Jaguars, Bobcats, and Bears…oh my! Did you know that there is a drive through and walk through zoo experience in Williams Arizona? Just two and a half hours away from Phoenix/Scottsdale, you can enjoy nature encounters with a huge variety of wildlife, and you can experience the animals three ways: a drive through, a walk through, and up-close encounters with the staff at Bearizona. It is open 7 days a week from 9am until 4pm. Keep reading to find out all the details about Bearizona and see some snaps from our day trip!

You start by entering the drive through portion. You drive your vehicle through 3 miles of Ponderosa Pine Forest and can go around and around as many times as you want!

General Guidelines

• No smoking on the premises.

• Feeding or touching our animals is strictly prohibited.

• No re-entry after exiting the park.

• This facility is under constant video surveillance.

Drive-Thru Guidelines

• Enter at your own risk. Bearizona is NOT responsible for any damages.

• Windows up, doors closed, and stay in your vehicle.

• The speed limit is 15mph.

• Do not stop when animals are near.

• Stay to the right side of the road so others can pass.

• Drive through as many times as you would like before leaving the park.

• The drive-thru portion of the park will close at the same time as the posted last admittance.

• Call if you experience trouble or to report a problem 928-635-2289.

• No animals are permitted in the walk-thru portion of the park. This includes all pets AND service animals.

• Most vehicles can drive through Bearizona’s well-maintained gravel roads. Each vehicle must be completely enclosed and have operational windows. No motorcycles, ATV/all-terrain, or open-top jeeps or convertibles.

• Visitors will be asked to remove any items that may protrude from their vehicles including bicycles, motorized scooters, luggage, coolers, wheel covers, etc. Bearizona provides a spot at the entrance for you to leave these items during your visit

Pet Guidelines

• Visitors can travel through the park with domestic pets enclosed in their vehicles with the windows up.

• In Fort Bearizona walk-thru area, leashed domestic pets and service animals can be walked in the parking lot and up to the fort wall, but may not enter Fort Bearizona.

• Pet owners are expected to clean up after their animals and are completely liable for their behavior.

Handicapped Accessible

• Bearizona is fully accessible for those with mobility challenges. Wheelchairs are available upon request in Fort Bearizona on a first come first serve basis.

Outside Food/Drink Restrictions

• Bearizona allows guests to bring in a picnic lunch in our designated picnic areas or any grassy area. We ask that you leave the umbrella tables for those purchasing food or beverages from the Bearizona Grille. No alcohol may be brought onto the premises.

  -Taken from www.bearizona.com

Admission:

• Weekday-Senior (62+) Ticket $27

• Weekday-Adult (13-61) Ticket $30

• Weekday-Child (4-12) Ticket $20

• Weekend-Senior (62+) Ticket $32

• Weekend-Adult (13-61) Ticket $35

• Weekend-Child (4-12) Ticket $25

*Children 3 & Under are Free

The Animals You Can Expect To See During The Drive Through:

• Adult Black Bear

• Alaskan Tundra Wolf

• American Bison

• American Burro

• Arctic Wolf

• Bighorn Sheep

• Coves Deer

• Junior Black Bear

• Mule Deer

• Pronghorn

• Rocky Mountain Goat

• White Bison

You can sign up for a VIP experience that lasts 90 minutes and includes a guided bus tour (you can see the bus in the photo above) for $50. It also includes some private interactions with the animals and their trainers.

Once you finish the drive through portion, you arrive in the parking lot, and can continue on foot through Fort Bearizona. It consists of about 20 acres and includes a gift shop, two restaurants, Bearizona Barnyard Petting Zoo, and more!

Event Schedule

10:30 am: Check out behind the scenes at our Grizzly enclosure. See the bears up close and watch some of the keeper’s train with the bears.

11:30 am: The BZ Wild show at central park near the stage.

1:30 pm: Help us feed our otters their lunch at the free otter feeding. Located at the otter enclosure.

2:30 pm: The BZ Wild show. If you missed the morning show, check the afternoon show out! There might even be some new critters that weren’t in the morning show.

4:00 pm: Grizzly bear chat and feed. Come learn the history of our Grizzly bears and maybe even help toss them an afternoon meal.

-Taken from www.bearizona.com

We attended the 11:30am BZ Wild Show in Central Park and were not disappointed in the amazing critters and their handlers! The birds soared right over top of our heads and even did some tricks! It is definitely a must see while you are there!

Some Of The Animals You Can Expect To See In The Walk Through:

• American Badger

• Beaver

• Bobcat

• Bronze Turkey

• Burmese Python

• Grizzley Bear

• Jaguar

• Javelina

• Miniature Donkey

• North American Porcupine

• North American River Otter

• Northern Leopard Frog

• Prairie Dog

• Raccoon

• Red Fox

• Rocky Mountain Elk

There is a big backstory on the Bearizona website about the Grizzly Bears and how they came to be part of the Bearizona Family. “Grizzly cubs cannot be released back into the wild for a multitude of reasons, so they needed to be placed in an accredited facility or unfortunately ….. Euthanized.

Since Grizzly Bears are still listed as a threatened species on the federal endangered species list, Bearizona needed approval from the US Fish and Wildlife service.

The 40,000 square foot habitat was planned to feature a mountain range of 50’ tall peaks that replicate the Teton Mountains of Wyoming, a roaring 2,000 gallon per minute waterfall and many other water features.” It just makes you appreciate them even more as you watch them play and interact with their surroundings.

-Taken from www.bearizona.com

Encounter Schedule:

Backstage Grizzly Training 10:30am

BZ Wild Show 11:30am

Otter Feeding 1:30pm

BZ Wild Show 2:30pm

Grizzly Chat & Feeding 4:00pm

*Times may be subject to change and sometimes there are surprise encounters based on animal cooperation.

On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays September through May, you can visit the Bearizona Barnyard Petting Zoo (free with your regular admission).

Orphaned Wildlife

Over half of the animals that call Bearizona home at one point lived in the wild. For many different reasons (human interaction, injuries, etc) these animals were deemed non-releasable by state or federal wildlife agencies. Once here, they will spend the remainder of their lives in large naturalistic enclosures educating guests on what role these different species play in the ecosystem and why it’s so important to keep wildlife wild.

Because of the park’s 160-acre size, there is lots of space to accommodate many more animals that are not able to be released back into the wild.

Fun Facts: When a new animal first arrives at Bearizona it lives in a quarantine to make sure it has no prior diseases that it might bring to the other animals that it will live with. Once deemed healthy by our veterinarians the animal gets to check out its new enclosure and meet its new enclosure mates through a special animal introduction process.

-Taken from www.bearizona.com

There is also a Mine Shaft that you can walk through and check out more nocturnal animals and creepy crawly critters.

Endangered Frogs

Northern leopard frogs are native to most of the United States including the arid southwest. The leopard frogs in this pond are from wild sites in northern Arizona. Our native amphibians have declined due to non-native predators, disease and long-term drought. 

Our pond was created in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Forest service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve frogs adapted to local conditions. The pond was designed to provide a stable habitat that is free from predators and disease. Once the frogs in this pond breed, agency biologists will reintroduce Bearizona frogs to suitable habitats around the southwest. 

-Taken from www.bearizona.com

With all of this exploring, petting, learning, and observing, you are bound to get hungry! There are several options for you to choose from when it comes to dining. The Bearizona Grille is a casual spot with outdoor seating, the Canyonlands Restaurant has a bigger selection and a coffee shop attached, and there are random food carts available.

There is also a huge gift shop where we also had an animal experience, saw a gigantic model train, and had some fun photo ops.

So, as you can see, we had a day full of adventure! The website recommends coming in the morning as the animals are typically the most active earlier in the day, and most people spend at least three hours during their visit. Based on all that I have shared, I hope you can plan accordingly so that you can enjoy your day and get to see everything and experience all the animals that you want while visiting Bearizona. There are other attractions nearby as well as hotels and accommodation. The link to the website is below if you would like more information! Have a great time!