Safari North, Brainerd

Took my kids here for the first time a few days ago. I love the set up. There is a detailed walking trail, so you don't miss anything or any of the animals, and at the end of that trail, is the petting zoo, giraffes, and food to feed the animals at the petting zoo. My kids fully enjoyed that. They also have a mini carnival set up with rides, carnival foods and snacks, a place for pretend mining, a mini park, and so many other attractions. A great place to spend the day. :) All the animals looked well taken care of, and the staff was super friendly. We had so much fun. Totally worth the almost 2 hour drive we made there. I will tell everyone reading this - before you go - the only thing that doesn't take credit cards - is the giraffe stand to get carrots to feed them. It is $5 a cup - cash only! Other than that, everything else does accept credit cards.

Decent variety of animals, however the pens/cages I think are kind of small for most of the animals. The giraffes & big cats were pretty cool to see though. You are much closer to most of the animals than you would be at other zoos I've seen. The gift shop was decent for the size and pricing was fair. There was a bit of an odor though. There is an indoor restroom if you need the extra space and rails, but otherwise you might seriously want to use the port-a-potty that are sparsely located around the trail... The facilities obviously did not get much attention here & it wasn't particularly busy. There is a small bit that is fully paved from the main building past a few larger animals and up to the petting area, but the majority of the path is loose gravel and not at all friendly to walkers, wheelchairs, etc. since the dust and small rocks get into the wheels and the ground is a little bit uneven. There is a train ride, but that is just a novelty, not a full tour. This place is completely open air. Check the local weather forecast as there aren't really any shelters if it rains, etc. Younger kids, teens, and adults enjoyed the visit. It's tiny compared to the Minnesota zoo in the twin cities, but for a small town it was a good size and took a few hours to visit everything - definitely a good value for the price.

We went here in 2017 and while it was a bit rainy we still loved it. This time around our 4 year old loved riding the camel and feeding the animals. They have definitely upgraded the amenities too. Enclosed picnic space with fans, concession stand, and lots of fun photo ops!

My family and I walked into the building at 5:03p and a gal told us tickets are done at 5:00p. We watched another family still paying for their ticket in front of us, and we’re denied the sale. The gal expressed it takes longer then an hour to get through the park. We shared we will leave by 6:00p no issue as we don’t need to see the entire park we just wanted something to do for a little bit with our two year old. We will never be a customer in the future again.

Just a few things I noticed! The bears and coyotes looked super stressed out. Pacing back and forth. I feel they didn’t have enough enrichment in their enclosures. I’m not downing the owners knowledge by any means, just hoping a few things change for the welfare of the animals. I thought the wolf looked a little thin too. I’m no expert but the water was very green for the grizzly bears. One grizzly would not stop pacing. I felt he was very miserable. Depressed really. There has to be some things you can put in their enclosures for enrichment. Not every animal looked miserable but my heart hurt for the coyote and bear. I’m sure you meet measurement guidelines for enclosures considering your still open but they need more room :( I didn’t give a one star although I was tempted. Just wanted to express my sadness for those animals I noticed stressed. I think we have one thing in common and that is the love for each animal there. Just begging for more enrichment for them. I really am