big joel's safari

We took our grand kids and they loved it. The workers were friendly. The cost was affordable at $5.00 a person. Lots of animals to see and feed. We had a blast.

Took my grandchild to see some farm animals. What a fun day. They have all the petting zoo, farm ,even exotic animals to see and touch. Camel ride, bouncy house, and tractor ride. The place is very clean, and the animals look healthy and well cared for. Next spring, we will get a season pass.

This is a great place for young children. They love to feed the animals and get to be real close to them. This is a small safari that makes it nice to keep an eye on the kids. It is kept clean and everyone is very friendly.

Went here for the first time today...wish we would have gone sooner! It's such a fun petting zoo type place with exotic animals. You can hand feed many of the animals. I'm an animal lover and LOVED this place! We met the owner Big Joel and he was very nice and friendly, just out interacting with the guests. Will definitely visit again.

Hello JandM44We are sorry we are just now getting back to your post. We are also sorry about the awful smell that you encountered. That was actually our North American Porcupine named Tom-Tom. His enclosure is next to the alligator exhibit. That is his natural scent and even though we think it is awful too, his lady friends really seem to like it. We are taking your review seriously here at Big Joel's Safari and will be trying to find a new, less centralized location for Tom-Tom and his friends. He is definitely nice to look at and interact with, however his smell does seem to be a problem. Thank you for your post and please spread the word about Big Joel's Safari.

Plenty of animals to see, several to pet as well. Also; camel rides! A great deal for the price. Wonderful place for kids from walking age to teen age.

We visit Joel's Safari at least once a year. Our grandkids love it. The animals are fun to watch and feed! There is shade and places to just sit and enjoy!

This is a great place to go with family, especially those with little kids. You can buy a cup of animal food to feed the animals. The kids get up and close with the animals to pet them and give food. Good variety of animals including peacocks. All the the animals are well cared for. It's a little far rural from St. Louis, but worth it for reasonable prices and close encounter. Lots of gravel areas for walking, were comfy shoes and carry hand sanitizer. There is a wash sink (non potable water though), bring your own water.

Me and my wife took our 1 year old here since she can feed the animals here. Driving there wasn't too bad since it was almost all highways until you get to the Wright City exit and then it's only about 10 minutes from the exit. Soon as you pull up you can see many of the animals from the parking lot. Parking is free. Admission was $5 per person and it's free for children under 2. In the office they have some snakes and birds in cages the you can look at just like at a zoo. A large cup of food to feed the animals is $4 and you get to keep the cup so if you visit again you just have to pay to refill the cup. They also offer a smaller cup of food. As you walk out of the office into the park they have a map showing you what animals are in the park and where they are at. Some of the animals such as Bison,Elk and Ostrich you had to put food through a tube for them to eat since they might bite you. You can feed Emu's, Camels, Llama's, goats, pigs, miniature horses, deer, donkey's and they had a Zedonk( half donkey, half zebra). They also have peacocks, turtles, alligators, rabbits, a lemur, and alpaca that you can look at. Camels rides are $5 but we didn't have time to do this before we left but we did see people do it and it looked fun. You walk back into the office to leave and they have a small gift shop with stuffed animals and t shirts to buy. We all had lots of fun and will definitely do this again and take others with us.

Many of the animals can be fed by hand as well as petted and my kids, which range from 6 to 14, loved it. There is a wide range of animals - though no big cats or anything like that, which is probably good because that would make me nervous. The animals are clean and well cared for and it is just a nice place to visit if you want to get outdoors and spend time with some critters. The price is great! Allow up to 2 hours for your visit.

Took my kids and nieces & nephews (aged 4 - 13) and we all had a great time. The cost is very reasonable and even the trinkets in the gift shop are inexpensive so we were able to get them all a souvenir. Very clean place & the animals come right up to you at the fence. You can feed many of the animals too. Highly recommend making the drive out--we will go again!

We took visiting friends and family here and were pleasantly surprised by both the variety of animals, and the fact that the owner was walking around to welcome us and tell stories of each of his animals. A baby buffalo was a big attraction, but I got a particular Big Kiss from the friendly camel!! The kids enjoyed feeding the goats and donkey, and even the peacocks put on a welcome display!

This is a great place, the kids loved every minute being there. Reasonably priced and the animals are well cared for. The owner and family are onsite and were very friendly and gave more information about the animals which was an added bonus. I plan to tell anyone who will listen about this place. What a great treasure that is close to home and affordable.

Had a great time. We'll worth it. Very child friendly.Lots of exotic animals. Some can be hand fed.

Loved walking around looking at the animals,some rare.Nice clean place.Very friendly,and not to exspensive.Great place for young kids.Even though it was a little out of the way,the drive was awesome as it is getting fall and the leaves are turning.Loved spending the day at this place with my g-kids.Very nice gift shop,and that too wasn't priced to high.