Big Bear Alpine Zoo

43285 Goldmine Dr, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315, USA

Address:	43285 Goldmine Dr, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315, USA
Phone:	+1 909-584-1299
Site:	bigbearzoo.org
Rating:	4.5
Working:	10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM

Location

Photos 1

Reviews 9

Sierra Torres

A few of these reviews complain about the price, size, smell, and that if its a sanctuary, why dont they let some of the animals back into the wild? Now I dont know if any of you have been to the San Diego zoo, but paying $9 for a ticket really isnt that bad considering that this place runs off of donations and admission fees. I do agree that their facility is fairly small for the many animals the have, however, theyve got a whole lot of donations and funding for a new larger zoo with much bigger enclosures to be built within a year. If you visit the zoo, inside they have a model display of what the new zoo will look like and to me it looks amazing. A few reviews complain about smell; I dont know if you realize this, but these are animals in a fairly small zoo and a lot of these animals have musk (foxes have scent glands like skunks) and cats have pretty gnarly smelling urine. Any zoo you go to will be smelly, Im not sure what you were expecting it to smell like, roses? As for this place being a sanctuary, some people ask why some of these animals cant be released. I asked about the animals here and each animal has its own story. This place runs like a rehabilitation center as well and gets many injured animals that they do most of the time end up releasing. However, some of the bears that are there came as cubs either injured (like Huckleberry the 3 legged bear) or sick. Now the older adult bear that end up here are bears that got 3 strikes and they either had to be put down or end up in a sanctuary because relocation might not have been working. This is what happened to the grizzlies (got to close to humans, werent afraid) and Pooh the black bear (caused $4,000 worth of damage at a honey farm haha). Also, some of these animals come from different facilities (I think thats the case for the older wolves, the younger 7 were born at the zoo. Also the new snow leopards came I believe from a Washington zoo). Many of these animals look healthy and fine, but they have their own reasons why they cant be released. If youre really curious about one of the animals, just ask one of the staff members, theyve been so sweet to me and answered all my questions each time Ive been there (which is 4 times since I moved to Big Bear Lake). That being said, I absolutely love this zoo and what they do for the animals. If you ever come up to Big Bear, I suggest you go visit the zoo during your stay. :)

Alice Ly

This was a wonderful way to spend a couple hours in Big Bear! 90% of the animals in the rehabilitation center gets released whereas the 10% who cannot get released will spend the rest of their lives at the zoo. All are either injured in some way or orphaned so its really amazing that the center is able to take care and feed all the animals. Admission is $9 which is completely reasonable when you get to see native animals to the area. You will not see a majority of the animals in OC/LA zoos for sure! We arrived near feeding time, so we were able to see staff members feed the wolves, the hawks, and the mountain cats. Pretty amazing to see the animals wait patiently for food and also get petted! My favorite were the pack of 7 wolves and the Red Fox. So cute! They also have handmade beanie hats where proceeds go towards funding the zoo and medication/food for the animals. I gladly plopped down $20 for a cute red panda pirate hat. Help support this rehabilitation center/zoo and visit/donate!!!

Raymond Yang

When I saw this place on Google Maps, the first thoughts that I had in my mind were "why is there a zoo at Big Bear? what kind of animals can even survive here?" I decided to check the zoo out. The entrance fee was fair and it includes a parking pass. There are lots of animals in the zoo. In addition, the animals are those that you dont normally see at other places. The zoo is pretty well maintained, I saw a couple workers feeding the animals, changing the water, and I believe there are talks about different animals on certain days. This place was well worth my money and time and is great for families with kids that can go skiing.

Jc Olivera

A nice place to spend the afternoon and get to know the local fauna. We spent the weekend in Big BEAR and we were looking for things to do and places to visit. The Zoo was less than 10 mins from our Cabin, We took our daughter and she totally love the place. Make sure to get a parking permit once you pay and take it to your car, this way your car wont be towed. The Zoo is nice, is not too big but has a variety of animals, from birds, snakes, wolves, mountain lions to Grizzly Bears. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Check out the 360° images I took of the Zoo.

Connie Beard

A must see if in Big Bear. I am not one to go to zoos to gawk at animals enclosed in cages, but Alpine heals, rehabilitates and will release animals that can withstand the wilderness. The animals are healthy and loved. The enclosures are well kept. Buy the $2 guide that tells you more about the animals in detail. The bald eagles are incredible! We missed out on seeing the snow leopards as they were most likely sleeping. Other than that, the animals were out and about. This is a great place for everyone. Especially if you dont have a lot of time to spare.

A Private User

Have lived in the San Bernardino Valley for nine years and this is the first time I have even heard of this fantastic place-----all because of Huell Howsers T.V. show. What a place ,and, yes think it would better to be called a "refuge" rather than a" zoo." These reviews, combined with the Howser T.V. show has motivated me to make the trip "up the mountain " to experience this wonderful place ! Hope they have received the funds they were needing to expand this beautiful facility. Cant wait to visit it !!

Emily Adams

This place is so cool!!! I cannot recommend it highly enough!! Each staff person that we spoke with is clearly passionate about not only their job but their role in rehabilitation and rescue. The zoo itself is not big—could easily be covered in an afternoon visit. If you are able, definitely attend the demonstrations that they offer; they give a lot of great information about the animals, and clearly show the familiarity that the staff has with the animals. So glad that we incorporated this into our trip!

Danny Mach

11 people total in my group 7 of them are under 11 years old( and a sister in law whos behavior at times is of an 11yr.old a-hole,but thats another story for another day lol).With that being said.The experience was wonderful..For being a small zoo it had enough exhibits to view that we spent 2.5 hours there and all of its animals were out and about....the bird presentation that a zoo keeper did could have been more focused of the bird she was handling rather then other facts about the place..

Jesse Vanderhoff

Made a visit here after hiking around the big bear area. At $12 for admission the price is right and though the zoo doesnt have the glitz and glamour of larger zoos there is a fair amount of exhibits including timber wolves, grizzly bears, different varieties of foxes, bobcats and owls. There are some low key events that go on during the day and are worth going to to further your knowledge of the zoo. A small snack bar is located within the zoo but isnt anything to write home about.