Drive-Thru-Safari-Wildlife-Parks-in-michigan

Drive-Thru Safari Wildlife Parks in Michigan

Michigan has one true drive-thru safari, near Grand Rapids, where you feed giraffes, bison, and camels from your car. Up north there are two great free wildlife drives: the largest wild elk herd east of the Mississippi, and a Upper Peninsula marsh loop full of swans, loons, and eagles.

DEER TRACKS JUNCTION – SITE 57 DRIVE-THRU SAFARI

Type: Self-drive safari plus a hands-on walk-thru animal park. It’s Michigan’s only drive-thru safari.
Location: 7850 14 Mile Rd NE, Cedar Springs, MI 49319 (about 20 minutes north of Grand Rapids)
Phone: (616) 863-3337
Website: deertracksjunction.com · Drive-Thru Safari · Tickets & Passes · Buy Day Passes · FAQs · Park Rules · Map (PDF)
Social Media:

Size: About 90–98 acres. The safari loop takes 30–45 minutes.
Animals: Giraffes, American bison, llamas, alpacas, zebras, camels, fallow deer, Tibetan yaks, Highland cattle, ostriches, emus, gazelles, antelope, and black bears (viewing only).

Admission (per person, not per vehicle):

  • Drive-Thru Safari only: $19.99
  • Walk-Thru Animal Park only: $19.99
  • Combo tickets (both parks) are available, and prices may vary by season.
  • Ages 2 & under: Free
  • Season passes cover unlimited visits from mid-May through the fall weekends and include 2 buddy passes.
  • Safari tickets and feed buckets are bought at the entrance booth without leaving your car.
  • Credit cards only ($5 minimum, no checks). All sales are final.

Hours:

  • Currently Friday – Sunday, 10 AM – 6 PM, last entry 5 PM
  • The season runs mid-May through the fall weekends, and a Christmas drive-thru lights event follows in winter. Check Facebook for the last fall weekend and weather closures.

Feed: Specialty feed buckets are sold at the safari entrance. Only park-sold feed is allowed. Hold the bucket outside your window rather than hand-feeding.

Vehicle Rules:

  • Stay in your vehicle, and keep windows either fully up or fully down. Partly open windows can trap an animal’s head.
  • 5 mph speed limit, with one car length between vehicles.
  • Bear enclosure: Windows up, doors locked, no feeding or stopping.
  • Maximum height 9 ft.
  • Not allowed: buses, motorcycles, convertibles with the top down, open Jeeps, trailers, or riders in truck beds.
  • Keep minivan sliding doors closed, and remove flags, bikes, and coolers from the outside of your vehicle.
  • No pets in the safari or on the premises. Service animals are allowed in the main building only.

Tips:

  • Don’t bring a clean car. Expect slobber and spilled feed.
  • Hold on tight to your bucket, because the camels will steal it.
  • You can watch the safari from the walk-thru park’s elevated walkway without buying a safari ticket.
  • Try the homemade ice cream.

PIGEON RIVER COUNTRY STATE FOREST – ELK VIEWING

Type: Free self-drive elk viewing on forest roads in a 106,000-acre Michigan DNR state forest
Location: Forest Headquarters: off Twin Lakes Rd, near Vanderbilt, MI. From I-75 exit 290 in Vanderbilt, take Sturgeon Valley Rd east about 11 miles, then turn north on Twin Lakes Rd for 1 mile.
Phone: Forest Headquarters (989) 983-4101
Website: Michigan DNR – Pigeon River Country · Discovery Center – Elk Viewing · Discovery Center FAQ
Social Media: No dedicated accounts

Animals: Wild elk (a herd of up to about 900, the largest free-roaming herd east of the Mississippi). Also white-tailed deer, black bears, wild turkeys, and pine martens.

Admission: FREE

Designated Elk Viewing Stations:

  • 3.5 miles east of Vanderbilt on Sturgeon Valley Rd, then 3 miles north on Fontinalis Rd
  • 8 miles east of Vanderbilt on Sturgeon Valley Rd, at the pipeline corridor
  • 4 miles north of the Forest Headquarters on Osmun Rd
  • 18 miles east of Gaylord on County Road 622
  • Black River, Blue Lakes, and Tin Shanty roads also pass through good elk country.

Hours:

  • Forest roads: Open year-round
  • Forest Headquarters: Monday – Friday, 8 AM – 4 PM. Pick up a free Elk Viewing Map here.
  • Discovery Center (free log-cabin museum): Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM, Sunday 12 – 4 PM, through the last weekend of October

Best Time:

  • The rut runs September through mid-October, when bulls bugle and spar.
  • Late April through mid-May is also good.
  • Arrive at viewing areas 30 minutes before sunrise, or in the last couple of hours before dark.

Rules & Tips:

  • Signs are minimal and cell service is spotty, so download maps ahead of time.
  • Roads are gravel and dirt.
  • Stay beside designated viewing areas, and never walk into planted fields.
  • Spotlighting is illegal from 11 PM to 6 AM, and no firearms are allowed in a vehicle that is spotlighting.
  • Bonus: The city of Gaylord keeps a free-to-view elk herd off East Grandview Avenue.

SENEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE – MARSHLAND WILDLIFE DRIVE

Type: USFWS national wildlife refuge with a free self-guided auto tour loop through marshes and pools
Location: Seney NWR, off M-77 near Germfask, MI (eastern Upper Peninsula). The temporary visitor center is off River Road, south of Germfask.
Email: seney@fws.gov
Website: fws.gov/refuge/seney · Visit Us · Rules & Policies · Map
Social Media: Facebook

Size: 95,238 acres of marshes, swamps, bogs, and forests. The Marshland Wildlife Drive is a slow gravel loop with pull-offs and observation decks.
Animals: 200+ bird species, including trumpeter swans, common loons, ospreys, bald eagles, and sandhill cranes. Mammals include red foxes, deer, black bears, porcupines, fishers, and river otters.

Admission: FREE

Hours:

  • The Marshland Wildlife Drive, Fishing Loop, and Visitor Center are open May 15 – October 20. Only about two weeks remain this season.
  • Visitor Center: Tuesday – Saturday, 9 AM – 4 PM. It’s closed on federal holidays.

Rules & Tips:

  • Dogs are welcome on a leash.
  • Drive slowly and stop often, since wildlife is easiest to spot at dawn and dusk.
  • Fall color plus migrating swans and cranes make early-to-mid October a great time to go.
  • Pair it with Tahquamenon Falls and the Whitefish Point Unit on Lake Superior.

Explore Drive-Thru Wildlife Parks in Neighboring States:
Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin