MOLLY SIMMONS / Scroll
Yellowstone Bear World allows guests to tour the park in their vehicles.

Take the drive into a roaring summer adventure

Yellowstone Bear World offers a safe learning environment in Idaho

by Matthew Wise WIS04008@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Just outside of Rexburg is a unique experience: It is the Yellowstone Bear World Park. Bear World is a place to learn about and closely view animals of North America and Yellowstone National Park from the comfort of a vehicle.

As guests take a drive through a tour, they can view many animals in their natural habitat.

Animals, which include the fellow deer, prone horn, rocky mountain bull elk, arctic wolf, grey wolf, moose and, of course, bears, can be seen on the tour.

The park has a couple varieties of bears, including the North American Black Bear, Brown Bear and an 850-pound Grizzly Bear named “Corky.”

The tour allows an opportunity to view how bears interact with each other in the wild.

Not only can the park be toured in a car, but also there are many other activities available. The park has a cub yard where bear cubs can be seen frolicking and playing around.

The “Duck Deck” is a small pond where ducks, geese, swans, Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout can be fed. The park features the Hungry Bear Cafe and Three Bear Gift Shop.

The gift shop is full of souvenirs, pictures and novelty items. Pictures can be taken digitally so that a person is placed with an animal from the park, so it looks like he or she is with the animals.

Yellowstone Bear World is open May 15 through mid October, seven days a week, opening at 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. through Labor Day. After Labor Day, Bear World closes at 5:00 p.m.

The park is located five miles south of Rexburg on U.S. Highway 20. Rates per person are $13.95 for adults, $12.95 for seniors, $9.95 for children between the ages of three and ten and children two and under and free.

A maximum vehicle is $50.00.

Of course, only one time through might not be enough time to see everything desired.

There is free re-entry of the tour, so customers can tour as much as they would like.

“Our mission is to motivate and increase public awareness in the management of natural resources for conservation, education, scientific and recreational purposes” according to the park’s Web site.