Exploring · Glen Rose, Texas
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
A drive-through safari outside Glen Rose. Go first thing in the morning — once it warms up the animals move into the shade and stop coming to the car.
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The giraffe’s tongue was as long as my forearm, and grey.
That is the thing the kids remember. You drive through, the animals come right up to the car, and they eat out of your hands through the window. There are a lot of them. The giraffe is the star.
Go early
This is the one piece of advice that matters. We went first thing in the morning, and it paid off. Once the day warmed up, the animals moved into the shade and stopped coming over to eat. The same admission on a hot afternoon would buy you a much quieter drive.
What it costs
About a hundred dollars for a car full of kids, which is not nothing. It was worth it here, and it is the kind of number to know before you turn in.
The halfway store
There is a store at the midpoint of the drive with a lot of memorabilia. The kids enjoyed it, which is worth mentioning because a gift shop is usually something you steer around rather than into.
Afterward
Weeks later they still bring up the safari. That is the whole verdict, really.
The verdict
Worth the Saturday
The highlight of the whole trip. Costly with a car full of kids, but they are still talking about it weeks later.
Last visited July 2026. We update a verdict when it stops being true, and say so here.
