– adventuring with ash –

Bearizona is a drive-thru wildlife park, located in the Kaibab national forest, 3 miles east of Williams, Arizona. It is 25 miles west of Flagstaff and only 58 miles to the Grand Canyon. The drive-thru section has visitors drive over 3 miles through the forest, observing different animals in their habitats. Then, included with your ticket, you get to park and enjoy the walk-thru section, which showcases even more animals, over 15 different kinds.

My boyfriend and I went this past weekend. I have been there before, but it’s been a while, and I don’t think I’ve been when it was snowing. We got lucky, as it had snowed a few days before. It was beautiful and such a fun experience.

First, almost immediately, you are met with some Rocky Mountain Goat. They were huge, and so cute. I could spot them hanging out right by the road at the entrance when we were paying. Then, you come up on some reindeer. They were absolutely ADORABLE. One came right up to the car and just looked so sweet lol. Reindeers are now one of my favorite animals.

After the reindeer, you are met with Coues Deer and Mule Deer, both adorable. Then you move onto the American Burro, who was so cute. I don’t know why but he reminded me of Donkey from Shrek lol. After the burro, you get to see Tundra Wolves and Arctic Wolves. They were adorable. Some were napping, one was super curious of the cars, another running around playing in the snow.

After the Tundra Wolves you come up on the Jr. Black Bears. When I saw them, it gave me flashbacks to when Brother Bear was one of my favorite movies. He was playing with something in the snow, and it was cute. Although I know they could kill me in a moment if provoked lol.

After the Jr. Black bears, you move on to see American Bison and White Bison, who were SO cool to see. Bison are massive creatures. They were laying so close to the road, you could reach out and pet them if you wanted (although i would highly suggest you do NOT, they are aggressive creatures!). They did look very majestic all laying there in the snow though.

After the bison, you drive through the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep exhibit. They were so cute, munching on the snow as a snack. It made me think, how It’s crazy all of these animals can tolerate living in and even eating snow. I know they’re used to it, and have fur and many other things that help them take on these climates. But it’s still pretty crazy.

Anyway, after the Bighorn Sheep, you finish up the driving section by driving through the Black Bear habitat. They were so cool to see, and HUGE! Especially a one of them, he was massive. And right next to all of the cars as he was in the road. It was seriously such a cool experience.

The fun isnt anywhere near over yet. After the driving portion, you get to park and do the walk-thru portion of Bearizona. The walk-thru portion included Grizzly Bears, red foxes, bobcats, javelinas, otters, jaguar, elk. There were a lot more too. You got to see a ton of animals just living and you can tell they are pretty well taken care of there. Fresh hay and water everywhere. Toys for the goats and foxes.

My boyfriend and I had such a good time watching the red foxes, they were all so adorable but so sneaky. They really live up to their reputation.

One of them went where he thought was out of view and started burying his toy, another fox keeping his eye on him. When the first fox was done burying, he walked away from the toy, & immediately after, the other fox started heading over. He made his way to the spot and was sniffing all around for the toy. Then, he found it!

The other fox noticed his friend found his toy, so he ran over and picked a fight with him until he got it back. It was hilarious. We really do underestimate the intelligence of most animals.

Anyway, after petting the goats and seeing all of the walk-thru animals, we headed back to the car. It was seriously such an awesome time and most definitely worth the $30 per person ticket.

Definitely grab a bite at Canyonlands restaurant while you’re there, as you can dine while feeling like you’re in a cave. How cool! My boyfriend and I had ate beforehand so we unfortunately skipped out on it this time, but will definitely grab a bite there when we next come. Hope to see you there!