Tennessee Safari Park At Hillcrest

I’ve never been to a drive thru safari so I do not have anything to compare this visit to but I had a great time. It was fun feeding the animals and getting to be that close to them. We had a lot of laughs and excitement! I took 1 star away from my review because after the drive thru part was over we had questions about the «petting zoo» side and we weren’t able to find enough staff to answer questions. Other than that, we had a great time! Our next visit we will buy more buckets of food because we ran out by the end and we weren’t able to feed the buffalo very much and didn’t get to feed the camels at all. :(I recommend coming here at least once if you haven’t! :)

Beautifully kept, amazing animals all well cared for. Staff was excellent, the pretty blonde lady at the ticket drive up was so friendly and kind enough to share advice on our travels! Great park, cannot stress enough how fun it was! Get two buckets of feed… Or the camels will be sad!
Onward to Memphis and Las Vegas!

ABSOLUTELY the funniest thing we’ve done so far. Staff was friendly and thorough with the directions and animals. The facility is clean and very well put together. The animals were absolutely hilarious. The white ostrich things were a bit of savages when it came to feeding, the animals know what your going when you drive up so watch out some will run with the car, chase the cR, or run too you to get some grub.
Other than that we had a hilarious encounter and even got to pet some animals! So kid friendly as well. Our 4 year old and 1 year old absolutely enjoyed it.

About two hours west of Nashville you’ll find a family-​owned refuge for over 100 rare and endangered species. The Tennessee Safari Park in Alamo, Tennessee has a 2+ mile drive-​thru safari where you can come face to face and feed deer, antelope, wildebeest, ostrich, emu, and bison! The ostrich/emu’s are pretty aggressive but they are harmless — they’re just looking for the feed in your bucket! Once finishing the drive-​thru safari don’t stop there! They also have a walk-​thru zoo! Quick tip: Check out the gift shop and for just a $ 1 get a cup of carrot sticks to feed Jerry the giraffe right out of your hand :) This day trip is an affordable way to support a family-​owned business and learn about this family’s long history in wildlife conservation. $ 12/​adult $ 8/​children

Cannot say enough good things about this place! Awesome detour from Memphis to Nashville. Almost too reasonably priced. So many animals, a great petting zoo, gift shop and cute grounds.

This place is great fun. Where else can you feed animals from your car! [warning, this part gets messy!] Awesome for kids AND adults alike. It is not far off the interstate so it would be a fun way to break up a long ride, if you are on 1 – 40 for a trip. Beware of the buffalo!

Bring your kids here! Awesome experience. I have brought my 3 year old twice and will continue to do it every year. The animals come into the car to get the food you are holding in buckets. They are use to people and will let you pet them. It is the coolest and kids love it! Can’t say enough. Your vehicle will be a complete mess but hey all in the name of FUN!

The absolute best part of a vacation to the Memphis area. Located a few minutes outside Jackson, TN. What a fun, surprising place to visit!
I am still in awe over the huge assortment of animals in the drive thru park. How many people have hand the opportunity to feed a bison with their lovely gentle looking eyes?
The ostriches and emus are a bit aggressive, but won’t hurt you, They just want the feed.
You”get the opportunity to see so many different types of animals. They all look well cared for.
We plan on taking a trip from the St. Louis area just to visit this zoo again.

This place is pretty cool for a short day trip, like on a Sunday afternoon. The kids absolutely love it. As other reviews have stated, be prepared to hose out the car after you leave, it can be quite a scene. Be aware also, the ostriches there can be quite agressive. No one got hurt or anything, but it scared my youngest daughter when they just kept coming and coming. I had to start rolling the window up a bit to get them at bay. I prefer going to the memphis zoo, but this a great alternative to making an extra 45 minute drive from Jackson.

Really enjoyed this place a lot. Fed a bunch of different animals and had a nice conversation with a person who worked at the park. She mentioned several new plans in the works for the park and it seems like the park is going in the right direction! They are a breeding park and as such they supply Zoos around the country with animals. They also take in older animals that have been retired from he zoos. All the animals seemed to be well cared for and happy. We are planing a return trip with others.

Great experience. We went with our cousins who live nearby and loved that you could drive through and feed the animals. You definitely should splurge for at least a bucket of feed per person because the animals go through it. The admission price was reasonable at only $ 12 per person. Much cheaper than similar parks (without the feed) in California. If you are thinking about it – GO!
Oh, and bring a car that you don’t mind getting seed all over the floor. Those ostriches are messy.

What a fun, surprising place to visit, for kids and adults! Well worth the drive. To address a ding-​bat comment already posted, it isn’t the San Diego Zoo; it’s in rural Tennessee. Highly recommend!

Please know that this is no San Diego Zoo. This is a family-​owned West TN drive-​thru petting zoo, with a little spot to get out and pet animals, feed them, and go home.
That said, we had about 45 minutes to do this whole zoo before heading home to Memphis, and we only drove through the safari portion of the park. Upon entering the park, we were flagged down by a family exiting, and they gave us their 3 leftover tubs of food (I paid them $ 5, a discounted rate). My children, 5 and 7 didn’t know what they were seeing. We rolled down the windows, and were instantly greeted at the entrance grate by an aggressively hungry ostrich, who pecked at my son’s bucket for a good few minutes! Not all of the animals were hungry, but the ones that were certainly tried their best to get to that food, even popping their heads into the car! To move forward, pull the food in, and start slowly driving forward.
We went on to feed ostrich, emu, deer, the beautiful addax, and some llamas. The cute little piglets couldn’t reach the doors, but added to the scenery. The park houses some «Endangered in the wild» and protected animals, so they are doing their part to aid in animal conservancy as well as providing a great service to their customers.
Moms, this is a great play date! Plan to bring your dustbuster, because your car will be FULL of animal pellets.

This here redneck zoo promises to entertain and educate. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it would feel like to climb over the fence and in with the animals, then come on down to the Safari Park and learn. Grown men will scream like little girls when attacked by hungry ostriches. Llamas and cows will try to jump in the car with you. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget!

Absolutely a little gem in West Tennessee. If you’re driving through Jackson you will see the billboards for Tennessee Safari. If you have kids, don’t blow it off or miss it or you will regret it.
This is «We Bought a Zoo» come to life. Set off about 15 miles off I-​40 this is more than a zoo, it’s an experience. You will be asked if you want to buy feed buckets, your answer is yes! You’ll get 4 buckets for $ 10 and if you don’t get them why bother.
As you drive through the safari you will be met instantly by Camels, Water Buffaloes, Rheas, Emus, Buffalos, Deer, Ibex, Oryx, Llamas, and more. These animals come right to your car and eat out of the buckets. Beware they WILL reach into your car and make a HUGE mess, but nothing a quick vacuums won’t fix! We had a GREAT EXPERIENCE petting these animals that otherwise we would never pet in a zoo or petting zoo.
The walking zoo is nothing special outside of the Giraffe who you can feed carrots to for $ 1 and is friendly and VERY accessible for petting. The monkeys an Wallabies are fun too but as this zoo grows my hope is that they will expand the walking exhibits.
Restrooms on site but no real food options so bring your own picnic. Reasonably priced and again worth the experience. Again if you don’t buy the feed buckets you’ll miss out on all the fun of the Safari!