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    Blue Hills Ranch

    4.8 (91 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

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    Jenna L.

    This is an incredibly quiet ranch with happy, healthy, and gorgeous animals (many of which are rescues). Only a few animals stay behind a fence and they allow free roaming and free breeding across their 150 acres. Playing with the otters was a bucket list dream come true that I still cannot believe exists in Texas. You can tell they are well cared for and it's nothing like Tiger King. The incredibly kind staff (Amaria) made the experience amazing. The kangaroo bottle feeding and safari tour are a must as well. The baby kangaroo fur was SO soft. The ranch is beautiful, and we saw so many different animals. You can purchase a bucket of feed for $15 and walk around the property feeding random animals with it. We stayed in the Kraken cabin (one of three unique cabins designed by the same guy who designed Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch). The details are gorgeous, and the property is setup like someone's guest house with nice amenities versus cheap hotel items. The bed and pillows were so comfortable; I would come back here just to catch up on sleep! The town of McGregor is 13-14 minutes away, and they had a delicious breakfast cafe for the mornings plus a few dinner options to enjoy. I cannot wait to visit again. There is nothing like this around, and it's worth every penny!

    Natalie C.

    This is my version of the Happiest Place on Earth!!! 10 out of 5 stars. 6/5/2022: My boyfriend (at the time) took me here on a surprise weekend trip, where I thought we were just visiting Dallas, Texas. We ended up at Blue Hills Ranch for one of the nights-- with the surprise came a proposal from him in front of my favorite animal since I was a child, Giraffes! He got down on one knee while we were feeding the giraffes and two of the girls who worked here took a ton of photos and videos of us. I got to bottle feed the baby giraffe, Blue, afterwards. The team here was so kind and helpful to him during this process (he said). He planned the whole thing months in advance and it's still one of our all time favorite memories. It is amazing to see so many free roaming animals at this ranch and how well they are taken care of. We met the adorable otters. The kangaroo and pigs were so cute too! We stayed at the giraffe cabin which was like a modern farmhouse but better! I hope that we will be back one day! :)

    Taylor B.

    I surprised my mom for her birthday and our girls trip to Waco by kickstarting it at Blue Hills Ranch. THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT. We went to an evening tour. We lucked out and it was just us two with two incredible guides. One was training and she was very knowledgeable. The lead guide I believe her name was Cara, incredible!! She had an amazing personality, super upbeat, went above and beyond to make this special, and answered every question we threw at her regarding these animals! If you can ask for Cara! This place is so special and we spread the word when we went back into Waco! Locals had not even heard for this ranch. We were so impressed from start to finish. The variety of animals, the gorgeous land, and the people! This is a must see if you're in town! It was only about 25 minutes from Waco and a beautiful drive!! I love supporting businesses like this and who are caring for this wonderful animals! We will be back with the whole family! Thank you Blue Hills for an incredible time and amazing memories!

    We visited Blue Hills Ranch today and what an awesome experience!! If you're visiting Texas, don't miss out on this beautiful place. This should be on everyone's bucket lists! Beautiful animals, awesome, friendly staff and super clean! Thank you for allowing us to feed all these beautiful animals and giving us an awesome tour!

    Giraffe
    Zach G.

    Sometimes a trip is all about the anticipation but this trip is all about obsessing over the next trip back. What an amazing and unique combination of relaxation and fascination. There's a story behind every animal and each detail and knowledgeable and passionate staff can't wait to share their love for this location and each unique animal in residence. I can't wait to return to see what they've imagined next...

    Richie U.

    Blue Hill's Ranch is located off Blue Cut Rd N in McGregor, which took me at least an hour and a half to get here from Austin. Blue Hill's Ranch is a super unique place with a wide range of animals, including giraffes, otters, zebras, kangaroos, donkeys, horses, a camel and much much more! For our adventure, we bottle fed a baby red kangaroo named Mimi. Never in my life would I have though I would touch, none the less, feed a kangaroo! After the bottle feeding and while Mimi was still in her fabric pouch, we were able to pet her. After spending some time petting her she was let out of pouch and free to roam, and hop around the room. Seeing the kangaroo jump around in person is soo much cooler than seeing it on TV. In addition to petting kangaroos, we were initially welcomed by three huge, and I mean huge Saint Bernards! They are soo clean and absolutely love to be pet. The staff here is totally awesome, very friendly, answered all our questions and also provided us with information on not only the kangaroos, but also of their other animals. Lastly, every guest gets to place a pin on the world map of where they've traveled from. It was so cool to see how many different places and countries visitors have come from. If you're on the fence about an adventure, just do it, it's soo rad !!

    Zebras were roaming the day we left

    Blue Hills ranch is a once in a lifetime experience. How many people can just pick up and fly to Africa? No need to do that with Blue Hills ranch being here. The animals are abundant and very approachable. Everyone works to make your visit very special and it's really nice to see how much the animals love them all. We highly recommend staying in the cabin we stayed in. It's called the Kracken. Underwater theme. It was a very comfortable stay. All meals were provided as well. We arrived on Thursday and left Saturday. Trust me, it's well worth it. We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary here and I'm already looking forward to going back.

    Baby kangaroo super friendly
    Roxy L.

    Beautiful animals and well kept up land. Our tour guide Casey was very accommodating and informative. Snacks to give to Animals were included. Overall I loved it we arrived at 9 am it was 1 hour in duration on well cushioned ATV seats. Please don't forget to tip your guide!

    Angelica O.

    This has to have been our favorite animal encounter experience. The staff is incredible. The animals roam free and walk right up to your cabin balcony. The cabins are clean and modern. The food was excellent. Would love to come back some day!!

    Feeding the baby kangaroo.
    Mark G.

    This is an amazing, one of a kind place! We had the opportunity to stay here in one of the cabins. Our place was immaculate. Everything we needed and spacious. You can feed the animals right off of your back porch. We did the tour and saw so many exotic animals. We were able to interact and feed many of them. My wife got to bottle feed the baby kangaroo. I cannot recommend this destination enough! Giraffes, zebras, otters, too many to list. If you are able to visit, you will not regret it!

    My new boyfriend, Blue
    Jody D.

    First of all, our tour host, whose name I believe is Amari (I wish I was more accurate with names), was absolutely wonderful and engaging and so knowledgeable! She loves those animals and loves her work and she's fantastic at it! The animals were beyond what we'd even hoped for. You can see they're all so well cared for because they're loving and at ease around people. We did the hour safari which started with a quick hello to a group of friendly otters who were just settling in for their nap. They still came over for cuddles though. Got a peek at the new capybara's who were having a drink out of a very clean water trough. We met the donkeys- including a baby of 2 months, who were happy to get snacks and pets. On to a bison and some happy cows - more snacks- but along came Marvin the camel for his snacks! All happy to take food from your hand which makes me so happy. Many unique and exotic deer species throughout the property that came to eat when they heard us coming. My two favorite memories are bonding with Blue the giraffe, who rubbed his face all over me asking for scratches and kisses, (He got plenty!) and holding/feeding Bodie the baby kangaroo. He is the sweetest, cuddliest little guy; actually went to sleep in my lap. I did not want to leave him or Blue! Enthralled with them. We will be going back to stay in one of their cabins and spend more time with these sweet animals. They actually have a new giraffe barn with a large house attached that has a window looking into the barn! This place is a Little slice of heaven. Met and talked with the owner also and he seemed great. A perfect way to spend a day- or a weekend or a retreat.... Just GO!

    Zebra visiting
    Carmen P.

    Staff were welcoming at Blue Hill Ranch. They were knowledgeable about the ranch and animal behaviors. We loved hand feeding donkeys, British white sheep, Buffalo, mustangs, zebras, and camels among some of the animals. Breakfast with giraffes was absolutely a blast. The peace and calm of the ranch was enhanced by gorgeous sunsets. We stayed in the Zebra cabin that was furnished and decorated with zebra-themed items. A lot of care had been put into the cabin.

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    1 month ago

    Great visit and super friendly and knowledgeable staff, we will visit again in the future

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    5 months ago

    Absolutely the best trip, ever! Well worth the price for tours & other excursions. You can tell the animals are loved and cared for.

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    1 year ago

    Had a great time and experience doing the safari adventure. Was way better than I expected which is rare these days. Highly recommend.

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    1 year ago

    My 12-year old son and I had a magical experience with some very special otters! Ann does a great job.

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Blue Hills Ranch

    How does the ranch come across these exotic animals?

    View All 2 Questions

    Review Highlights - Blue Hills Ranch

    The highlights are definitely the animals, kangaroos, giraffes, capybaras, sloths, camels, otters and more!

    Mentioned in 31 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Blue Hills Ranch - hotels - Updated May 2026

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