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    Yellowstone Bear World

    3.7 (225 reviews)
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    Updated 3 weeks ago

    Yellowstone Bear World Photos

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    Petting zoo
    Abby H.

    Bear world is always a fun experience. My favorite is driving through the animal enclosures. I love how close you can get to the bears and animals. You can pay $11 per person to go on a tour bus and feed the bears. Highly worth it! $75 a person to feed baby bears however is not. The free petting zoo was great and the homemade fudge is delicious. The rides are hysterically horrible. So glad you don't need to pay for those. And the new dinosaur addition was pretty fun! None of the rides in there worked but my kids liked the moving dinosaurs

    Evee G.

    The thing about this place is that it was not packed, the food was affordable and the rides are free. There's the drive in at the entrance to see all bears and reindeer before the official park. Restroom didn't have toilet paper and two were out of service. Also, two of the rides were out of order as well so maybe not good.

    Jennifer R.

    We loved it! Seeing all the bears along the drive-through path was pretty neat. We also enjoyed the petting zoo, mini amusement park and Jurassic Creek. There is a lot to keep the kiddos entertained for a few hours at least. The gift shop was nicely stocked with a variety of souvenirs. Bathrooms could be better. Overall recommend!

    Some of the locals
    Lyndsay S.

    So hear me out- is this place an expensive tourist trap? Absolutely. Is it also kind of cool? Also absolutely. Is it the kind of place where you sort of feel sorry for the animals, but also see that they seem to enjoy it? Absolutely. Should you come here and see the bears/ do the drive thru? 100% if you are in Idaho Falls or going through to Yellowstone and need a break. Would I advise an annual pass? Probably not. It says "dog friendly" since they have kennels- but for the love of Parvo- leave the pets at home or in the car and do shifts if needed. It's a private zoo, with a decent farm animal Selection and again- good stop if you have restless kiddos on the way to the national parks. Guaranteed to see bears- and the bear cubs wrestling in the petting zoo area was a highlight. Bathrooms- however ATROCIOUS. The kids working had neglected them to the point that the goats smelled better.

    Just a little cub enjoying his afternoon snack
    Amber G.

    Yellowstone Bear World has really stepped up their game since our last visit. The family fun spot has been working on several expansion projects over the last few years and it definitely makes the whole experience feel more complete. Jurassic Creek opened earlier this year (I believe) and it's really fun to walk alongside the life-size dinosaur replicas. We kept thinking about how cool it would've been to have an experience like this as kids! Even as full grown adults, we enjoyed strolling through and learning some new dino-facts. The drive-thru wildlife park is always fun. We drove through right before the animals were gearing up to find a nice shady spot to rest in. It's such an exhilarating experience to have bears right outside of the car, completely unbothered. What we appreciate most is the education Yellowstone Bear World provides about how to decrease your chances of harmful encounters in the wild. As avid campers, we enjoy learning about the animals, their natural habitats, and how we can learn to peacefully coexist. Onsite you'll also find a few amusement rides, a cute gift shop, a petting zoo, and some easy lunch meals. If you plan to visit, I recommend visiting before 1pm. It seems like the animals start getting a little lazy after lunch so it's harder to spot them while they're napping under trees or the far corners of their makeshift homes. Bring your whole family or make it a date - either way, it's a fun time!

    One of the bear cubs rolling around in its pen.
    Seth A.

    Yellowstone Bear World is located in Rexburg, Idaho. I purchased an adult admission ticket online ahead of time. It was $26.95. They are open daily 9am - 6pm. The unquestioned highlight is paying an additional $75 per person to bottle feed bear cubs. When I read bottle feed bear cubs? I thought to myself...YES PLEASE! I'll gladly pay $75. Feeding times are 11am, 2pm and 5pm. Here's the problem...when I went to book a date and time online, every reservation was SOLD OUT. Feedings were sold out a week in advance. Grrrr. It wasn't aligned in the stars for me I guess. Once you get past the entrance gate, you have a choice of either doing the Drive-Thru Safari or heading towards the Visitor Center/Gift Shop where they have the cub bottle feedings, petting zoo and Jurassic Creek. You must enter the Gift Store to gain access to anything else. Exiting through the rear of the store is where you'll find the playpens of the bear cubs. These are the most adorable adolescent cubs. You get close to them without much interference and they're a joy to watch. The cubs are the best part about the experience. There are two playpens and 3 cubs per playpen sitting side by side to each other. I was surprised how energetic they were. They're as playful as it gets and their personalities shined. They interact with each other and you could stand and stare at them being content as a visitor. They have a signup station for the cub feedings (sold out), and for an additional $11.95, you can do the Wildlife Excursion. The Wildlife Excursion is a narrated tour through the Drive-Thru Safari in the park's high rise jeep. So, you can either do the Drive-Thru Safari on your own with the entrance fee ($26.95), or they can "twist your arm" for an extra $11.95 for a 30 minute tour. The jeep is standing only. The tour guide hands you a plate of bread including rolls and buns which you break into pieces and toss out the jeep when they make stops in front of the bears. The bears are familiar with the process. They can be lying down and sleeping but when the white jeep passes around, they know what's coming. They perk up and approach the jeep. But the jeep is so high off the ground you don't come close to actually handing them the bread. It's more like tossing a homerun baseball from the stands back onto the field. The bears could care less who's throwing the bread. They just look down on the ground and start eating. The guide narrates along the way. The whole 30 minute excursion is underwhelming. It's useless to take any pictures because you can simply return to the cub's playpen where the cubs are situated a few feet from you. That leads me to the Drive-Thru Safari on your own. It takes 20 minutes, max. WASTE OF TIME. They specifically review the rules with you before entering. No stopping at any point. But why? I want to get close to the bears! Windows must be up at all points. No feeding. They have patrol cars driving and monitoring you. Speed limit is 3 - 5 miles per hour. I had a car behind me hugging my bumper. There was nowhere to pull off to the side. The bears don't come near your car. They only care about the white tour jeep driving around because they know food's guaranteed. So, the jeep is really a deterrent! The Petting Zoo is beside the bear cub's pen. This had to be the poorest excuse of a petting zoo I have witnessed. There were barely any animals. They had a few goats, 2 pigs, a deer, a baby fawn (that wasn't approachable) and some ducks. And, there's no feeding allowed! So then how are you supposed to encourage them to greet you? Petting Zoo = HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Bottle feeding is the main event. You feed all 6 cubs. They start with the first 3 cubs and move to the next pen and the other 3 cubs. You sit and wait on a bench till you're called. Then you stand there holding the bottle like a human statue or mannequin while the attendant babysits you. You can only pet the cub's head while they're drinking milk. Included in the $75 is one complimentary picture taken by the staff. Being an outside observer, it's as if you're a zombie standing and holding the bottle. There's no genuine connection happening. I was relieved the feeding was sold out. Didn't miss much. Lastly, Jurassic Creek is a walk through section featuring life size dinosaurs. And...they have 3 amusement park rides, a concession stand with picnic tables on the grounds as well. In the end, Yellowstone Bear World missed the mark on many levels. Watching the cubs play in their pens is the only redeeming aspect. Every other detail is like being at an average ole zoo.

    Hog and duck at petting zoo

    Great environment for your children, rides available. Awesome place to see wildlife as an adult! Auri was real informative before we entered the bear section in our truck! Way to go! Can't leave without trying the fudge! The two gals in there had great customer service as well! Bear drool fudge!! -Carlos Melecio

    Janelle A.

    Ok my husband and I just left this place and my honest opinion is ....it was amazing! I did not see any staff members mistreat the animals in anyway they were nothing but caring , respectful and loving towards the animals. My husband LOVES bears and when we found out we could feed baby cubs ...he was all in. The staff with the bear feedings were sweet and loving and very informative with fun facts and answered any questions if anyone had any. The drive through portion had beautiful wildlife there were elk, deer, and bison oh and tons of beautiful bears!! The gift shop was very nice had a lot of souvenirs and some goodies!! If your a fudge person your in for a treat it was GOOD!!! Last but least they have a new awesome attraction about Dinosaurs they just recently opened about 3 weeks ago! It's super cool if your a Dino person. Again, I know everyone's reviews are mixed reviews about this place however, my husband and I had an amazing experience thank you bear world we are happy customers! We will be back :)

    Baby bears!
    Bruce G.

    Great place to visit regardless of your age but also fantastic for family's. Not just a place to see fun bears but also other animals as well and they even have a cute petting zoo. The Jurassic area is extremely educational and fun for all. Looks like next season they will open another shop and a restaurant in the Dino area. Place is extremely clean and the employees are very friendly. Highly recommend a visit.

    Baby bears playing
    Anne L.

    This was an amazing place to take the grandkids. Everything about our day was fabulous. Driving through looking at the bears, bison, deer... very cool. The ohhh and ahhhs made us smile. The Jurassic park was way cool and they are still working on part of it. The kids got to ride on some park rides which was all included in the entrance price. Also saw some baby bears. Went to the petting zoo and then did some shopping in the gift store. Highly recommend especially if you have kids.

    Panting duck, no water.

    The kids liked it. I however was disheartened by the lack supervision over the animals. A bunch of teens working there. I noticed a duck in an enclosure with no water. I asked the worker and he said "it will be fine." It was panting and I don't think any animal should be contained without water in the middle of summer. He called and some lady brought out a cup of water and the worker put it in the enclosure. Not sure when ducks learned to drink from cups, but I guess it's better than nothing! 3 baby bears with no mommas. A baby deer in the petting zoo area, with spots.. no mom? Deer are not appropriate for petting zoos. Getting harassed by little kids all day, not cool. Not sure where they are getting the animals from since there was no education provided. I believe they are breeding them and separating them from their moms. I wish I wouldn't have supported such lack of concern for animals. Skip it! Go see the wild animals who have access to water. I regret this stop. The dinosaur park was dated and the rides didn't work. The amusement park had 5 rides, 2 broken, and one had to limit kids and was smoking! Tenders and fries$19 each. Don't waste your money.

    Bears!
    Hanna K.

    Visited during Labor day weekend. We came in a bus and the tour guide joined us for the ride. The tour starts off by driving through the open area where animals just roamed around. I did not expect to see this many bears and thought it would be more like a zoo but they did not kid around when they named this place Bear World!!! You will see plenty of them!! Even if you don't like animals or the smell of them, you would probably enjoy as you will see them from the comfort of your own car. The animals didn't really approach the car and you must keep your windows up the whole time. You cannot feed the animals while driving through the course (like the other drive-thru safari in TX) but you will get to touch and feed some animals in their petting zoo which was free/included in the fee (animal food are not free). That was nice that they didn't have extra fees for everything. They did have some kiddie ride area too but we did not check out that area of the park. They have a bathroom next to the petting zoo area which were nice and clean (we were the first group of customers for the day though). Their gift shop was a pretty good size and sold delicious fudge (ask for samples!) This place was a pleasant surprise as it was more than I expected.

    Bear happy
    Everett S.

    Wasn't expecting too much because of poor reviews left online, so had a low bar when entering. Ended up being a SUPER cool once in a life time experience that I will share with all friends and family. There was unlimited rounds of going in the main bear loop which featured many animals but most importantly the bears which were able to roam free and enjoy their lives. Inside the park there were 5 main rides, really fun and enjoyable for all ages. There was also a dinosaur exhibit that included many life sized figures. Overall an amazing experience!

    Brown Bear on the safari drive

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    Page 1 of 6

    Ask the Community - Yellowstone Bear World

    Do they tranq mama bears to steal their cubs?

    This spring babies were on display about 3 hours from Bear World. People could watch them playing in cages. I asked the people where the mamas were, and they said that they were in hibernation.

    Can you take pets?

    As long they are in with you , can't be in back of pickup and no convertibles

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Yellowstone Bear World

    And the petting zoo is fun but watch out for the geese they are viscous and will attack you and your children.

    Mentioned in 55 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Yellowstone Bear World - zoos - Updated May 2026

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