Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon

What: Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon (near Roseburg)
When: August 2009
Why: We were driving from Portland to the Redwoods in No. California and needed a nice lunch stop.
How Much: $$ a lot? There is a base price for admission, and you get a 50% discount if you're a Hogle Zoo member. Then there are a bunch of other special experiences they want you to pay more for--like a train ride, a camel ride, feeding sitka deer or other animals, and special encounters with bears, cheetahs, tigers, etc. It was a little annoying, actually!

Basically, there is a kiosk to pay along the road, a little booth. It can get pretty backed up. Then you can stop at the village to see some animals in cages, flamingos, buy food, ride the train, and use the restrooms. There was a "farm" area and you could buy food to feed donkeys, etc. The best part here was the cheetahs you could see up close, because later this is all you see:

Yep, that's Lover's Lane. Where the cheetahs live and breed. They have a great breeding program here, and do great things. You just don't really get to see them!

The Village also has a playground, but if you're in a rush don't let your kids see it!

Then you get in your car and drive through the park. You go slow and see a lot of animals. If you're nice, you might let your kids out of their carseats or buckles to stand up and look out your rooftop window. Or if you're me, you don't.

You'll drive past lions, bears, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, antelope, monkeys, elephants (you can pay extra for an elephant to wash your car!) and more. All the dangerous animals are in cages:


It really is neat. Make sure you look at your map to know what you're seeing. You can drive through the park twice if you want. It really does take a LONG time. It took us about 1.5 hours. We still had a long drive to our campsite, so we didn't go back through.

We did ride the camels at the beginning. I didn't know what I was getting into because while driving there, we started talking about animals and zoos and how once I took 2 of the kids on a camel ride but the others were too scared...and I promised that the next time we had the chance, they could all have a camel ride. 15 minutes later I had to make good on that promise! Prices are per person, and the ride only lasts a few minutes. I took pictures and my husband took my youngest 2 kids with him. It really is neat...just make sure you are planning on it if you walk by! We didn't go on the train ride, so I can't tell you how it was, but overall it was a nice place and a neat experience.
I would just not recommend this as a stopping place to break up a long driving day, because you have to spend so much time in your car driving through the park! It's near Roseburg, along I-5, maybe 15 minutes off the freeway. Fun for kids and animal lovers!