Alyice on June 25th, 2009

Bear Country USA

As I mentioned before, I am a big fan of zoos and an even bigger fan of wildlife parks—for the “safe” picture taking opportunities they present. That being said, I commend Bear Country USA on preserving the natural habitat of bears, but have to admit that I found the park lacking in entertainment for patrons.

Upon arriving at the park, we were greeted with a toll booth and a window cleaning gentleman. “Nice touch,” I thought. “With the bugs cleaned off our windows, we’re sure to get a good view!”

Upon entering the park, I was excited. I couldn’t wait to see the wildlife. Now keep in mind, I understood that with its namesake the focus would be on bears, however, being a wildlife park, I had hoped to see more than a few dozen bears and I had hoped to be in the park longer than 30 minutes!

Upon entering the gate, we were greeted by these guys.

I believe they’re rams. They spent most of their time huddled up close to the fence that was only a few feet away, munching on some grass. Every so often, they’d look up at us, then return to crazing. This guy, however, decided he wanted a closer look and began walking towards our van.

Turning the corner, we were greeted by two goats. One that appeared to be sleeping with his eyes open—and whom my children thought were dead. And this guy…doesn’t he remind you of Billy Goat Gruff?

As we rounded the corner, we saw them. Bears! Lots and lots of glorious bears. This guy was probably the most interesting of the bunch. He seemed to get a kick out of walking right in front of the cars, then walking right along side them until the next car appeared. And in a zig-zag motion, he’d walk up and down the same road.

After leaving the bear encampment, we saw a buffalo huddled on the ground in the distant thicket and three donkeys grazing in really tall grass. Then we were out of the park.

As we left the wildlife enclosure, we were welcomed by a snack shack, a gift shop, and a short walking zoo where we were able to observe baby raccoons, skunks, porcupines, wolfs, and yes, bear cubs. At first, the bear cubs didn’t want to come out and play—they stayed huddled in their cave—but along came a zookeeper and everything changed. The minute they saw her, they took off running; scattering in all directions.

Some right up her leg, some around the cave, and others for the nearby tree, as you see here.

Overall, it was a nice park—very clean and the animals were very well-cared for. However, I wanted to leave the park feeling as though I got my money’s worth. I suppose after such a short run in the wildlife park, I expected a little more out of the ending arena—a bear act, a picture opp area, or a presentation where we learned more about the bears—what they eat, why they hibernate, how to protect one’s self when encountering a bear in the wild, etc.

I’m not sure I’d go back in the near future as the picture taking opportunities were very limited and that’s the main reason I go these places; however it’s definitely a place I’d recommend anyone visiting Rapid City or the nearby area to visit—at least once.

Until next time…

Disclosure: I paid for this attraction. This is “my opinion”. I was not paid to give a positive review.

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One Comment

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Sylvia Bortman says:
Great pictures! Thank you so much for sharing!

Sylvia
Posted at 1:31 am June 26th, 2009

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