Review - Oklahoma - Davis - Arbuckle Wilderness

My family enjoys visting zoos and animal parks (we try our best to avoid gimmicky places like Tiger King wannabe tourist traps). One place we wanted to visit was Arbuckle Wilderness which wasn't a long drive for us at all. We arrived on a Sunday after lunch and it was quite busy.

Arbuckle Wilderness Park is located in Oklahoma's Arbuckle Mountain area very close to Turner Falls right off Interstate 35. It's about 1.5 hours from Dallas and 1 hour from Oklahoma City.

For those readers who have not yet been to a drive-through wildlife park, here's what to expect: When you arrive at the park, you will pay an entrance fee (sometimes by car, mostly per person) and you can buy optional food cups to feed the animals. Some wildlife parks offer their own vehicle to tour the park, but usually you will stay in your own car and drive along a well-marked trail. Animals are spread out along the trail. Depending on when you arrive, the weather, how full, and the mood of the animals, they may or may not come to your car to visit. Late on a hot day, most animals will be hiding in the shade or wading in ponds of water so it's best to get there early.

When you arrive into the park, you will be greeted by a colorful sign and then you will enter a parking area. You can park and go into the visitor center where you will find restrooms, snacks, and a handful of caged animals (which we'll see a little later). At the end of the trail, you will come back to this area offering you another opportunity to park.

Now you will drive up the hill to the payment booth. Here you can purchase animal food. This is the only place you can purchase food. I think 6 cups was $11 which is enough to last you the entire drive.

Entry fees are $16.99 per adult and $14.99 for each senior and each child between ages 4 and 11. There are coupons on their website between October and February.


One important note - this park is in a very hilly part of Oklahoma and the road winds up and down. There are portions that are a bit gravelly and steep. If your vehicle (or your driver) cannot handle that, you might not enjoy this drive. Be sure to fill up on gas ahead of time as there's no facilities here. There are gas stations in the nearby town of Davis (and food).

As you drive along, you will notice some animals are in gated areas especially the horses and larger cows.


Here's a picture of the cup of feed that you purchase. You have to keep a good grip on the cup as a few of the animals will try to take the cup with them.

This bull ripped the cup out of a guest's hand in front of us and he nonchantly ate it all up. Sadly, you will see lots of discarded cups along the trail. I choose to roll the window up for this animal to keep our cups (and his belly) safe.

Here are some photos that show how the drive-through portion works - you drive along at a slow speed then you pull to the side of the road to feed the animals (allowing more impatient drivers to pass).


Here are some of the animals that we fed along our journey. None of them were aggressive and our car never got bumped or hit.


They had a nice white tiger behind some fencing.

These are a few of the animals you can see inside the gift shop. You will also find restrooms, tourist brochures, and merch.

For more information about this park, click on their website, https://arbucklewildernesspark.com/

Address: 6132 Kay Starr Trl., Davis, OK 73030

Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm; Saturday-Sunday 9am-5:30pm; you need about two hours to drive through the park.

Overall Family Review:

• 17 year old - Enjoyed feeding the animals
• 13 year old - Enjoyed feeding the animals
• 8 year old - Enjoyed feeding the animals
• 2 year old - Enjoyed watching the animals

Review - Texas - Tyler - Caldwell Zoo

 

The Caldwell Zoo is the only AZA credited zoo in this area of East Texas and is worth a visit.

Unfortunately at the time we visited, some of the zoo was closed for construction of the new Amazon River's Edge area (see the southern area of the map). Also the food vendors were closed. So perpare for that by having a picnic outside. Only bottled water is allowed inside the gate. Also, this zoo closes earlier than other zoos so be sure to check out the operating hours below.



One of the first things you'll notice as you pull into the parking lot (parking is free) is the breadth of natural plants and African-style themed decor. The thatched umbrellas along the stairs are nice. There are a ton of stairs down to the entrance but there is a wheelchair/stroller friendly path just to the right that winds through more plants. The ticket windows on the outside are closed so just walk straight to the gate inside where you can purchase your tickets under the cover. There are some nice rocking chairs if going down the stairs wears you out (or you can take a break on the way out). The gift shop and exit are directly across the ticket windows on the left side of the building.

What really impressed me where the directional signs. They depict the animals visually so young kids can follow them.



The penguin exhibit is excellent - the penguins swim right up against the glass for great photo-ops. The fish tank is also fun. The tanks do smell fishy.



Even though the zoo feels small, they feature all the major animals - lions, giraffes, elephants, and rhinos. Their exhibits are well-sized and offer nice viewing windows.



I really like the covered viewing areas like this one beside the Black and White Colobus monkeys and the Bongos. Keep in mind that summers are super-hot in Texas and even though the temperature was high 80's it felt hot. Bring plenty of water bottles.



We lucked out during our visit and got to witness the feeding of the Alligators and the SoftShelled Turtles.



The savannah area is located right next to the main restaurant/food court (which was closed at the time of my visit). They had a nice patio with chairs. Normally the giraffe feeding is open during the day except the lunch hours ($5 per feed) but it was also closed on our visit.

 

The Herpetarium is located right across from the Bison, Deer and Longhorns. Warning for those with kiddos that are afraid of the dark or snakes, you may want to skip the herpetarium. Inside you will find lizards, frogs, snakes and fish. The air conditioning is nice too!



The zoo is divided into two loops, so depending on which way you go in the middle, you may have to circle back to visit the other side which is what we ended up doing especially since South America was closed off. Since it was late in the afternoon and pretty hot, many of the animals were sleeping, relaxing or hiding in trees for shade. Best time to go would be earlier in the day when it's not quite hot and sunny.



These cute goats were relaxing near the closed-off entrance to South America. The petting zoo and playground are closed as part of the construction mentioned above, but it's fun to watch the little goats in their climbing equipment.

 

And, lastly, the beautifully formed exit doors. I wish there had been a photo prop at the entrance/exit like many zoos now have for posting to social media.

The zoo has a lot of extra activities (such as giraffe feeding, penguin encounters, black bear encounters, but availability may be limited. If you're interested in one of these, call ahead to verify they are running. Details:
Address: 2203 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Tyler, TX 75702
Hours: 9am-3:30pm Daily
Admission: Adults (12-54) $16.50, Children (3-12) $12.50, Under 2 free, Over 55 only $14.50; Reciprocal AZA Members get 50% discount.

Get more information from the official website, https://caldwellzoo.org/

Overall Family Review:

• 17 year old - Liked the rocking chairs at the entrance pavilion
• 12 year old - Liked the alligator feedings
• 8 year old - Liked the penguins
• 2 year old - Liked the penguins and walking along the trails