Was It Worth It?
Bear Country USA

​Posted March 3, 2026, by Janet Wolfe

What It Is

A wildlife park that starts with a 3-mile drive-through and ends with a 1/4-mile walk-through.  Family-owned and operated, the facility opened in 1972 with just 11 black bears, a cougar, a wolf, three buffalo, and a large bull elk.  Today, more than 200 bears and more than 20 other species of North American animals—including arctic wolves, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, mountain goats, mule deer, reindeer, timber wolves, foxes, elk, buffalo, and of course, bears—call the attraction home.

Although the park is zoo-like, it is worth noting that the drive-through portion has risks that zoos do not: the animals, especially the bears, can and will walk right up to your car.  They are not contained behind walls or barriers.  This is part of the excitement.  It’s also the reason why all visitors must remain in their cars; car doors, windows, and sunroofs must be tightly closed at all times; and convertibles, motorcycles, and soft-top vehicles are not permitted in the park (but the facility does offer complimentary courtesy cars for visitors who need them).

Where It Is

Rapid City, South Dakota

When We Went

July 2025

What We Did

We started, as all visitors do, with the drive-through portion of the park.  We slowly worked our way along the windy paved road, frequently pulling off to the side to watch the animals.  

After the drive-through portion, we stopped at the “Wildlife Walkway,” which is set up like a traditional zoo, and walked the loop, a flat and easy-to-navigate area featuring smaller North American animals.  We walked this loop twice (with a visit to the gift shop in between) because the bear cubs—the main attraction of this part—were asleep the first time we walked by.

How Much We Spent

We paid the maximum, a flat rate of $80 for our carload of three “adults” (13 and over) and one kid between 5 and 12.  Bear Country USA does have per-person rates, but as soon as your total hits $80, they stop counting.  Per-person rates are $25 for adults, $20 for children 5-12, $22 for seniors and military adults, and $17 for military children.  Kids 4 and under are free.

How Much Time We Spent There

In total, we spent about three hours at Bear Country—a little more than an hour in the drive-through and about two hours between the walk-through and the gift shop. 

What We Liked

We definitely felt like we got our money’s worth of animal sightings.  We’ve had experiences in zoos where we didn’t see everything we had hoped to.  Either the animals were hiding or they were too far from the viewing area to appreciate.  

That wasn’t the case for us at Bear Country USA.  Although the website warns that, “animal sightings can vary due to weather, time of year, and the animals’ moods,” we didn’t have trouble seeing anything.  Despite occupying more than 200 acres, the animals along the drive-through were always close.  The elk were up the hill but well within sight.  The bighorn sheep were chilling by the gate.  And the bears.  The bears were strolling down the road, weaving in and out of cars.  

I think it helped that we started our adventure in the morning (we arrived around 8:30), before it got too hot for the animals.  It also helped that the owners seem to feed the animals near the road.  We saw several bears happily munching on raw sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, and what looked like meat.

We also liked that we didn’t feel rushed on the drive-through.  I worried that the line of cars would be long, people would dawdle, and we’d never see anything.  While there were a decent amount of other cars working their way through the park with us, and while most of them did linger in the bear area, the road never felt crowded and we never felt like we had to hurry along.  We could sit and watch for as long as we wanted, as long as we pulled to the side so other cars could pass.  

The highlight of Bear Country USA, however—at least for two of us—was the bear cub enclosure in the walk-through.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I told my husband I would have spent $80 just for this part of the park.  The cubs—I believe we counted around 18 of them—were absolutely adorable.  They frolicked in the water, wrestled, chased each other, ate, climbed trees, and generally looked like they were having a good time. 

What We Didn't Like

We hated leaving the bear cubs.  My daughter and I, in particular, could have set up shop by their enclosure and watched them for hours.


Was it worth it? 

Oh my, yes.  I had read a little about Bear Country USA before we visited South Dakota in 2021.  At the time, we were already living and camping in “bear country” (Maryland) and had already seen a mama bear and two cubs in the wild in Smoky Mountains National Park.  I couldn’t imagine that seeing bears in captivity could be better than that.

When we knew we were heading back to the Rapid City area in 2025, however, unable to decide between visiting Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument (we ended up seeing neither), I found myself reading about Bear Country USA again.  I’m so glad I did.  All four of us gave this stop a thumbs-up.  It was one of my daughter’s favorite experiences from our entire 2025 road trip.


For more information, visit https://bearcountryusa.com/.​