Two animal parks in one town

Animal lovers unite and hop over to Horse Cave!  This one location – right in the center of your drive through Kentucky on Interstate 65 – offers TWO animal parks that are so professional in their handling and care of the animals.  Let’s talk about the first born first!

Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo has one of the bestest stories. It was started by a couple, with Australian connections. Their vision was to add animals to increase interest for Mammoth Onyx Cave, which is now a major perk of the park!  A tour of the cave is included with every admission. You can read more about the history of the park here.

The major draw of today is the mob of kangaroos that love to see EVERY visitor!  The kangaroo area offers visitors a chance to walk around, feed and spend some time hanging out with the mommas, babies and daddios.  There is also a large walk-in aviary with lorikeets who love interacting!  Just hold out a small cup of nectar and they will be your friends for life.  There are also sheep dog demonstrations with the sheep herd.  Animal shows, that offer up close encounters. There is also a “bird garden,” wolves, dingoes and so many other animals to see. 

Now, let’s go on safari at the Dutch Country Safari Park!  This park is in its second year and is Amish owned and operated.  Their story, equally as fabulous, begins with their owner raising chicks in his bedroom as a small child and it’s all been about animals for him since then!! His wife and children have lived with a wide variety of animals for years and they finally decided it was time to invite the rest of the world on to their farm-turned-safari. 

You’ll be introduced to family friend, Jeffrey the Zebra, as you take the 3/4 mile safari ride through the park.  You can drive your own private vehicle or ride the wagon – which we highly recommend. On safari you’ll also see camels, ostriches, highland cattle, watusi, black swans, wildebeests and so many more.  They surround the wagon, because they know you’ll have some feed for them, which is part of your admission, not an additional fee.

There are also several animal encounter zones throughout the park.  There is an area with miniature goats, alpacas, sheep and so many smaller animals that can be fed by hand.  There is also an indoor encounter area with smaller – many holdable animals – this can vary depending on the time of the year. Chicks, baby ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs are just a few of the small animals you can spend some time with.  There are also displays of lorikeets, love birds, parrots, and several types of reptiles and small animals. 

Both animal parks have amazing souvenirs to take home too – mementos always help us remember the great experiences we had!

For more trip planning head to their local tourism website at kygetaway.com