If you are an animal lover and you haven't been to Seacrest Wolf Preserve, you must add this to your bucket list. Never in my life did I think I would be able to interact face-to-face with full-blooded wolves. There are three different kinds of tours: Saturday Tours, Group Tours and VIP Tours, all of which require reservations. My wife and I made the 5 hour drive from Orlando to go on a Saturday Tour ($35) and it was worth both every minute in the car and every penny spent. Be sure to familiarize yourself with rules and clothing requirements ahead of time. For example, you cannot bring your phone or digital cameras into the wolf enclosure. You can, however, bring a disposable camera or purchase one for use on site. Also, be sure to wear a top that goes up to your neck, pants without holes, and closed-toe shoes. The check-in progress is (unnecessarily) long, so be sure to arrive early. You'll sign some paperwork and have the opportunity to pay via credit card in a line wrapped through their gift store. It would have been much preferable if the volunteers accepting cash outside were equipped with credit card readers, too. The tour began promptly at 1 PM and we, plus about 100-150 other individuals, were led into a wolf enclosure. The primary sitting arrangement was cross-crossed on the ground in bands. While listening to information about the preserve and wolfs in general, volunteers (equipped with meat snacks) led the wolves through the bands of sitting people. With the recommendation of one of the volunteers, I blew in one of the wolf's face and was provided a kiss in exchange. This is easily one of my favorite life experiences. My wife didn't have the same opportunity and was equally grateful ;). Later, we were all brought out of the enclosure and let back in as part of our respective groups (i.e. my wife and I, a group of friends, etc). This provided us a few minutes of one-on-one time with the wolves and the opportunity to take 6-8 photos with them. All of these photos were available for purchase on a flash drive for $35. We took advantage of this and absolutely love our photos. Once all of the groups were done taking photos, we were taken to a small animal encounter. There, we were able to play with skunks, feed raccoons, and pet foxes. I had no idea one of my favorite parts of the trip would be feeding an almond to a raccoon through a fence. My (second) small complaint leading to my deduction of 1 star: The whole tour, which was supposed to last approximately 3 hours, took approximately 5 hours. Normally I wouldn't be frustrated with having more time at an experience, but at least a third of this time was spent completely idle. Employees kept reiterating how this was due to "the wolves not cooperating," but this was clearly due to poorly managed time. If the tour was broken up into two groups instead of one group of 100-150 individuals, the photo portion wouldn't have taken 1.5 hours. While others are getting their photos taken, you and your party are simply sitting around. When I heard someone expressing a concern about this, the employee shut her down and then lied to a group of people that she was just "frustrated that she had a long drive home." It's clear that others have voiced this concern before, as evidenced by other reviews. A word to Seacrest: please increase your receptivity to constructive feedback! Bottom line: Schedule your tour now and you won't regret it. Just make sure you are prepared in attire, cameras, and expectations regarding time. read more

Seacrest Wolf Preserve - A fox in the small animal enclosure - Zoos Near Me - Chipley, Florida

See all

A great place for anyone who wants an up close and personal experience with wildlife! I've had a few friends visit Seacrest over the years and I've always heard great things, so we finally made the decision to visit one Saturday for their public tour. It's a bit of a drive at 1 3/4 hours from Tallahassee and a little hidden in rural Chipley, but not terribly difficult overall. We arrived at 11:45pm as we had been told that tours start at 12pm, but then it didn't start until 1pm, which was a bit disappointing. I wasn't exactly happy to just sit for an extra hour on a cold and rainy day. Regardless, once the tour started, we enjoyed ourselves, getting to actually pet the wolves and interact with them. It was so cool to howl with a wolfpack! We visited two different enclosures of wolves, one grey and one arctic, before spending quality time with the small animals. The skunks were so freaking cute and I loved getting to hold them for a while. I also loved the foxes, which you can to pet. Our guides throughout the tour were all very friendly and informative, answering any questions from the group and keeping things lively with discussion while the wolves wound around you. Make sure to bring a disposable camera to capture the experience or book the private photo-op! We loved the experience, even with the extra wait, and would definitely recommend a visit to friends! read more

See all

This was the most incredible experience! This was on our bucket list and we'll worth the 11 hour drive. Lindsey is so knowledgeable and made this not only a learning experience but so much fun. You come away with so much respect for these beautiful misread creatures! read more

Seacrest Wolf Preserve - Zoos Near Me - Chipley, Florida

What an amazing experience! I took the private tour with 3 other family members a Wednesday 1:00 to 3:00 pm. We were escorted by Tracy and Alex. Both girls were phenomenal. Tracy gave us the animal's facts while Alex took pictures and recorded our tour, giving us time to interact at our own pace. We were apparently alone in the park, we went to 2 different wolf's dens and some small animals den that included foxes and raccoons. The tour guide took wonderful pictures in all dens. Upon arrival we waited at the gate until they opened at the appointed time, then we were allowed time to use rest rooms and then were escorted to the first den, after we were done there we took a brake with snacks and drinks provided by them, then headed off to the second den to see the arctic wolves and then finally to the small animals den. We were allowed the use of our smart phones to take pictures and record only in the small animals den, only one device given to them to record or take pictures is allowed at the wolves dens. An advice if taking private tours: Wear long sleeves and pants, the wolves nails could scratch some. Also some wolves would try to gnaw at shoelaces or jeans belt loops, so it's a good idea not to have them exposed. And of course bring a device or camera so that one of the tour guide can take pictures, and if wanted for 75 dollars they could also take a video of the wolves howling along with you. read more

See all

Always an easy question when I'm asked what animal is your personailty, "it's a Wolf". Wolves are my favorite animal so when you love them and know as much about them as I do you can't measure an experience like this in stars. If you have an obsession with Wolves, this is one of the best things you'll ever get a chance to do. Located about 30 minutes from the Florida Caverns and 90 minutes from Destin Beach, the Seacrest Wolf Sanctuary is in Chipley, FL in one of the most rural sections of the panhandle. They do have camping grounds on site if you would like to stay there, but I opted to stay in Destin Beach (a.k.a The Redneck Riviera) and do their Saturday Wolf Encounter tour. It is $35 for the tour, and another $35 for the pictures. Reservations are required and they do fill up quick. So check in is at noon and the guided tour starts at 1 pm, central time. They ask you not to wear boots, jewelry or watches, and they do not allow any outside photography or videotaping. They allow you to use the disposable cameras they sell, but I didn't see any in the gift shop. They don't sell them at the start of the tour so on the next go around I will ask where I can buy them in the gift shop and get one in advance. Check the tours and rules before going. link is below. https://www.seacrestwolfpreserve.org/tours/ Most of their work is done by volunteers but you wouldn't know it because this was a highly informative tour even for someone like myself. I've watched enough wolf documentaries that I could write a 5 page report on wolves off the cuff with ease, but I was never bored for a second and learned so much I didn't know about wolves that day. I thought we might not see the wolves up close and personal until the end, but they were with us from the start. You will most likely meet the pups first. They are one year old and the biggest thing you will every see referred to as a puppy, but they so are loving and excited to see people. My personal theory on being a wolf personality was confirmed when I was one of the first people they approached and they licked my face like crazy. It was easily the best moment of this year so far for me and it will be pretty hard to top. So the site no longer says how many but I believe it's either 4 or 5 packs of Wolves they have on site. You will get an encounter with most of them and the wealth of information they give you about wolves greatly enhances the tour. Wolves are one of the most intelligent animals and it is very impressive to see all the things they have done within the sanctuary purely on instinct. You will learn cool things like these facts which were some of my favorites -How huge their dens are (too much of a liability to go in, but they are so big you can stand up in them and they have 6 escape routes). -They specifically choose trees hit by lightning because they are dead and they can clear the ground and roots out under them fast enough to build a den in one night. - They also built a den under a cedar tree because it's a natural bug repellent. -The arctic wolves built a den near the pond and dug a trench so the water flows in which keeps it a near constant 72 degrees in their den (as they put it, their so smart they even have air conditioning) It was a full crowd when I went so by the time I got near the spot where they do pictures with the pack they've dubbed "The Brat Pack". The wolves were tired of taking photos and wanted to get some rest. They did ensure the rest of us that we would go back and do photos and instead we got some pictures with the pups. I actually enjoyed that more since the pups are more energetic and love to be hugged and doted on. I was very happy to get a picture taken hugging the pup Iosha so it all worked out for the best. They save the small animals encounter for last which makes sense. At that point anyone just there for the Wolves was free to go, but I enjoyed spending time petting the foxes and picking up skunks that have had their scent glands removed. In total the tour was 5 hours and it was the 5 best hours of the year so far. My friend was there with her children and they were never bored for a second and they would have liked to stay longer if they could. So the only knock on this place, they've got to work out purchasing photos at the end better. Most people would have dinged them a star or wrote a nasty rant, but this place is so special that I can let it slide. The photographers need to know their pc's well enough that they are not asking the customer to drag and drop the photos with no mouse and they need to know which folder these files are saved in. Other than this, it was an amazing day and I can't say enough good about what Cynthia and the folks at Seacrest are doing with this non-profit project, I will be back. I Would love to do the private V.I.P tour. I would even love to camp here or come volunteer, and I don't do camping! read more

Seacrest Wolf Preserve - A beautiful memorial to one of their wolves that has gone to be with The Great Spirit - Zoos Near Me - Chipley, Florida

See all

We booked a VIP tour at $250 each. Being able to interact with wolves was an amazing experience unlike no other. We're glad we did it and would recommend to any wolf lover. Is there room for improvement? Indeed. We arrived, just the 2 of us, at the preserve and expected to be warmly welcomed. Didn't happen. The founder's grandson introduced himself, so I give him kudos, but Miss Chris who checked us in upon arrival wasn't welcoming whatsoever. She looked like we were bothering her by being there. Our tour guide, a young man, was new to giving tours, he said. We have no idea what his name is, because he never introduced himself. He had us sit down on rocking chairs so he can give us an introduction, which would be great except for the fact that he literally yawned with every sentence he spoke. The first half dozen times were ok -- we all get that way sometimes -- but it kept going and kept going. We got annoyed that we paid $500 for the experience and we spent 15 minutes listening to the fella yawn, with a few words in between. The tour itself was wonderful with the wolves - can't beat that experience. However our 2 hour tour was only 1.5 hours. Also, Hunter, our photographer, held his personal cell the entire time along with mine that he was taking pictures for us with (thankful for that). However, because he was CONSTANTLY staring into his own cell, he missed capturing video of our howling with the wolves and missed so many other great shots. He should not have had his face buried in his personal cell when he was supposed to be taking photos for us as part of the VIP package. Concluding the tour 30 minutes early, for some reason, we were told to go to the gift shop to check out. We went and Miss Chris wasn't there, so they called her to tell her to come. She did, saying nothing to us when she walked in. I made small talk and she wasn't interested in that. After we pretended to walk around and look at things (we didn't want to purchase anything from the shop), we told her we were ready to check out. Well, there was no such thing as check out. It just meant go to the gift shop and spent money. Our tour guide had left us there and disappeared, but when we walked towards our car to leave, he suddenly reappeared and I thought he'd smile and wave bye to us. No; he gave us a few weird looks that made me uncomfortable; were we supposed to tip him? I found out afterwards by reading reviews that they have a small animal area. We weren't told that and weren't taken to that to visit, despite our tour being 30 minutes short. Hmmm.... I can't possibly give 3 stars because we did have a once in a lifetime experience with the wolves, but we are disappointed that it wasn't as good an experience as we thought it would be. read more

This was an awesome experience overall. The people who work there know so much about the animals and they have dedicated their lives to making this place a safe sanctuary for all of them. It is amazing to see how the animals respond to humans, especially the wolves. They come up to you freely, nuzzle your legs and love to give kisses! All the stereotypes about wolves will be non-existent once you leave this place. It is easy to tell that the animals are happy, loved and safe. My one and only complaint about the experience is that they do one-on-one pictures with the wolves in the middle of the tour. I think this definitely contributes to making the tour 4 hours long. The one-on-one pictures are optional so everyone lines up and waits their turn if they choose to do so. Keep in mind there are A LOT of people in the tour group, at least 80 give or take when I went this past weekend. Once you take your pictures, you have to wait until every single person is done until they continue the tour. They take pics with their professional camera, $35 for a flash drive with 10 pictures. This took about two hours overall, including the 15-minute break they give in between enclosures. That was just crazy, they should do that at the end of the tour so if people want to leave after all the exhibits, they can! I was sitting in my car waiting for the entire group to be done, and the website doesn't mention this part in detail. It was inconvenient especially for someone who lives in Tallahassee and loses an hour on the drive back! I definitely think everyone should do it at least once, it is surely an experience of a lifetime. No other place gives you this type of interaction. They should just improve the logistics of it a little bit! read more

Amazing place for animal lovers! The is really very friendly and are doing a great job rehabilitating the wolves along with foxes and skunks! They love what they do and their intent is to educate people about the animals and make people aware about the threats faced by the animals in the wild! If you are looking for some different place where you can learn about wolves while also having some fun, it's a place that shouldn't be missed out! read more

See all

Must place to see if in the area! Best experience ever and so worth the money!! Staff is great and the wolves are funny in their own world! Petting zoo was really great. Get there early because the lines get long!! Great all day adventure.... read more

The staff and volunteers work extremely hard to take care of these wolves and love them like family. I believe they try very hard to make sure visitors have a memorable experience and drive the message of conservation home, which I'm all about. However, I think they need to make a lot of changes to their Saturday tour. We arrived at 10am (30 mins early) and parked on the grass near the gate to get off the highway. We waited until 11am to finally be let through the gate, and were promptly scolded for parking on the grass. We were punished by being let through the gate dead last, which changed our place in line to take photos with the wolves. They were sort of over it by the time we had our photo opportunity. Not off to a great start, but we soldiered on in spite of extreme heat and humidity. Not fun when you're required to wear jeans and tennis shoes. We still don't understand why we were required to arrive at 10:30 when the tour didn't start until 1pm. We felt like we were held hostage. Once the tour finally started, our long-winded guide kept us in the heat even longer with wolf facts and a Q&A. Not much wolf interaction during this part of the tour. At this point, we had been on the grounds for 5 hours and felt like we were on the verge of a heat stroke so we left. They gave us a hard time for trying to get our photos, saying their internet is very slow. We insisted and it took about 2 mins to put the photos (a whopping $38) on a USB. Again, staff was all around nice and informative, but there are some logistical issues that should be sorted out. read more

My visit to Seacrest is an incredible lifetime memory. Yes, you get to touch the wolves- you may even be fortunate enough to collect a big wet kiss from one. You also get to play with foxes. (I saw one fox fall in love with a visitor and hop up onto his back when he bent over.) The tour may not go according to schedule if the wolves get distracted, so be prepared for a later departure than 4:00. Also, understand that there may be a crowd of 70 people in a Saturday group, so if you want more a personalized tour, get your own small group together and book a weekday visit. The folks at Seacrest grill a decent burger and serve it with up chips and a drink. I will cherish my visit to Seacrest for the rest of my life. And as a result of what I leaned there, I've started lobbying with the White House and my Senators to stop these beautiful animals from becoming extinct. read more

If you like dogs and want to learn about your dog's ancestors, whether it is a poodle or a Pekingnese, be prepared to be amazed. Driving down the bumpy, dirt road, you can feel your senses heighten before you even get to the preserve. Wood cut-outs of wolves subtley let you know that you have arrived in their territory, and down the long 3-log fencing, you're just not sure if a wolf might suddenly appear. But if you drive a bit further, you'll see the formal ranch-style gate opening to Seacrest, with more wooden wolf cut-outs beckoning you to come down the driveway to the cabin. And your heart beats a little faster, because you see now, there are woods all around - this is no zoo - no cages - so where are the wolves? At the cabin, people who arrived before you may be lingerng on the steps, browsing the wolf memorabilia inside, or anticipating the beginning of the tour, nt knowing what to expect. You pay a fee (I think around $15) and when everyone is ready, a short explanation on how the preserve came into being is presented, as well as precautions to take when entering the woods. The woods *are* enclosed, but the area is so massively ensconced with trees and nature that you cannot possibly call these 'cages'. You simply walk lightly through fenced woods so big, that if you wandered away, it would be easy to forget that there was any enclosure. The owners give advice on how to behave once insode the animals' territory - DEFINITELY stick to it. They will tell you how to get the wolves to approach you if you want to touch them, that some may try to nibble on ponytails, some are theives and will steal wallets, cameras, etc. Children can enter most parts of the woods except where Minqua, a huge, rowdy wolf leads his pack. He's just too big, and he's a thief. He knocked me down (no harm done) and although I held my camera close, after a few minutes of petting and rubbing he turned behind me and snatched the camera out of my hand and raced back to the den with it. The caretakers threw pieces of deer meat to him to distract him and thankfully got my camera back, although with some bitemarks in it. You can take your picture sitting on one of the dens with wolves around you. They aren't really tame, but not really wild. Your adrenaline will stay up while you are there. And when you hear their haunting chorus calling each other across the land from pack to pack in the famous 'a-woooooooo-ahhhhhhhhhh' howling, to wolves they can't see, and the other wolves respond back, miles away, it's a sound you won't likely be able to shake from your soul quickly. Go now to Seacrest. Drop whatever you are doing and reserve a spot for the next tour. Seriously, like, now. read more

See all

This is probably one the coolest experiences I have had in a while. I love being able to interact with different animals that yo don't normally see and getting to learn more about them and that is happening with them. With that in mind, I found out about this place from my hair dress, who I have to go give a big thank you to for telling me about this. First and foremost, don't forget to call to make a reservation so they can tell you about the restrictions. it's very important for you to follow the clothing and camera restrictions because it can negatively affect the wolves. Also so they can give you directions to get over there on a paved road, cause if not, i'm sure, you're in for a bumpy ride. Interaction with the wolves is guaranteed and I loved it. The wolves themselves are extremely friendly and not threatening or give any reason to be worried about your children or anything like that. They also have a small animal pen to sit and pet foxes, groundhogs and skunks. It is amazing and I can't wait to develop my camera to see the pictures I took. The only thing is if you decide to buy the pictures the volunteers take their at the preserve, be prepared to wait, it can take a long while for you to get at them and buy them. That was the only part of the experience that could be improved on. But if you're patient, it's lovely and you get great shots with the wolves and your whole party. I will definitely be doing that again when I have a chance. read more

Had a great tour!! I was surprised by how big the tour groups are- but the information that was provided to us was fun to learn and of course getting to interact with the wolves was like no other. I'd recommend paying for the picture package to actually get to touch one of the wolves- our group was so big that the only time we were close enough was during our picture. Totally worth it!! read more

I've been a fan of wolves all my life so I wanted to visit Seacrest as soon as I heard about it. On one hand, today was not an ideal day to visit. I felt bad for the staff and volunteers. They were overwhelmed with the number of visitors and had to turn a lot of people away, still leaving us in a group of 300+ people. On top of that they had technical difficulties with their credit card system etc. Hard day for them. But wife and I just remained as patient as possible and it was SO worth it. We had a one-of-a-kind experience with wolves that were so affectionate towards us that I had to keep reminding myself these were not domesticated dogs. Wife and I were face-licked and nibbled and climbed over by arctic and gray wolves both before the day was done. We got to pet a skunk and play a little with raccoons, an arctic fox, and a gray fox. If you love animals or you're a dog lover, this is a can't-miss experience. But you need to go into it with the right attitude. A lot of people who were there were very impatient, and thought the rules shouldn't apply to them for some reason. We plan to return for the VIP experience. read more

Spent 5 hours there on Saturday. The first hour or so was good when we were actually in the enclosure with the pack of wolfs. Then there was a break so people could go back to the snack bar and bathrooms. After the break everyone was brought into another enclosure for the opportunity watch those that had bought the $20 photo package get there photo taken with four wolfs. After that one last wolf enclosure with the Arctic wolfs for about an hour. Then the small animal experience where there were skunks, foxes, a hedgehog for the kids to play with and feed. This was the only part of the preserve where you could use you digital camera. I think we would have had a better time with if there had been less people. Overall a fun time just took about 5 hours. read more

Fantastic tour! We did the $35 tour, and it was plenty of interaction with the wolves. They come up and get personal, looking for back and belly rubs. My wife was even fortunate enough to have her face licked by the gray wolves for a good moment. I would seriously recommend to anyone who loves wolves. Great interaction, and great information from the tour guides! read more

Great experience! Worth every penny! The staff and volunteers do a fantastic job on the tour. They are very knowledgeable and obviously love giving their guests an outstanding experience. The tour definitely exceeded our expectations. One of the best birthday gifts I have ever received. We highly recommend the private tour. read more

I am compelled to respond to some of the negative, misinformed, and displaced angry comments (yes I am a psychologist). I visited Seacrest Wolf Preservation today with my husband...it has been a dream of mine for over a year since I heard that a wolf preserve relatively near me even existed! We had a miscommunication with our reservationist (these things happen, and we did not exclude ourselves that we could've been part of the miscue)...despite this, we were greeted by very helpful, knowledgeable volunteers, staff, and our pleasure and honor to speak with Cynthia, the founder of this nonprofit organization to help these magnificent creatures. I implore you to read my responses to some of the claims made even very recently by patrons and visitors of Seacrest Wolf Preserve. I want to mention and make very clear that I have no vested interest, nor any intention to benefit from my comments here (despite the white haired beard man who commented that I was "that lady who b*llsh*itted* my way into the tour" even though we put down our deposit for the private tour, standed in line to pay for the public tour, flew down from our town, rented a car...this man knew nothing of our situation and what we have given and intend to give this preserve...Mister, I hope you find peace within yourself that is void of envy and passive aggressive vengeance...say it to my face next time. That shows more courage.) "...not equipped to handle the the volume of people"--- Miss, this is a PUBLIC tour that you paid $25 for education, interaction with wild wolves, and more than 4 hours (the breaks are for your benefit, the staff, and the wolves...) "...took a week to make my reservation"--- K, entitlement problems...try to make a reservation for something like this anywhere else in the world...I can't even get my patients into a psychiatrist in the most critical times without at least a three month wait...perspective. "...very hot weather"--- your choice...go during a cooler season. Not their problem. "...distracted by everyone's disposable camera clicks"--- Sorry your personal problem. Try meditation...it works wonders to discipline your mind and emotional responses for a low threshold to benign noises... "...none of the photos were to our satisfaction"...well these aren't selfies, so you can't erase and find "your best angle", wolves don't cooperate because they are wild animals, or maybe no angle in the unforgiving daylight will portray you to your liking...I'm sure you can use photoshop to make it FaceBook worthy...just takes a little effort on your part. "...overly conservative comments"...well, actually wolves are a community based species that are cooperative in raising their offspring, much like the mentality "it takes a village to raise a child", and the staff member speaking referenced this saying that humans could learn and benefit from how wolves socially interact and support and help one another without GENDER defined roles...in fact, many of the Omega Uncles tend to be the most nurturing members of the pack because SURVIVAL is the main focus, which prioritizes their roles and duties. If you have an issue acknowledging that males do contribute and have an internal part in human and animal societies and child rearing, you twisted the senitment the staff speaker intended (I'm forced to speak in binary terms bc of the accusations involved). "...drove home in a miserable state, angry about everything"--- oh, but what about the 5 stars you gave to the wolves and the interaction (wasn't that what you were there for?) and the positive things you said about the experience...don't talk out both sides of your mouth...and please don't cyber stalk me a boil my bunny. You paid $25 ( which is not even nearly enough to run a facility like this! The family that started this has probably given so much of their own personal resources, time, blood, sweat and tears). Shift your perspective on a once in a life time experience to interact and have the honor to be in the presence of these magnificent creatures. "....really long, over 4 hours"---again, you paid $25...be grateful. The best gift someone can give you is their time...but you also got education, an experience that is undoubtably priceless, and its NONPROFIT organization...If you truly love wolves, 10, 20 hours would fly by. "...more like a puppy mill"---You didn't listen and/or comprehend what they were telling you...they said they keep two per litter to return to the pack (which if they were money hungry they wouldn't do, and they care bc, wolves of both genders ESPECIALLY the males, get very very excited about new additions to the pack, so much so they come and visit the den even though they are not allowed near until they can get a glimpse of the pups)...the others go to reputable conservatories that can accommodate more wolves. I'm sure SCWP has a cap due to budget and actual land space for them. Watch documentaries and do your research before your make defamatory comments. read more

My sister recommended this place, We have a nearby wolf preserve but nothing like this! If you want to complain about the wait, the weather, ANYTHING AT ALL, then don't go. If you want to experience the ULTIMATE LOVE, ULTIMATE PEACE, ULTIMATE SOULFUL PEACEFUL HARMONIZING ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE, THEN GO. And don't you dare complain about anything. This woman and deceased husband gave up their lives to fulfill their destiny in this preserve, to teach about wolves, to hand-feed every two hours and raise wolves before their tiny eyes open, to OPEN our human eyes to the injustice of these fascinating creatures! Wolves are better than humans, want to know why? Go visit. Go learn. Listen, Watch. These are WILD wolves. yes they are exposed to humans, however, they are still WILD. Watch them as they watch you. DON'T expect to pet them like dogs. DON'T expect them to come up to you to be petted. DON'T expect them to interact with you at all. IF the wolves DO ALLOW you touch them, be still and be in AWE. IF the wolves allow you to interact with them, please know YOU are the stranger in their home. Treat them with respect. Treat the instructors with respect. Treat everyone you encounter with respect. This is truly a God Send to all people. My husband had the pleasant experience of one of the wolves attempting to pull off his ponytail and then went for his covered orange/black shoelaces as we were sitting on the ground listening to one of the keepers. After the wolf interaction, we were able to hold and snuggle with skunks, personally, I've always wanted a skunk, and this was my first time holding one, I squealed and cried in happiness. There were other critter interactions, one of the foxes kept bringing me her toy to throw and she would hover at my crossed legs for a moment. The animals are well cared for and well loved. DO THE PUPPY INTERACTION, EAT WELL (IT IS CHEAP AND GOOD!), STAY HYDRATED, WEAR WHAT THEY TELL YOU, TUCK IN YOUR SHOELACES, BE QUIET-LISTEN, AND IF YOU CAN GET A PERSONAL BOOKING (they stay booked, so call early!), we were only passing thru, so we did the Saturday public tour and I am forever grateful!!!! YES private tours are hard to come by, Saturday tours stay booked and we were lucky to have got it! NOT difficult to contact, leave your name and number, they called me back immediately! These people are NOT paid to work here! They work here because they love the animals. LIKE I STATED BEFORE, IF YOU'RE A COMPLAINER OF ANYTHING, DON'T GO. IF YOU LOVE WOLVES, ANIMALS, AND NATURE, GO, GO, GO, GO......My husband and I plan on a private tour in the future. Yes, we will be back! read more

My 8 year old self was overwhelmed with happiness!! This was my childhood (and lets be honest...my adulthood) dream come true!! We did the VIP visit, and it was worth every penny! We had a personal visit (just the 4 of us), and had the wolves all to ourselves, a provided photographer (make sure you bring a nice camera with enough memory for 500 photos), and could ask them all of our questions (which we had more than plenty). If you can afford it, and get the day off (they only do VIP visits on weekdays) DO IT. It will just be you and your family/friends up to 10 people....the Saturday visit can be up to 150 people. Extremely informative and interactive...couldnt ask for more :) We plan to go back next summer for another VIP visit. read more

One of the most amazing experiences of our life! We'll definitely come back! Wish we lived closer so we could volunteer.

My family and I went this past Saturday. We were able to make my youngest daughters dream come true, we got to pet wolves. The staff was amazing, and they were all really passionate about the work that they do. I do not think there is another place in the world like this. They even made sure we all were in a photo together with their what they call their babies, and there was quite a crowd, but they knew it would mean so much to each of us.We learned a great deal and it an experience we will never forget. I would highly, highly, highly recommend this to any family or person read more

The wolves are absolutely amazing but the owner is honestly the most hateful and disrespectful person to her staff and volunteers, its embarrassing. And it's not that she has a bad day here and there it's sadly All the time and it's not right. Those people work hard doing back breaking work caring for the wolves and Noone deserves to be spoken down to like Ms. Watkins does her staff and volunteers who many are military. This is supposed to be a place of healing. Sad. read more

Amazing experience getting to see wolves. When I went - the cubs were being introduced to their new pack. The cubs were bigger than my 65 lbs dog lol. I would recommend going - but make sure you check the weather and also plan staying for the whole day to see the small animal enclosure. read more

Amazing experience and wonderful volunteers. Love this place and the wolves are perfect.

Tried to enjoy the day in spite of many obstacles. It's very chaotic and disorganized. The tour is REALLY long, over 4 hours. I was under the impression it was a rescue facility, but in fact it's more like a puppy mill. The wolves are bred just to be used in facilities like this. They call it "educational" but it's really more of a platform for their obsession. Don't know how qualified any of the volunteers are. It's basically a glorified petting zoo run by very passionate people. Be prepared to be preached at about how little the rest of the world is doing for these animals. I'm not saying they are wrong, but I didn't come here to listen to a political agenda. That being said, there are some really cool opportunities with fairly wild animals. read more

Awesome experience to see these amazing animals in a setting that's similar to their natural habitat. It's a volunteer only non profit organization so you could tell the people loved what they do. A volunteer did get bit by a fox while feeding him so it's important to remember all the animals are wild. read more

We had one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives here.......the owner was a very friendly woman, who came and talked to us the day we left and even let us take pictures with her beautiful dog........the whole experience was something I will never forget and if given the chance to go there again will be very happy too do. The wolves though certainly wild are friendly but not pets, the love and care they are given is wonderful.. you learn from the tour how they live and are cared for. They are a non-profit organization and make nothing off of the wolves they care for.....if you go there dont expect too be living in a fancy hotel, its open and there are campsites but also flys too bug you and ants too share your picnic with, spiders live there too as it is wooded, so be prepared.....its real camping at its best so relax and enjoy it. read more

There is NO question about it -- if you're anywhere near the Florida panhandle this is a MUST-DO activity. This place is in the middle of nowhere, but it's beautiful and the facility volunteers and coordinators are some of the most passionate people you will ever meet. You actually explore the enclosures WITH the wolf packs milling around the group. I felt very safe the entire time and the wolves do not seem exploited at all. This is a solid educational facility and you will learn a great deal about the wolves. Note: This is an educational facility/experience. Each location will include a few minutes discussing wolves, their habitats, and the dangers/threats they face today. To anyone complaining about the educational elements, suck it up. This isn't just a petting zoo. This event is good for children 8+ (need to be able to listen to instructions and sit still during educational discussions). They are very responsive on Facebook. Message them with questions, and definitely ask for directions. Google Maps will take you through many odd back roads. Here's a GREAT overview by a YouTube team that was creating a video while we were there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRTTMNr10u8 Tours are held every Saturday. You should call in advance so they know to expect you, especially if you're with a group. You can enter the facility at 1100 but must be there no later than noon. Dress in comfortable outdoor wear and closed shoes. Read their website fully -- they do a good job telling you how to dress for a successful visit. Bring a disposable camera -- those are the only type allowed inside the enclosures as the wolves may grab-and-go. It happened with a hat or two :) On that note, you will not enter with anything really besides yourself and your disposable camera, but they take a break between each enclosure so you can run to your car easily. They also sell disposable cameras on-site. They have a small snack pavilion that grills up a tasty picnic burger. Be prepared to make this a half day event, and perhaps follow it up with an evening in Panama City. read more

Honesty and education, when it comes to wildlife in the US is in trouble. It is so important to support these good people!

We visited today for the first time and took the VIP tour. It was great! We had lots of time to interact with the wolves in their areas. We didn't feel rushed at all or treated like a random customer who they needed to shove through the tour. Our guide, Troy, did his first ever tour with us, and he was fantastic! Very prepared and definitely knowledgeable. Took the time to answer our questions and made sure we had the best time. Staff member Nancy came with us and she was delightful and took some awesome photos for us. You can tell all of the staff members and volunteers really love the animals in their care. Everyone made us feel welcome. Highly recommend this tour and can't wait to come back. read more

Great educational trip for my kids. The owners are passionate about the preservation of the wolf species and so am I now.

Don't waste your time or money!! You start off by waiting forever for the tour to start with large ant beds everywhere. Then Wayne gathers everyone around for his 30 minute speech on politics and the white plague which is basically a reference to how much humans suck, individually and as families. I heard several times about the fact that they were a 501 C3 nonprofit organization. That apparently means that you can state any opinion you have and disguise it as a fact. Any one of the people in my group could've got up and presented more accurate wolf facts than they did. read more

I wish I could give them more stars, this place has amazing potential. The experience with the wolves is amazing and one of a kind! The reason I gave them two stars is because they are not equipped to deal with the volume of people they take on. It took me a week just to make the reservation. It is very difficult to get them on the phone. When you arrive You have to buy your ticket in a tiny absolutely packed gift shop. We waited a very long time in very hot weather for the tour. They take you into 3 different wolf packs. The second wolves were my favorite but I wasn't able to interact with them much at all. The wolves are walking up begging for attention. They ask you not to pet them until everyone gets a professional photo taken. They herd the wolves all up on the den and try to get them to pose for every photo. The photos take absolutely forever and do not really seem fair for the wolves who just want to be pet. There were over 100 people we had to wait on them to get 10 pics of each group posing in front of the wolves. When they were finally done I was all excited to finally get to interact with my favorite wolf pack, but the volunteers just herded us like a bunch of cattle on to the next enclosure. We did get to pet a wolf for a few seconds but it wasn't quite as much interaction as expected. Due to the large number of people there was lots of waiting around doing nothing. It began to feel a bit like wasted time. It took us 5 hours to get to the third pack. We were so exhausted that we didn't make it to the small animal part of the trip. I wish they would do several small groups and keep things moving so you can get to all of the exhibits within a reasonable amount of time. I don't recommend this place to anyone who doesn't do well with crowds, is claustrophobic or has has a low level of patience. I would plan to spend ALL day there and I would not go during the summer. Maybe fall or early spring. It's just too hot to be in jeans for hours on end in the sun just waiting on the tour to start! This is a wonderful place that truly loves their wolves but it would generate more profit to benefit the wolves if they had a business minded person involved in management. read more

The level of interaction you get with the wolves is unbeatable, but the experience itself was a nightmare. Before I even talk about the tour, I need to talk about the photo policy. You're only permitted a disposable camera (no phones), I'm assuming because they want you to buy their professional photo. I had to go to 3 stores to even find one, and the only way to develop the pictures was to mail the camera in which would take 3-4 weeks. During the tour, I was distracted by the constant click-click-click of everyone winding their cameras. Everyone was taking multiple photos of the same thing because they had no way of seeing if the first one came out alright like you can on a phone. Let's say you give in and just buy the professional photo. They take this photo in the middle of the tour, and the only way to buy it is to visit the office after the tour and wait in an EXTREMELY long line where the process works as such: when you get to the employee at the ONE computer, she scrolls through hundreds of pictures until she finds your party. You choose which pictures you like, and she copies them onto THUMB DRIVE which you pay $30 for and take home. Are you kidding?? Don't they realize how much time, money and frustration they could save everyone if they just simply email or deliver the photos in some other digital format? Many of the groups spent minutes looking through their photos, and the actual copyover of the photos onto the thumb drive was a lengthy process in itself. We were the 6th party in line and waited a total of 45 MINUTES when we were already frustrated from the tour, tired from driving 5 hours there that morning, and hungry for dinner... only to get to the computer and see that none of our photos were to our satisfaction. We were just infuriated by this point. Now, onto the tour itself. We called ahead to make a reservation, but it seemed like anyone could've shown up as no one ever asked for our names. There were at least 60 people in our group - too many for the employees to handle and too many to enjoy the tour. It started with a long lecture about the wolves. A few tidbits of useful information but mostly it felt like a sales pitch and everyone was getting antsy to start the tour and actually see the wolves. The first enclosure starts with another long spiel with a lot of "I don't have time to tell you this whole story, but..." followed by the telling of the whole story. There were many times throughout the entire tour when the overtly conservative employees said things about female wolves that they compared to women (things like "women can raise children all they want but nothing takes the place of the male presence in the home" etc). I felt very uncomfortable and offended at these kinds of remarks. The wolves themselves are amazing. They came around to each person for pets. I would give the wolves 5 stars. There was just an excessive amount of talking, and most times we couldn't see or hear the employee. By the time we got to the picture portion, everyone was restless. We got into a long line to get our pictures taken with the wolves (who were standing above us on a structure). This was an awful experience. I was looking forward to coming back home with a picture of myself interacting with a wolf, Many groups got pictures of the wolves licking their faces, but when my party got to the wolves, every time we tried turning towards the wolves for a face-lick the photographer yelled at us. "FACE FORWARD. SMILE AT THE CAMERA." Ok, but that is not the kind of picture I want. I can photoshop myself standing in front of a wolf and smiling anywhere. Let me do the poses and faces that I want to do if you expect me to pay $30 for a picture. After we got our pictures taken, we waited another 30 minutes to an hour for the rest of the group to take theirs. After this fiasco, we went over to the Arctic wolves, got another long lecture, and then FINALLY it was time to go to the small animal enclosures, where, :gasp: we could use our phones! Oh, but wait! Now the sun has set and nobody can take any good pictures because it's too dark! How convenient! There were many small animals I wanted to see, but because it was so late the employees pretty much told us to pick one animal to sit and learn about and there wasn't any time to see the rest. After that, jump back to the top of my review for the "waiting-in-line-to-see-our-pictures" part and you get a pretty good idea of how our day went. When I called to reserve my spot and asked what time I could expect to be done, they told me 4:30. It was 6:30 by the time we left. We just drove the 5 hours back home in such a miserable state, angry about everything. This place needs to offer digital photos that can be emailed to you at a later time, shorten the talking time, ease up on the conservative comments, cap the tours at maybe 10-20 people and just catch up with the times in general. read more

The group we were with on a Saturday was waaaaaay too big by probably 50-70 people. The first two hours of the tour consisted of mainly sitting on the ground, which is fine, but minimal wolf interaction. Because the group was so large, a lot of people had a hard time hearing the woman leading the group, even with a microphone on!!! I gave three stars because I did, in the end, get to pet a couple wolves, however brief it was, and get some great photos, as well as play with some cuddly raccoons and some adorable skunks. It was an experience I'll I'll probably never do again unless they limit the group size down to about a max of 50. But for only $25, it was fun. read more

We visited the reserve for my birthday and were so disappointed. They told us to be there 45 minutes early to basically stand around in the cold. And there was such a large group (100 or so people) and we were forced to wait in the cold while people paid for pictures. It seemed like a ploy to get people to pay for something before playing with the wolves. Like being held hostage at Disney world. We didn't even receive knowledgeable information about the wolves while waiting and we weren't even allowed to leave the gait to get warm. We finally demanded to be released after paying $20 to watch wolves and over $100 in the gift shop. They should have split the group into 2 and allowed people to actually learn something. I have done 2 years of americorps and thousand of hours of community service and this is just a poorly run non profit. The wolves did seem well taken care of and I am so happy to see that, but not appreciating paying customers will only damage the chances to help these wolves. read more

I will not support this place and wish that others who really and truly love dogs and wild animals would not either, not while the philosophy of the place is to make money by doing whatever it takes, regardless of the status of the animals. It is run with the old attitudes about animals that dominated the zoos of long ago. I've been a serious dog rescuer for about 40 years and have studied wolves, and raised one hybrid from a pup (he was abandoned), and have visited other wolf preserves where you would NEVER be able to interact with the animals. That is the way it should be. "In wildness is the preservation of the world." - Thoreau. No, it's not "wilderness." It's wildness. read more

Did the VIP tour. So much fun! The wolves are pretty friendly but the younger ones are pups so think huge pups that don't know their own strength yet. Some of the older ones are a bit more cautious and others just want to mush all over you. We also visited with the foxes Definitely worth the drive! read more