West Virginia State Wildlife Center — Attraction in Buckhannon

All of the birds were absolutely majestic. I really liked that there was a small shelter to get away from the sun in front of the owls because they were relaxing to look at. My favorite was the ocelot because its behavior was curiously friendly (yet wild). It was really fun looking into the pond and spotting a turtle, salamanders, tadpoles, and fish. I was worried there would be a lot of mosquitoes but they were pretty low at the pond. I definitely recommend hats and sunscreen. The bald eagles were beyond beautiful. All of the animals look healthy and happy. The signs at every animal station were very thorough for the homeschooling field trip. The funniest thing we saw was the fox up in the tree. The only suggestion that I would hope for in the future on the signs at each exhibit of animal is that it would have been nice to know how many of each male and female was in each area and if the animals had names. For example we counted five quail and with them being so far away and moving quickly....it would have been a nice thing to try to figure out which were which for conversation. The gift shop was awesome. There was squishing Penny machine for $0.51 and we bought a book afterwards to place them in for only $7.99 each and it came with 2 extra squished coins for collecting. The concessions were fair priced as were the admission fees. All of the staff was extremely friendly as well. The paths were clearly marked and easy to walk with less than 2 miles and several convenient bathrooms that were very clean. We will absolutely go again, because we were unable to see the otters swimming this time, but I am sure once it gets hotter they will...

My wife and I did not entend to stop by the Game Farm yesterday but we are happy we did. We are all into the outdoors and nature and love to hike so it is a great place to visit. Even though there was a big turn out for the park's "free day" the walk was very relaxing at nd fin. The weather we as perfect for us and for the animals to be active. Our boys were more then excited to see all of the exibits, and they were full of questions about every animal we came across. There was a few animals missing throughout the tour, do to the covid-19 epidemic to but still plenty to see. Our boys two favorite attractions was the Black Bears, and the wilf bore. The bore was very active and was running around as fast as it could go, the bears however were all sleeping until my youngest decided to open his Life Saver gummies he had brought along for his snack. This made the bears very curious really quick. As soon as he open the package the two closest to us immediately raised their heads and began sniffing the air, eventually even the one all the way on the other side of the enclosure joined in. Before we knew it one got up and walked straight towards the smell which of course positioned it directly infront of our 5 year old. It was all very interesting and joyful to watch. Even though we had to stop our son from trying to share his snack he was very thrilled about the whole situation. My wife and I do not support the caging of wild animals for profit or entertainment, but we did really appreciate the opportunity we had to teach our boys about each and every animal we saw. Maybe...

An absolutely lovely little adventure.

While slightly off the beaten path, for anyone visiting the Seneca Rocks / Elkins- Randolph county area it's well worth it to take a jaunt down to French Creek and experience the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.

From the surprisingly reasonable entrance fees of $4.00 / adult and $2.00 / child to the small but quaint gift shop and snack bar everything about the WVSWC is simple and simply nice.

The exhibits themselves are placed along an approximately 1.25 mile, self guided, paved asphalt trail through the West Virginia woodlands. With minimal separation from the animals one can often get up close views of everything from otters, mountain lions, bears and coyotes, to wild boars, bald eagles, owls and raccoons. I was thoroughly surprised and extremely pleased with the number of animals they had in exhibit and how close one can actually get to most of them.

Another positive note is the sheer pleasantness of the staff. From the gentleman that took our entrance fees and inquired where we were from, to the ladies working the register and the snack bar, each and every one of them made us feel extremely welcome and showed a genuine interest that we and our young daughter enjoyed ourselves.

All in all it was an excellent experience and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to do...