Started in 1952 by animal trainer Lloyd Beebe, the Olympic Game Farm (then called Disney’s Wild Animal Ranch) was originally designed as a place for the animal actors of Disney Studios to get out of the spotlight between filming. The animals were stars of shows like Grizzly Adams, Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, The Incredible Journey, Northern Exposure and many more. As Disney made fewer and fewer animal movie and shows, the Olympic Game Farm opened to the public in 1972.
Now run by Lloyd’s grandson, Bob, I find it a bit difficult to describe the Olympic Game Farm – some weirdly wonderful mix of petting zoo, menagerie, animal sanctuary, and absolutely the most fun I’ve had driving in years, animal smells and slobber and all. How often do you get to feed wheat bread to deer, elk, buffalo, llamas, bears, yak and musk oxen through your car window?
Lots of birds at the Olympic Game Farm. Peacocks seemed to take particular delight in standing in front of the car, feathers outspread, as if daring you to try to get them to move out of the way.
After stopping at the gate to purchase tickets and loaves of wheat bread (I recommend at least one loaf per person), you take a meandering drive through 80 acres of different enclosures, stopping or driving slowly to feed them. There are few places you can get out of your car, the one with the observation tower and deer enclosure at the top of the first hill being the only one, unless you also do the walking tour. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to get out of the car and wander through a herd of elk anyway.
Signs everywhere ask you not to feed the eagles. This one posed obligingly even without bribery.
Driving up the hill you encounter Sitka Deer and prairie dogs, before going down the hill to encounter yak, musk ox, llamas and more deer.
The yak were surprisingly polite, waiting for you to hand them bread, swiping it gently from your fingers with their black tongues, rather than just reaching in.
The llamas even let you pet them a little as they were eating out of your hand. (At least I think this is a llama rather than an alpaca. I’m much better at bird identification!)
Cute little Fallow Deer, after mobbing the car ahead, trot back to the next car, hoping for more bread.
You can’t feed the bears directly from your car window (nor would I want to), but you can toss in some bread. My nephew had the frisbee thing down to a science!
You should probably get there in the morning rather than mid-afternoon if you want the bears to wave for bread.
My son used to take afternoon naps in exactly this position!
We swung back by the entrance to buy more bread before heading for the elk and buffalo.
A few pieces of advice.
- Tuck the bread loaf to the inside of the car, or you’re liable to get the entire bag snatched right out of the car.
- Bring wet wipes. Trust me on this, you’ll need them.
- They tell you not to stop in the elk and buffalo enclosure, but to drive slowly. Heed that advice. The elk and buffalo were losing their winter fur and won’t hesitate to rub against the car to scratch.
- If possible, trade off driving for a second pass through the farm. You’ll want your camera handy! The ticket is good all day, so take as many trips through as you’d like.
- The full driving circuit takes about an hour.
- During the summer, there’s also a walking tour of the historic filming barn, the goats, the duck pond and aquarium, but check the website for dates and times.
Links of Interest:
- Olympic Game Farm – website
Location:
Olympic Game Farm, 1423 Ward Road, Sequim, WA 98382