Website: Lake Tobias Wildlife Park
Season:May-October
Cost:see rates hereExpected Length of Visit: From a couple of hour up to several hours.
Recommended Ages: All ages
Lake Tobias Wildlife Park is literally just a few minutes from our house so this is our fall-back activity when nothing else is going on. It's a relatively cheap outing, especially without the safari tour. And it just so happens that we love it.
Their admission is quite a bit lower than most other animal parks and small zoos but they offer a lot for the money. They have a nice array of animals. I find their animals a bit more interesting than those at Zoo America since they aren't limited at Lake Tobias to animals native to North America. You won't find elephants or giraffes at Lake Tobias but there are zebras, capybaras (my favorite), kangaroos and other animals you don't see everyday.
The exhibits are very nice. They recently added some new ones and got rid of the last of the old-style depressing cages.
Besides the typical animal exhibits you will see here, you will often find zoo workers carrying or walking an animal through the park and you can usually pet them or get a nice picture with them.
They also have a petting zoo, a reptile show and a safari tour. We finally took the safari tour after many years of passing it up and now we try to do that at least once a year. It's a lot of fun. You really get up close to the animals. I can't believe we passed it up all of those years.
They added a new reptile building in 2011. Attending the reptile show is a much more pleasant experience than it used to be - no more crowding into that small building.
Parking is free but most of the parking is a small trek away from the animals. They do have handicap parking available in the main area.
There are pavillions for picnics. You can reserve these for large affairs. There are several play structures on the property to amuse the kiddies. You can fish on site for a fee but you don't need a fishing license. I don't see any fishing info on the website unless I'm missing it but it's possible. You can get your fishing pass at the snackbar where you purchase the safari tickets. Call Lake Tobias for a price on those. I really can't remember but I'm sure it was $10 or under for an all-day pass. There may be other options too.
You can bring your own food into Lake Tobias but the food is very good there and the prices are reasonable. Unfortunately, the service can be extremely slow. The kitchen is small and the food is made to order so the line backs up around lunchtime. There's a food cart on the premise as well which doesn't usually take quite as long but the options are different and I've never tried anything from the cart. There's a play structure not too far from the snackbar so you can kill some time there while waiting for your food to be prepared. The gift shop is also in that area.
If you prefer to eat while coming or going from Lake Tobias, there is a McDonald's and also a Subway in Halifax on Route 225, 5 minutes south of Lake Tobias and if you came in from the north using Route 209, there are a McDonald's and Burger King in front of the Wal-Mart on 209 in Elizabethville, about 10 minutes north of Lake Tobias.
I wouldn't rate this as an all-day activity. It's not that large and the safari ride only takes about 45 minutes, tops. We usually spend only a couple of hours there since we live so close and visit so often but if you take your time and keep a leisurely pace, you could spend several hours there.
One of my only complaints about Lake Tobias (besides the slow food service) is that it's very difficult to push the average stroller over the gravel surface that covers most of the park.
Please add your comments regarding this activity or let me know if you have any questions about it that I might be able to answer.
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