Bearizona Wildlife Park

Bearizona Wildlife Park in Williams, Arizona is one of the most unique wildlife experiences in the American Southwest — a 160-acre drive-through safari where families stay in their own vehicles as North American wildlife roams freely around them. Black bears, bison, bighorn sheep, gray wolves, javelinas, and white-tailed deer move through large naturalistic habitats while visitors watch from their car windows, often with animals coming within an arm's reach.

The drive-through section takes approximately 30-45 minutes and is followed by the Fort Bearizona walk-through section, where additional animals are housed in well-designed enclosures that visitors explore on foot. The combination of both sections creates a 3-4 hour experience that covers a remarkable range of North American wildlife.

The drive-through format is particularly effective with children for a counterintuitive reason: the complete lack of barriers between family and animal creates genuine wildlife encounter energy. When a black bear pauses and looks directly at your car, or a bison leans against your vehicle, the experience moves from 'zoo visit' into something more akin to wildlife photography in the wild — an experience that children find genuinely exciting rather than routine.

Bearizona operates its own rescue and rehabilitation programs, giving the park a conservation mission beyond entertainment. Many of the animals in residence have been rescued from situations where return to the wild was not possible.

The park is located in Williams, AZ, about one hour north of Sedona via Interstate 17 and I-40. Williams' high elevation (6,770 feet) keeps temperatures comfortable even in summer when Phoenix-area parks can become oppressively hot. The town's historic Route 66 main street offers excellent family dining options after the park visit.