Annual spring exhibit that's known for butterfly interactions and long-ass lines…read more Is it worth it? If you've seen it once you can probably skip it. The problem isn't butterfly jungle, it's the poor timing of butterfly season which is during spring break for SoCal schools. Even during midweek it was 20 minutes waiting. During a Saturday you're looking at an hour. There is one large viewing aviary loaded with butterflies. There are plenty of opportunities to have butterflies land on you if you're patient. I would say that adults were having more fun with this experience than the kids. - There are two mandatory butterfly checking stations before you can leave Butterfly Jungle. If you think TSA searches are embarrassing just wait for the security checks here.

I come every year to this exhibit, and whether I pay for priority viewing or not, the wait time is…read moresoooo long for maybe ten minutes of wandering the enclosure. It's basically a 2-hour wait if you don't pay, and upwards of an hour if you do. Overall, I don't recommend this exhibit. It's too crowded as it is. Joking, not joking! Well, my best tip is to wear bright colors. Butterflies always land on me when I wear red or hot pink. P.S.- Fun fact: It sounds cruel, but the birds they keep there are to eat the butterflies when the exhibit ends. Enjoy~ Pros: - great photo ops Cons: - humid inside - long lines - priority viewing oversold

We went to the BRAND NEW ELEPHANT EXHIBITION, and it is definitely something to be seen more than…read moreonce. It's AMAZING, I MEAN AMAZING!!! It was certainly worth the wait. It isa big, beautiful space. It even includes a RESTAURANT.

This place was very cool. The food was great, the ability to get a craft cocktail was a nice treat,…read moreand the view is unbeatable. The pork belly was amazing. The dining hall is very beautiful, but it was strange to eat in such a nice looking restaurant and everyone around us was wearing crocs and tank tops, haha. Service was awesome.

We absolutely LOVED watching the giant tiger even though they said it was a small tiger! ;)…read more We've seen a few times since January. It was getting warm outside and the tiger got into the water! Exciting for us. I've only seen it lounging or pacing. It's the small things in life that make us smile! I like that the enclosure is designed to be a natural habitat. Maybe not exactly, but accommodating for the animals. I know the tiger is a wild animal, but I would love to give a big hug! Not possible! I know.... For now, I do enjoy watching....

We walked up to the Kangaroos, along with the Tigers. It is a beautiful way to get to the Tigers…read more We went to the Kangaroos first, then down the trail to the Tigers. Although there were a number of Tigers, but we really loved the carvings of Tigers.

Went here for a birthday celebration, and opted for the BearCat feeding experience and was…read morepleasantly surprised to get SO much more!! They gave us a full tour of the facility, and took time to educate and let us interact with each animal. Our tour guide was kind, knowledgeable and so entertaining! All the employees look like they really care about the facility and know what they are talking about. A portion of the money you pay towards the ticket for the experience goes towards a nonprofit of your choosing, to support various animals and their causes. Overall it was so worth the money, and such a unique experience. Compared to the zoo's in San Diego, this was a top niche experience and would 10/10 reccamend

A beautiful wildlife preservation site where you can enjoy animal encounters with exotic animals!…read more - PARKING - We parked on the hill past the entrance of the business, and walked down. Pretty steep but it's a short walk. - SERVICE/ENVIRONMENT - Book your visit online! There are group rates and additional attendee rates, so just make sure you have the right count of people! Staff was very friendly from start to finish, and I loved seeing the enthusiasm shine through their work. It's not a huge site, so not a ton of walking involved, but there are some steps if you're worried about accessibility. Make sure to wear closed toed shoes! - EXPERIENCE - We booked a Wallaby encounter, and initially I thought it was only going to be a single animal experience but I was pleasantly surprised we were taken on a tour around the area! We did get to feed and pet the Wallaby, but we also walked to see all the different animals in captivity. They also brought out some animals for us to pet and see up close! - OVERALL - A wonderful wildlife preservation site, and amazing staff to take care of them all!

This preserve is operated by the San Diego Audobon and Bird Alliance and it was such a nice treat…read moreto come visit the grounds on a Sunday. They are usually open on Saturdays mainly. I stopped in around 11:30am on Sunday and showed up just in time to sign up for the noon bird walk. There were a lot of people on the tour and I wandered off and just started looking at birds on my own. I got to see plenty of species including the hooded Oriole, western flycatcher and yellow rumped warbler. All species I have seen before. 11:30am is really too late to see birds and need to come earlier and its already getting pretty hot so I am going to come here earlier. I wish they opened at sunrise but seems the preserve opens at 9am on Saturdays. There are a few nice trails here and all doable within 1-2 hours on the grounds. My faborite is probably the Riparian trail and the pond trail. The pond had many bullfrogs chilling in them, I got some shots of their eyes lol. There was also a very cute little kitty cat on the grounds and very friendly. The cat definitely suckered me into petting them. So adorable and so fluffy. I also met the Executive Director who was a nice guy and very welcoming. All the staff here were lovely. Decent amount of parking available. Id definitely come back again when I want to bird!

Peaceful, wildlife has the time and space to be at home here; it's only open on Saturday mornings…read moreunless there is an event, such as a talk about bees, birds, or other wildlife

We had a wonderful time here and did all the adventure stuff with the kids! We especially loved the…read morereptile show where Ursula and her gang went above and beyond to make us feel welcomed. She was so friendly and informative, she was able to answer all of our questions about their animals and made us feel comfortable holding them too. We also had a great time with Jesse- playing kick the can and jamming on makeshift musical instruments, the kids had a blast! We can't wait to visit again :) Such a great time outdoors! PS- the ghost tour guide was also super friendly and hilarious too! Pretty much the whole staff on the large property was super nice!

Came here for a field trip with my kids and their charter school. First thing we did upon entering…read moreJulian is grab an apple pie for breakfast of course! We brought it with us to the farm, unsure if they'd allow us in with food but they welcomed us with open arms, pie and all! The staff was super nice, greeted us, and pointed our way to the stage area where we had some live music and a little family hoedown. My daughter had soooo much fun dancing together. After that we split off into groups where we experienced many different fun activities including a hayride and sing along, cider pressing and tasting, a painted craft, a small garden activity, and a petting zoo. The cider pressing was very cool, we learned how they make cider with farm grown apples. We heard lots of stories about Johnny Appleseed and how the farm came about. Even some history on Julian and the old goldmines. The hayride also provided lots of cool historical facts, and best part is they delivered it in a way that kept the kiddos entertained. We did have about a 40 min lunch break where we got to explore the property. They have so much to look at, I doubt we saw it all. The staff told us in the beginning of the trip to save some of the acorns we find on the ground to feed the animals. So during lunch my kids enjoyed feeding an adorable little donkey acorns through the fence. They even had a slide next to the bathroom, a tire swing, and quite a few rope swings. The petting zoo was one of the best parts of the trip, they had chickens, ducks, goats, a HUGE pig, and even some mice that we watched run out to grab some acorns. Parking was simple and plenty of space. The workers were very friendly and happy to answer any and all questions. We spent about 4 hours here total which sounds long but went by pretty quickly. My kids and I had a great time and I highly recommend coming to visit. I'm hoping to come back for their Christmas season activities! If you have kids and plan on coming to Julian, definitely give this place a try!

My friends and I weren't planning to come here but the mission we drove out here to see was…read moreunexpectedly closed today so we stopped by the nature center after a slice of pie. The facility is very clean and seems to be on the newer side, with lots of large windows and central A/C. There's a room with some taxidermy wildlife and informational boards to read about the various types of wildlife and plants in the area. There's a room with a projector and a ton of chairs that is probably used for teaching, but today they were just showing shots of a mountain Lion caught walking by a camera. Out on the patio there are seats and tables, as well as interactive gold panning and archeology installations. We spent some time at them and thought it was cool (as adults) so I'm sure kids love them. Then there's a short nature path you can walk down to get to a limited playground, and there is also stadium-like seating off to the side so maybe they do some sort of show here? Not sure. But that's pretty much it. Less one star because there's not much to see, but everything that is there is nice. There were only three other families we ran into while exploring, so not sure if it was an off hour or if this is typical.

Great place to visit. The center is full of information and exhibits showing the local plants and…read more wildlife. There are 12 miles of trails with different degrees of difficulty. Some of thrails are very step with long downhills, not good for people with bad knees. Hours of operation are from 8:00am to sunset.

Gotta love the Lion Camp and the food/drink options that are available right next to it…read more Service is quick! Nachos, hot dogs, pretzels with cheese and slushees! Steps away from all the live animals. Worth a visit!

You have to walk a little to find this big camp and it is so worth it! As the name suggests, you…read morewill see lions in this safari camp themed exhibit. I like to come here often and each time there is something fun to see. These cats have big personalities too, and not everyone plays nice. The large family of cats includes: Mom and her sister dad 2 cubs approximately 1 year old 4 cubs approximately 6 months old. So momma kitty is really possessive and likes things just her way. She won't let her sister anywhere near her cubs. She did not introduce the 2 older cubs to the family, they only get to hang wiuth eachother. The most interesting scenario includes Mom, dad and their 4 giant babies. Crowds go nuts when all 6 kitties are in the showcase cage.