Bearizona – Get in Touch With Your Wild Side!
Alpha Omega Family Adventures was hosted by Bearizona. This does not affect the opinions shared. All opinions are our own.
Visiting Arizona during the winter limits certain opportunities that we were hoping to experience during our visit as it seemed most things we wanted to do were summer/warm weather activities. When we came across Bearizona in Williams, I knew it would be the perfect place to visit. They are open year round. The day we went was a cold day with snow on the ground. Even with the cold weather, there wasn’t a shortage of bear or other animal sightings though! Bearizona does recommend for the best times to view the animals to visit earlier morning or later afternoon in the summer time. Bearizona’s drive-thru section is well-designed so even the animal dens are close enough to the road for great views of the bears (and other animals). We saw quite a few bears close to us in our car while they were in their dens. Some bears were fluffing the grass in their den. Other bears in another den kicked one bear out so he had to find somewhere else to lay down. They were so entertaining!
Sitting on 160 acres in the Ponderosa Pine Forest, Bearizona offers a 3 mile drive-thru, walk through, or a Wild Ride bus tour. Fort Bearizona, the walk through section, is 20 acres filled with so many interesting animals including beavers, porcupines, reindeer, and so many more. At the current moment, the Wild Ride bus tour is currently on hold due to COVID restrictions, but that is something worth checking out when it is brought back!
When you arrive at Bearizona, you’ll head straight into the drive-thru portion where you’ll see rocky mountain goats, deer, donkeys, bison, wolves, bears, just to name a few. You are welcome to drive through a second time if you missed some animals or just want to experience it again. Most vehicles are welcome on the drive-thru including RV’s. ATVs and all terrain or open-top jeeps are not allowed.
With over 30 different animal species to check out, you’ll have plenty of animals to see. Over half of the animals you’ll see have been rescued or rehabilitated. Our favorite part of the whole day was seeing the three grizzly bear babies – Crockett, Hanna, and Sky! Their mom was killed after she attacked a human protecting her three cubs. These cubs had no where else to go! Read the full story HERE! It is such a neat story! The park has designed a cave walk through to see these bears up close in their den. I’ve heard rumors that Crockett even waves at visitors to Bearizona, but we didn’t get chance to see that since it was so cold outside they stayed in their den.
Our second favorite part of the day was getting so close to this jaguar! She was really a stunning beauty, such intricate details in her fur! She was also very interactive and appeared to be watching us closely, even attempting to bite at us! Look at her teeth in the picture below! All over Fort Bearizona are bear paw imprints on the ground. Our littlest, Adler, enjoyed following the bear tracks throughout the park. We even saw one of Santa’s reindeer! My littlest boys think this one is Donner, but we can’t be sure!
Bearizona is located in Williams just one street away from I40 and very easy to find. It is just about 30 minutes from Flagstaff or just an hour from the Grand Canyon. The park recommends allowing 3 hours to see everything in the park, but it is all at your own pace. We only drove through once, but if we had more time we would’ve driven through a second time.
Tickets can be purchased for individual passes or a yearly membership price. Go HERE to purchase tickets! Tickets can be purchased either online or at the door, but due to stricter guidelines for capacity due to COVID, it is recommended to purchase tickets ahead of time. Bearizona is open daily from 9-5:30, with the last car admitted at 4:00. But be sure to double check this as times may change throughout the year.
Bearizona is most definitely our family’s favorite drive through park we’ve experienced. If we are back in town during the summer, I would love to experience the park under warmer conditions to see how the animals are different. I would highly recommend adding Bearizona to your Arizona must-see places. If you want something even more hands-on, check out our full review HERE of horseback trail ride at Wild Western Horseback Adventures located near Bearizona in Camp Verde!
