Wildlife Prairie Park

This place has really gone down hill. Several years back it seemed to be in better hands and the animals looked healthy. Do not think they are thinking about sustainability here and overall the welfare of the animals and just trying to make a buck. Pretty sad for the animals,.We had to attend a wedding there and spend the day before taking it all in. The place is really not set up or staffed for events and it showed in the poor service and lack luster food. Pretty depressing place overall if you think about it, would think that it needs a benefactor with some money as it has just gone downhill over the years. Pretty sad to see. Would not recommend it for any type of party it just has fallen away from the quality it once was. Needs new mgmt to get in there and save it, animals did not look healthy either. All in all it is time they took a hard look at what they are doing and either put the money into making it nice again, or close it. Pretty sad situation there.

From a photographer’s standpoint, the fence is way to thick or high to get a lot of good shots. Great place to capture images of the big cats, buffalo, and elk. But forget about getting any great shots of the bear or other caged birds. The wire is too thick. Obviously they’d fly away if they weren’t caged but a little plexiglass might help. Now this is an awesome place to walk around in and check out wildlife if you aren’t worried about shooting photos. There are some really nice trails that are cemented and well marked. The wildlife seems to be well treated, too! It’s a very nice place to spend a morning or evening. Don’t go during the afternoon on a hot day as most of the animals will want to hang out in the shade just like we do.

This is a well maintained park with a lot of cool wildlife. On the plus side, it’s very peaceful, not overcrowded, and the grounds are kept up nicely. We stayed in the caboose, and since everyone else there also had young kids who were excited to be sleeping in a train (who else chooses the caboose?) there was a really nice community that developed almost right away, with families sharing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, ball games, BBQ, campfire, and conversation the whole evening.
The cabooses themselves could use some work. Ours smelled horribly like bug spray — Raid, not outdoorsy stuff like Off — which I was not expecting since I expected there to be bugs. It’s in the middle of a state park. But no, these were not park bugs… there were two large half-​dead roaches on the bathroom floor when we arrived. The beds were missing some blankets, a window curtain was down, the bathroom and kitchen areas were sticky, and the vents were caked with visible dust, prompting my oldest to remark, «now you can’t say my room is the dustiest thing you’ve ever seen.» Rustic is what I signed up for, but not so much sub-​par housekeeping.
The only other negative was that the animals were so used to visitors that they just basically stood there, except when the wandered over to see if they could get any food. There’s a decent fence, but you literally do wake up to a field of bison, deer, etc., which is cool but also a little pathetic, if you’re expecting real wild animals… they’re more like very tame zoo animals. Again for the kids, though, if they aren’t used to seeing real wildlife, it’s cool.
If you have children who will remember happily that they slept in a train car for the rest of childhood and beyond, it’s worth the $ 100 or so for a night, but crack open the windows… we all got headaches from the half a can of Raid we breathed in all night.

Wildlife Prairie Park is a very cool place. You can see the love for the animals in all of the employees and volunteers.
My husband and I spent about 3 hours wondering around the park. We were able to see many animals until it started getting too warm for them. I would highly recommend viewing the birds.
Everyone we spoke to was friendly and helpful. I was amazed at the number of volunteers at the facility. The only reason my review is a 4 not a 5 is due to some of the run down conditions that are still visible due to the lack of care by the state. My next visit will be a 5 because the current supervisory group is making great strides to improve the facility for both the guests and the animals.

I learnt about this Park after I visited the Peoria Zoo. This Park is Peoria’s hidden gem. I visited this place by myself. It took me a relaxing 60 minutes of walking to view all the animals.
The Bison + Elk section reminded me of Jurassic Park. I am glad I visited this park on a Wednesday since it was not crowded at all.
They do not have a Howl Night with the Wolves (an experience I took part at a Wolf Preserve in West Lafayette). They have many camp sites and trails for light hiking.
I am very happy since i had the opportunity to see the grey wolves, black bear, cougar, (couldn’t see the Canadian Lynx :(), White Fox (i think), Bobcat was not available for display, Coyote’s, Red Hawk, few Owl’s .
I hope they have many more birds and animals in the future. This is one place I would like to visit in the future.

Growing up in Pekin and loving nature and animals we’ve been to Wildlife Prairie Park many times over the years. As a bonus my wife’s sister married into the family who owned a small farm which Caterpillar bought as part of their proving grounds.
When they started tearing down the small family farmhouse they discovered the old cabin lived in by some of the earliest settlers of this region. These were relatives of that family. The cabin was actually hidden within the more modern structure and paneled inner walls.
My wife Dollie remembers much of the original furnishings that are now in the restored cabin and told the volunteers a lot of facts no one seemed to know about the house and those things inside. All other family members are now gone.
Now we have even more reason to take our own kids to the park. In the background is our daughter, our two grand kids and our own adopted son. Little did I know this photo would ever be used other than for our own memories.

We visited the Wildlife Prairie Park yesterday and had a wonderful time!
I was worried that it would be closed or there wouldn’t be much to do because it has been so cold outside, but everything went well.
There are quite a few animals still outside and moving around even in the winter. My favorite animals to see were the otters. They were running all around and playing, and they came up close to us to show off. They were so cute!
There were several activities to do in the few hours that we were there. First we got to go feed Mike the bison. (He was raised as a 4-​H project and he likes humans and not other bison, so he has to be kept separate from the herd.) It was very cool to get to pet a bison! Next we feed the wolves. We threw them meat snow balls. It was fun, but the wolves weren’t very interested in this particular snack. After that we walked all around and saw cougars, foxes, wolves, otters, and owls. We came back inside to learn about owls and skunks. We saw a ton of animals!
There was an activity to make animals in the snow, but we passed on that.
They had free hot chocolate inside to warm us up! I thought that was a nice touch, especially since the restaurant and snack areas were closed for the winter.
The staff was unbelievably friendly and knowledgeable. They really made the day awesome!
If you have kids or just like animals, you should come here!

Animals are more active in the morning. Nice trails but beware, there is poison ivy right off the trail.
Run by volunteers, this park is perfect for a family visit or playdate meet up. The butterfly pavilion is almost complete and will be a fabulous addition. The old schoolhouse is as charming as one might imagine and the kids had fun writing on the little chalkboards at the student desks. The docent had a lot of historical information!
The walking trails are mostly easy with some slight hills. You can also opt to go on a safari-​style tour for an extra fee.
This is a gem in Central Illinois!

Wildlife Prairie park is my preferred place to go with my family. There is so much to do and you can easily spend an entire day here.
My husband is an avid mountain biker and loves the trails and the new Bison Hump Pump Track.
I take my kids to see the animals and the butterflies. They love the new playground!
At times we have also fished and hiked the trails.
They have a little grill available at times, but I would highly recommend packing a picnic lunch.
This place is definitely a work in progress, though. Some of the buildings and facilities are aged and need a up-​do, but they are constantly making improvements and I am certain it will be a 5-​star gem soon.
Tip: the trails to see the animals can be rather hilly, so if you have a stroller/​wheelchair you may want keep this in consideration.
If you plan to visit more than a couple times, buy their membership. It includes guest and train passes. It’s a great value!

I have visited this park four times in the last 18 months. Unfortunately you can see that they are no longer a state park. They could definitely use some more help and some better help at that. My most recent visit was June 1^st and half of the place was still closed down. We are well enough into the year that I feel they should have been more prepared. The employees, though nice, couldn’t answer my questions about the animals or even where a working fountain might be. (Both we found weren’t working properly) we have a membership so we get our money’s worth, but to pay the fees for multiple visits not knowing exactly what will be open when would not be worth it. We are a family of six so to get in for one visit is about the price of the membership so we can go multiple times for the price of one.

Had my daughters wedding reception there at one if the halls available to rent. They use an in house caterer called «on the go». What I didn’t pick up on was the Wildlife Prairie Park (WPP) rep worked for the catering company so felt lead to that particular caterer and almost a conflict of interest) We arrive hours early to find the windows overlooking the prairie were dirty, bathrooms dirty and TP nearly empty (they never got cleaned well when we mentioned it but we did get TP). The WPP itself mad for a fun remote location saw deer bison and geese in the fields. daughter was happy so I am too but would I do it again there, NO!

The short review: we LOVED IT! Our 13-​year old, who could have been jaded, was as excited as the 9-​year old. As a parent, that was enough for me.
The long review: We stayed in one of the cabooses. At $ 120/​night I first thought it a little steep, but there was plenty of space — a separate room for the kids — and the experience was COMPLETELY worth it. No kitchen sink, but a microwave, fridge, and a cute little bathroom.
How do your kids spend their spare time? Ipod? MineQuest? TV? Same here. Please note that the hands-​down favorite for my entire family was a 50+ foot long, old fashioned metal SLIDE. No electricity required.
The hikes around the animal enclosures were refreshing and animals were well cared for. Everything was exactly as we had hoped, and more than we could have wished for in a weekend.

The park itself is great, and a great idea. But the treatment of the animals is questionable.
My friends and I stayed in a caboose and we had an amazing time. But I was not happy with the condition of the animals and their areas. The animals at the petting zoo had junk around their eyes, looked sick, and were very dirty. The park around the animals looked like it was falling apart. And the American Eagles had a horribly small area. I know the Eagle at Brookfield zoo is blind and needs a small area for safety. I would like to know more about these birds health before judging it. But there was trees and brush cut down all along the animal trails that laid in piles blocking exhibits. When I first saw the brush I thought the park was being worked on, but at the end of the few day stay none of it had been touch, and it was obvious that it had been left there.
I then came home and learned the park was not AZA certified.
They need to do more for the animals and become AZA certified before I consider returning.

I loved to come here as a kid, and I still think it’s a great place as an adult. They have a number of playgrounds and playground items throughout the park. There’s a huge slide that I would go down to this day.
The great thing about Wildlife Prairie Park is that it’s huge. Unlike a zoo, you can spend a whole day here, even if it’s just hiking the trails. It will definitely wear kids out, though! I also like the fact that, again unlike a zoo, the animal enclosures are big, giving them a much wider ranger.

If I could rate the park and the park’s grill/​restaurant seperately, I would. I’d give the park a 5 and the grill a 1. We stayed thru the week in the Cabooses which was SO much fun! We loved the park, the educational sessions, the animals, everything. Except the grill. It had nasty looking cheese that I wouldn’t let my family eat for fear they would get sick. They were out of condiments but neglected to tell us before we ordered (5 orders of french fries and no ketchup). The staff was sitting when we came in at 11:30 and every table was dirty (from the night before?). We love the park and will definitely be going back, but we will be taking our own food.

I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. Top notch park. Think of it like a zoo, but with indigenous animals in their natural habitat. Very fun, very educational. Writing this review makes me want to go back as soon as it’s nice outside again.

I have been going to this park since I was in grade school.
Most of the animals are in some sort of natural habitat. You can go some days and not see very many animals because they can hide, or you can score and see a lot of animals. They have wolves, bison, black bears and bobcats, to name a few.
They also have a petting zoo area and a neat old schoolhouse, and there is a general store with some nice trinkets.
You can even spend the night on site in a cabin or caboose, which I think would be very fun.
The banquet center puts on a brunch for Mother’s Day that books up about a year in advance.

I love this place, and it will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to a magical weekend my girlfriend and I spent there.
We stayed at their Cabin on the Hill, which was very comfortable and fun and reasonably priced (consider that you get the whole cabin to yourself, admission to the zoo, and a beautiful backdrop all for the price of a cheap motel!). We had a wonderful time there.
The zoo portion of the park is something awesomely unique and uniquely awesome. It is a showcase for the flora and fauna that live in Illinois. Wolves, foxes, cougars, black bear, bison, elk, and more all living in very large natural enclosures in their native habitat. The animals all seem to be happier and more content than any other zoo I have been to, and the general energy is very positive. But since the animals are in large, natural enclosures… it can be a bit like playing «Where’s Waldo» with the wildlife since they can be hard to see/​find sometimes. To me, this is a huge plus, since it means that they are in great natural environments and have room to go and hide from people. Others might be a bit put off by not being able to readily see an animal in an enclosure, so hence the heads up.
I HIGHLY recommend going on Sunday when the feed bones to the wolves… it was a surreal experience and very entertaining. Mondays they feed the reptiles, so that is the day to go if you like that.
The staff at the park are very friendly and knowledgeable, and there are usually fun learning activities going on throughout the day. It also has a small petting zoo/​farm area, and an old schoolhouse/​garden/​farm area to see some of the tools used in pioneer days.
Also they do a number of cool events throughout the year like the annual «Bison Blessing» ceremony conducted by a Native tribe (still haven’t been able to make it to that but it is a definite «bucket list» entry), and their Halloween Wildlife «SCARY» park is a real blast. ANd they are renovating some parts of their park to make it even better!
Admission is very cheap, the gift stores are very cool, and the scenery is spectacular (although they could use a good gardener to keep up some of their paths). If you want to go to a zoo that isn’t the same old thing, then get your butt down to Wildlife Prairie Park and spend the day! You won’t regret it!

This place was quite an incredible experience. I have wrote several rough drafts of this review and all of them just did not seem to do this place justice.
In very general terms you can call this place a cross between a state park/​zoo/​nature preserve/​educational facility/​tourist attraction. Each of these aforementioned individual items have some cons to them. however this place does an amazing job of taking all of the pros of each of the aforementioned items and wrapping them all up into one fun, relaxing, educational, and enjoyable experience.
This place features only animals that are native to Illinois in a very natural spacious setting. They do not have an overabundance of animals on display but they all have massive, huge, natural areas to roam. This place provides for the animals what no zoo in the country can provide for them as far as space and setting are concerned.
We stayed at the park as they have a secluded area with cabins. I highly recommend staying at the park if you can. we stayed in the cabin on the hill which provided an amazing view and some outstanding seclusion and peace and quiet.
My only complaint about this trip was that we only had about 24 total hours to stay here :-(I could easily spend a week if not more here. I am looking forward to our next visit.

I love this place. Me and my boyfriend got the family membership for just $ 50 so we both can go here all year long. It’s a way better deal than paying $ 6.50 per time. They have animal exhibits similar to a zoo but not as depressing. The animals are all native to the area and get a big place to roam. They have foxes, wolves, bears, buffalo, birds, cougars, reptiles. They have several fishing lakes that the state stocks. They have a historical site with an actual old log cabin and school house, as well a barn and all kinds of things that prairie people used. They also have a train and a place to get something to eat. The things I don’t like are these big power lines that go right through the middle. I also got lost on a train twice because the signs aren’t very good.