Bear World isn't too far from where I live. However, I hadn't visited it in years. I have to say I was impressed with the improvements. It is probably better for younger kids, but the teenager enjoyed it too. Since it is next to impossible to see bears in Yellowstone, this is a fun alternative. Feeding time is particularly fun!
It was hot so I assume the adult bears were hiding as we only saw about 8 bears. The petting zoo which had a deer, chickens, goats that area was very crowded and the store which was nice was so crowded we left. We brought our 7 grandkids last year we visited Bear Country USA near Rapid City SD which was a large drive thru zoo and had to many bears to count along with Elk, bison, mountain lions and a baby area....which was immaculate. We loved it. I would urge you to visit Bear Country USA and you might understand our disappointment with our visit here. The drive thru area really needs some work...and when your trying to slow down to try and see a bear here or there you don't need someone tell I g you to move on after all we did pay to see the bears not yo feed a chicken in your petting area.
We spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Bear World on our way to Yellowstone National Park. We did the drive through first and ended up making three loops at different times during our visit. I expected to see some animals, but not as many as they had and not as closely as we did. The first section of the drive through is full of Elk, Deer and Bison. The white elk is amazing and the bison were laying right by the road. Then you enter the Grizzly Bear area, where there are two. They were very close to the road. You then drive through the black bear area where there are, I'd guess, about 100 bears. They were very active, even walking right down the middle of the road. It was amazing to see them up close. There were also wolves in this section, but they were pretty hard to see. They were sleeping in some tall grass, still partially visible, but not up walking around.After the drive through, we saw the baby bear cubs, the moose and the petting zoo. They have deer in the petting zoo, and that was very fun. There are also very tame chickens, peacocks and goats. Take quarters because there are vending machines where you can buy pellets and it's very fun to feed the animals. The down side of this attraction came in the form of cleanliness and the rides. The rides are really old and they only had one attendant working. This meant that all the children stood in line for one ride and then they'd all move to another ride. After three our daughter was done. With the number of children in attendance, they could have had another ride operator. I would imagine that in the summer when it's busier, they would have more than one. Every garbage can we encountered was full to overflowing. Since we arrived at the park a little after noon, it wouldn't seem that they could be so full for only being open 3 hours, which means they were probably not emptied from the night before. There was garbage on the ground around several of the cans and it was not nice to look at. Their bathroom was also quite dirty, with paper towels all over the floors, standing water on the floor and overfilled garbage cans. I would recommend this attraction to anyone visiting the area. It is $16.95 for people ages 11 and up, and they do offer a group rate of $74.95 for up to 7 people. There is also a AAA discount, which I think saved us $2 each. Very worth it and a very fun day.
After a long week of business meetings my group went here for some down time before heading back home. I loved it, between being able to see the animals up close and personal. We were able to just relax and have fun. This is something I would love to be able to come back too again and again. The only down side was I wasn't able to get a good look at the moose like some of my party was able to. As the moose visited the dock that overlooked the ducks and fish.
If your travel plans take you out the west entrance of Yellowstone, be sure to stop in Rexburg at Bear World. This is a large animal park of many acres that you can drive through if you like. You should also experience feeding the bear cubs. Although the babies are born in the spring, by the time we were there in late September, the little guys were weighing over 60 pounds. The crew of bear wranglers made us feel very safe as we bottle fed the six cubs. Our being able to feed the cubs was the highlight of our 7 state, 3 national park road trip.
Yellowstone Bear World is a drive-through zoo-type attraction. Yes, you will see bears, although the attraction is open during the day when the bears mostly sleep in man-made culverts, so most of the sightings are of sleeping bears' backs. There were a few that were sitting on the fenced in perimeter, but not much activity to see. In all fairness, we did not use the other facitilites such as children's amusement park, petting zoo, gift shop, or snack bar. We simply drove through and saw animals in captivity. Not impressed at all, and found the admission fee to be quite high for a 15 minute drive through sleeping bears in captivity. Glad we didn't drive too far out of our way for this one!
This is a super fun location for a quick trip. You pay to drive around and see a whole lot of animals. The great thing about that is that you can go around more than once. The petting zoo is great. GET SOME FUDGE!! Amazing!! All around a great place!
Great family fun! Probably best for pre-teens but older kids and adults will really enjoy it too. It's about 1 hour and 30 - 45 minutes from Jackson, Wy area -- depends on traffic, road conditions. They are only open from mid-Spring to sometime in October, close for the winter.Direct interaction with several animals (birds, deer, etc) in a walk-around environment and a drive through tour (winding paved road thru a wooded environment) to see elk, bison, moose... and BEARS. Lots of Bears! It's best to do the drive thru when one of the feeding tour busses goes thru and follow one. The bears can be incredibly entertaining and comical. And you can make as many loops thru in a day as you want! of course, there is a large gift shop for souvie's and food (the fudge is pretty good).If you can find a schedule (online, brochure) you can call ahead and actually bottle-feed baby bears, presuming they have cubs at that time... That is a tremendous experience!If you are in the YNP / Tetons area and need a 1/2 day diversion, I highly recommend it!
Yellowstone Bear World may be a tourist trap but I LOVED it anyway! We stayed in nearby Idaho Falls the night before and got to Yellowstone Bear World as they opened the gates the next morning. We wanted to get their early to avoid the crowds and so we could get on the road early. The park itself consists of a large fenced off area which you drive through and inside, past the gift shop another outside park with more exhibits. The fenced off park includes elk, including the rare white elk, some Great American Bison, wolves, and lots and lots of bears! Make sure you follow the rules and keep your windows rolled up because the animals get right up to the car. It's really fun to see wildlife so close by! You can drive through as many times as you'd like and I'd encourage you to do that because the animals are always moving around and you're likely to see something different each time.After the wildlife park you park and go through the gift shop to see the bear cubs. The cubs were ADORABLE and so fun to watch. They wrestled and chased one another and rolled around on the ground. For an extra fee you can even bottle feed a bear cub. Unfortunately the morning feedings were all booked up by the time we got there so we weren't able to do that. But I would love to try it on our next visit. There are also some informative animal exhibits in this area and a fun petting zoo.Yellowstone Bear World was well worth the admission price and a fun place to visit for both children and adults. Highly recommended!
Fun for the whole family. My husband enjoyed Yellowstone Bear World, and even our toddler was amazed at the elk and bison that we saw. It was reasonably priced and is a must see!