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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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
