Lake Tobias Wildlife Park — Attraction in Halifax Township

We had a great time at Lake Tobias.

Lake Tobias Wildlife Park was founded by J.R. Tobias as “just a hobby to fall back on in my retirement” and grew into a beloved local attraction over the decades. Originally, J.R.’s interest in wildlife and exotic creatures led him to consider agriculture and animals as a career, but he opted to join the U.S. Marines instead of going to college, enlisting in 1943. After leaving the Marines, J.R. Tobias went on to own multiple successful businesses, including a dairy, a cement block manufacturing company, a John Deere farm machinery business, and an excavating and grading company. The equipment and skills from these businesses came in handy when it was time to build the park. He constructed all of the stream-fed lakes that visitors enjoy today during visits to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park.

Before J.R. Tobias’ death, he transferred ownership and operation of the park to his children, and his six remaining children and four grandchildren run the park today. This self-sustaining family attraction welcomes more than 240,000 visitors a year. The park receives no state or federal funding, so revenue from the park covers all operating expenses.

One major innovation in zoo and wildlife viewing that began at Lake Tobias Wildlife Park is the concept of an open-air safari. In the early days of the park, J.R. Tobias developed the idea of taking old school buses and converting them into open-air vehicles to give guests rides through a landscape where exotic animals roam free. These open-air safari vehicles and the concept of giving visitors direct access to the animals has been replicated at zoos around the world since then.

Changes at the Park Lake Tobias Wildlife Park has undergone some significant changes since its earliest days. New family activities have been introduced over the park’s more than 50-year history, and the facilities have been expanded and improved upon to provide an even better life for the animal residents and a better experience for park visitors. Custom-designed, expanded habitats for the park’s tigers and black bears were added in 2006, and the park’s African lion and baboon populations got a new facility designed by one of the current owners, Ern Tobias, in 2008. This facility received a Mid Atlantic BX Craftsmanship Award for the design.

In 2011, the custom-designed Reptiles and Exotics facility received rave reviews upon opening in the park, and the new, expanded Safari Station was completed in 2015. The J.R. Tobias Museum and Education Center, which also houses the park’s 500-gallon aquarium with stingrays, opened its doors in 2017. Upon its opening, it received the New Attraction of the Year award from the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitor’s Bureau. In 2018, our new Giraffe exhibit opened and was expanded in the 2019 season to include a feeding deck. And in 2023, the newest exhibit at the park—the African Lion and White Lion exhibit—was completed.

Guest services and associated facilities have also undergone extensive changes since the park opened. Our food service departments were renovated and updated in 2014 and the new Gift Shop was added during the 2023 season.

While many of the changes at Lake Tobias Wildlife Park have been the result of careful planning and exciting developments, some changes have been in response to challenging circumstances. A tornado hit the park in 1989, and destroyed structures had to be rebuilt after the storm. Fortunately, the animals at the park all remained safe during the event and their enclosures remained intact.

The discovery of bovine (animal) TB in a recently acquired animal in 1992 caused community concern, but the Department of Health determined that there was no risk to the public from the animal. Unfortunately, USDA regulations required that mammals at the park during the incident, including J.R. Tobias’ beloved lioness, had to be destroyed, and the park worked with the USDA to comply with this requirement. A new animal population was restored with help from the USDA in time for the 1993...

We were choosing between this safari park and the Philadelphia Zoo. Since we live in northern New Jersey, the drive time to both locations is about the same—just over 2 hours. I’m so glad I took the time to read recent reviews before deciding.

At first, I thought the Philadelphia Zoo was a large zoo, but according to many recent reviews, it’s actually quite small. Tickets cost around $40 per adult for Memorial Day, and many people mentioned that a huge number of exhibits are currently closed, without any discounts or even a heads-up on the website. If we lived 20 minutes away, it might have been fine, but driving 2+ hours only to find half the zoo closed didn’t sound appealing.

That’s when I started reading reviews about this place—and it did not disappoint!

First of all, everything is very well organized. We visited on Memorial Day, and to my surprise, it wasn’t overcrowded. Don’t get me wrong—there were a lot of people, but the layout of the park allows everyone to move comfortably and enjoy each attraction without feeling cramped.

The highlight, of course, is the safari ride. I highly recommend heading there as soon as you enter the park. We waited no more than 15–20 minutes, and the line moved quickly. My kids (ages 1, 2, and 11) were thrilled—and so were the adults! The guide was amazing—sharing fun, interesting, and even funny facts about the animals.

The park is spacious and offers so much to see. You can feed giraffes, observe lions, tigers, zebras, ostriches, alligators, and bears. There’s also a traditional zoo area where you can feed animals, several playgrounds, and plenty of shaded seating areas for eating and resting—so important when visiting with kids.

One of the biggest highlights for me was the food. This is the first place I can remember where the prices were reasonable and the food was genuinely good! Of course, they have the usual burgers, sandwiches, and ice cream—but everything was tasty and portions were generous. We got hot sausages for the kids, and they were huge.

If I had to point out a downside, it would be the gravel paths. It makes pushing strollers or wheelchairs a bit challenging, especially with the amount of walking involved. But honestly, I won’t take off a star for that, because the experience overall was fantastic.

It’s the kind of place that deserves more visitors—thoughtfully organized, affordable, and educational—unlike many overly commercialized...

Lake Tobias Wildlife Park was great! The founder and family seem to be great people with a fantastic mission! (From what I’ve read and learned)

Unfortunately we had some staff issues… watch out for the employees driving the golf carts. They seem to only be able to push the gas pedal down the whole way. Near the reptile house an employee came flying around a low visibility corner of a building and almost hit my 3yo son. Thankfully my wife was only an arms reach of him and was able to pick him up quick, that employee just kept full throttle.

Also we were trying to get the kids some stuff at the gift shop. A gentleman came in (I think security, not shop) and announced okay everyone get what you need you have two minutes and the store is closed. I looked at my phone and it was 5:57 then very shortly later he announced that everyone has to get what you want and get out because the store is closed. (My family was the only people in there) I looked at my phone again and watched the clock change 5:58… so at most it had been 60 seconds from his 2 minute warning. Also as the husband of a manager of a retail store I deal with the daily struggle of not knowing when my wife will actually get home as she will not kick a customer out, even having them in the store for 45 minutes or more after “close” because they were shopping prior to that “closing” time. It just came off very poorly then the two girls working the counter were so rude my wife actually texted their names to me so she didn’t forget them and she was thinking about calling to complain. We ended up not getting probably 80% of what we went in there intending to purchase.

Those two negatives aside… the actual facility and animals were awesome! I highly recommend everyone should pay the couple extra buck to take the safari tour! Don’t be cheap, especially if you have kids, and get some snacks for the animals before you leave. They were $4 a cup and so worth it! The driver for our trip was awesome! And the support staff who was out on a side by side did a amazing job getting the animals to come over. It was so worth it we will come back again despite the few rude staff which was not the way I was hoping to...