Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

The Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch is a fun place in the Dallas area to see exotic animals up-close and personal! You should definitely check out this place if you are in the Dallas area and have extra time! Here are my tips to enjoy your time at Sharkarosa.

Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch is home to dozens of exotic animals. Being a nonprofit organization, they rely on the admission costs and donations to care for the animals.

Location of Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch:

The wildlife ranch is located 60 miles north of Dallas with beautiful country views on the drive in. GPS location is Sharkey’s Drive in Pilot Point Texas. It is a little over an hour drive.

General Information:

I recommend getting there early! It opens at 10:00 a.m. and will get more crowded as the day progresses. If you happen to get there later, you may encounter a line at the entrance. There are a couple animal exhibits near the entrance you can see while you are waiting. A bobcat, skunk and porcupine.

After paying admission, you will get a tram tour time on your wristband. Don’t miss your time slot!! Usually you can fit in a couple activities before and after the tram tour. Now is a good time to buy feed for the animals. The cost is $3 per bag and they recommend one bag per person. You can get 4 bags for $10.

Near the entrance is a sign with the schedule of the events for that day. It will list the different showtimes and feedings going on. They offer something every 30 minutes. Take a picture of it so you can always reference it later in other areas of the park.

Petting Zoo

They have a few different petting areas. Two are gated and one is an enclosure you may enter with goats. You can feed and pet alpacas, goats, cows and sheep. The goats are so much fun!! Be careful with your food bag, they will try and steal it away from you!!The older ones will jump on you and the babies are just adorable!!

Safari Tram RideThe line for the tram is on the way to the bear exhibit and they like for you to line up 15 minutes early. The tram ride is an open-air tram that takes about 30 minutes to see all the animals. We saw horse, zebras, deer, pot bellied pigs, camels and some other animals. And when I mean see, I mean they come right up to the tram for a close up! You can reach out and touch them!

Some you are allowed to pet and others you are not. They also let you bring food to feed them in buckets on the side of the tram. We learned that they are building a tiger and lion exhibit to be opened later this year.

The camels were hilarious. They ran to meet the tram, hung out with the tram while we pet them, and then walked with us the entire way to the exit.

Bears, Oh My!

When exiting the tram, the bear exhibit is to the right. They hold two bear presentations each day. We learned a little bit about the two bears, Barnaby and Bailey, that reside there and some bear facts in general.

By the bear exhibit, they have a restaurant called the Bears Den that just recently started serving BBQ. It was very reasonably priced and tasted decent. I don’t expect much from these types of eateries, and was pleasantly surprised!

Animals

The lemur exhibit is close by and it was fun to watch them play around. Other animals you may see in different areas are kangaroos, porcupines, skunks, macaws, bobcats, sloths and donkeys.

Pony rides are offered for $5 per ride. I heard the ride is only two minutes, so not sure if that’s worth it.

Animal Encounter

As a bonus, they have animal encounters you can purchase for an extra cost to interact with certain animals. The animal encounters they offer at the moment are with lemurs, an alligator, sloth or a kangaroo. We picked the sloth encounter.

For $75 you are supposed to be able to hang out with them for 15-20 minutes. We were given food to feed the sloth and that was a fun experience! However, it only wanted to eat celery and carrots. Once those were gone, the animal keeper ended the session. All together we spent maybe 10 minutes with the sloth. For $75 I thought we would get much more. Maybe even be able to hold it. We did get to hold its little claws. Next time, I would ask more details of what all is included before I pay that much again. Live and learn!

Hours of Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

They are open Saturday and Sunday to the public from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. The last tram tour leaves at 4:00 p.m.

Admission

Admission cost is $12 for ages 13 and older, $10 for kids ages 3-12, 2 and under are free, seniors 65 and older are $10 and active or retired military are free! There is a $5 parking fee as well.

Groupon usually has deals going on for two tickets for $12 or four tickets for $24.

Tips for Visiting Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch:

Here’s a few tips to enjoy your day:

Bring sunscreen! There is some shade but you will be in the sun during the tram ride and seeing certain exhibits.
Bug Spray- we didn’t end up using it, but a friend recommended us to bring it. Maybe the bugs are worse during certain seasons???
Water- Especially in the summer!! It’s outdoors and can be hot!! However if you happen to forget a water bottle, you can purchase one for $2 in the gift shop or restaurant.
Comfortable clothes- clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. The goats love to jump on you for food. Plus, it gets hot in Texas so dress appropriatly!
Comfortable shoes- again shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. It’s a farm, so you’re walking over mostly dirt. Closed toe shoes would be the best to protect your feet.
FYI, they only offer port a potties. Prepare ahead of time if that is an issue for you.
Check their website before visiting in case of hour changes.

Overall, we enjoyed our time here at the Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch. Playing with the goats brought out my inner child, lol. You can in theory spend a day here, but we saw everything in a couple of hours. This is a great day trip when in the Dallas area.