by Unto Adoption and their family trip to the Wildlife Safari in southern Oregon. […]

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