If you’re headed north to West Yellowstone, you’ll undoubtedly see signs along the way advertising Yellowstone Bear World. Although not part of the national park, this drive-thru wildlife park might be better than you might think. Here’s what we loved and didn’t love about this exciting tourist attraction.

Important note: This is NOT a paid promotion. This is an honest review.

My family goes to Yellowstone nearly every year. Every time we pass Bear World on the way up, we always say, “We should go there sometime.” Well, this time we decided to try it out. I have to say that overall, all of us were pleasantly surprised. It was pretty cool. So, here’s some take aways of the good and the bad.

At a glance: Yellowstone Bear World

• Ages: All ages welcome
• Cost: Adults ages 11-64 – $26.95, Kids ages 3-10 – $13.95 (if purchased online)
• Duration: 2-3 hours
• Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May – October
• Location: 6010 S 4300 W, Rexburg, ID 83440. Parking is available
• Contact information: Phone: (208) 359-9688
• Website: https://yellowstonebearworld.com/
• Nearby attractions: Yellowstone National Park, Island Park

What you’ll love about Yellowstone Bear World

Although we went to Bear World to see bears, we left having experienced a lot more than that. My husband and I and our five kids all thought that it was better than we thought it was going to be. Here’s some of the things we think you’ll like about it:

Lots of bears. Aside from the three giant grizzly bears that we saw up close, I lost track of how many black bears we saw. I’m guessing probably at least 20! They were everywhere climbing trees, swimming in ponds and walking right next to our car. Considering that it is rare now a days to even see one bear up close in Yellowstone National Park, we thought this alone was worth it.

You also see lots of other types of free-roaming wildlife of North America including Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, Rocky Mountain goats, white-tail deer and American bison. It was so cool to see these wild animals up close.

Amusement rides. After the end of our 30-minute drive through the park, you can park your car and ride six different amusement rides that are fun enough from toddlers up to adults. All of my kids loved it. They were definitely an added bonus. Plus, all of the rides were included in the price of admission.

Nice gift shop and snack shack. The gift shop was really big and had tons of souvenirs. Plus, there was a fudge counter if you want to buy a treat. You could also buy some food at the snack shack. We didn’t buy any food, but it was so hot that we bought a 32-ounce ice water for each of us to cool down for 50 cents each.

Baby bears. Another feature that I thought was fun was all of the cute baby bear cubs up close. They were running around in an enclosed area. We stumbled upon them during feeding time and for an additional fee, you can actually bottle-feed bear cubs yourself!

Jurassic Creek dinosaurs. Another unexpected surprise was the life-size interactive dinosaur park. There were tons of huge dinosaurs that moved, breathed and roared. It was really fun.

Unlimited through the drive-through park. After we had lot of fun with the rides and other attractions, we drove through and saw the elk, bison and bears again. It was super fun. Apparently they let you drive through as many times as you want. So, if you didn’t get to see the grizzly up close, you can give it another try.

Things that you might NOT love about Bear World

Although, overall, I would say that Yellowstone Bear World was super awesome and definitely worth the stop, there are a few things that I would change:

Kind of expensive. If you don’t pay ahead online, the admission price for anyone age 11 or over is almost $30 per person with tax. That is a lot of money in my opinion. Honestly, the only reason why we went in the first place was because we had a GetOut Pass and got all our entire family in for free. So, be prepared to shell out a little bit of dough. Plus, if you want to do a wildlife a

Petting zoo. They have a petting zoo on site but it wasn’t as great as I thought it was going to be. There are a few muddy pigs and ducks wandering around, but they don’t really want to be petted. And there are a couple of goats that you can pet but otherwise, it was kind of lame.

Those were basically the only two cons I could think of about Yellowstone Bear World. Overall, I thought it was super family-friendly and a great way to get excited to go to Yellowstone National Park. My kids loved it too. They treated these captive wildlife very well. They seemed happy and well-taken care of. I would definitely recommend it.

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