"See The USA in a Chevrolet Ford"

We drove about an hour and a half today to Eatonville to visit NW Trek Wildlife Park and had a really good time there. This 725-acre park is home to more than 200 animals that are native to the northwest, and many of the animals are there as a result of them having been mistreated or injured.
The park has an area that you walk around and from the paths and overlooks you can see bears, wolves, coyotes, foxes, and cougars. There was also a wetland habitat, which included otter, beaver and fishers. The habitats were all huge and very natural and not like a zoo environment at all. The park, which opened in 1975, is on land that was originally a vacation property of David and Connie Hellyer. They donated their property to Metro Parks Tacoma so that it could be set aside as a wildlife preserve with a commitment to conservation and education, and the park as it is today grew from there.

Studying the map

Cougar

Red Fox

Sleeping wolf

Grizzly Bear

Taking a bath

Spot the coyotes

Black bear

Beaver having lunch

Fisher

Otters taking a nap

Raccoon

Spiky

Badger

Waiting for lunch

Mmmm, tasty

Wolverine

Bald Eagle

Golden eagles

Sunning himself

The majority of the park is taken up by a ‘free-roaming’ area that visitors get to visit by taking a tram ride for about 45 minutes. When we were boarding the tram some caribou came by to send us on our way; or maybe they came by so that papa could show off his huge rack. Then we were off out past the lake and on the tram ride where we saw bison, elk, black tailed deer, and mountain goats. It was very cool trying to spot the different animals and watching them in their natural habitat, the only disappointment was that I didn’t get to see a moose. There are three of them living at the park and we didn’t spot any of them; apparently they are very shy and tend to hang out away from the tram route. I guess I have to continue my quest to see one, or six!

Mike: A truly great experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!