DriveThruSafari.net is a state-by-state guide to every kind of drive-thru wildlife experience in the United States. Our goal is simple: help you find a place to see animals up close from your own vehicle, and give you everything you need to plan the trip in one place.
What We Cover
Drive-thru wildlife viewing is more than one kind of park, so our directory includes four types of experiences:
- Drive-thru safari parks: Privately run parks where you drive your own car through large habitats with exotic animals like giraffes, zebras, camels, and bison. Many sell feed so you can hand-feed animals through your window.
- Guided safari tours: Ranches, preserves, and theme parks where an expert guide drives you through the habitat in an open-air truck or wagon, often with a stop to feed the giraffes.
- Wildlife refuge drives: Scenic auto-tour routes through national wildlife refuges and state wildlife areas, where you can watch wild bison, elk, and huge flocks of migrating birds. Many are free.
- National and state park wildlife roads: Famous routes like Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop, and Cades Cove in the Smokies, where wild animals often wander right up to the road.
What’s in Every Listing
Each park listing is built to answer the questions you’d otherwise have to dig for:
- Address and map link, so you can get directions
- Phone, website, and social media links, so you can check for same-day updates
- Admission prices by age, plus per-vehicle fees and discounts
- Hours and seasons, including last-entry times and closing dates
- Vehicle rules, like hard-top requirements or bans on pets, convertibles, and motorcycles
- Feed prices and feeding rules
- Animals you can expect to see
- Best times to visit, such as the elk rut, crane migration, or the quietest hours of the day
Each state page also links to its neighboring states, so if you live near a state line or are planning a road trip, you can see every option nearby.
How We Keep Listings Accurate
We gather our information from official sources, including park websites and government agency pages, and update listings as parks announce price changes, new seasons, and closures. When a park’s status is uncertain, we say so right in the listing.
Parks can still change hours, close for weather, or sell out on busy days. We always recommend calling or checking the park’s website before you go.
Safe and Respectful Wildlife Viewing
Drive-thru parks let you get closer to animals than almost anywhere else, so follow the park’s rules:
- Stay in your vehicle unless the park says otherwise.
- Feed animals only the food the park provides.
- Keep your distance from wild animals in refuges and national parks. In Yellowstone, that means 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from bison and elk.
- Use pull-outs instead of stopping in the road.
Contact Us
Spot an outdated price, a closed park, or a drive-thru safari we haven’t listed yet? Let us know by contacting us here.