Catoctin Wildlife Preserve — Attraction in Thurmont

Arrival: The earlier, the better. We arrived around 10am on a Saturday, and it wasn't super crowded. We had options to take the 12pm and other rides after.

Parking: We found parking to be pretty easy. There was street parking as well as some parking lots (one that was even marked as overflow parking).

Tickets: We ordered tickets online. That process was fairly easy. When we got to the entrance, they just asked for your name to pull up your tickets. You would then purchase your safari tickets there as well.

The Tour: It was self-guided. I read plenty of reviews saying it's a lot of walking. Eh....yes and no. You are walking the whole time, but for me, it was no different than walking the zoo. The only difference is that this place wasn't as big and had benches that weren't all occupied. Then, you got a walking break during the safari. What made this experience much better than the zoo was that it wasn't super crowded and you got to interact with the animals. We got to feed and touch animals (emu, kangaroo, cow, bison, koi fish, crocodiles, and more). It was an experience that we'll never forget.

Safari: The Safari ride was AMAZING!!! Our instructors were nice and awesome and kept us laughing and entertained. *Make sure to bring animal food on the ride. The safari ride does indeed give you (1) complimentary cup, but you have (3) stops to feed and touch animals on the ride. Trust me when I say it's hard not to interact and run out of your first cup on the first stop. If you have wooden tokens, you can trade them in for food on the ride.

Animal Food: The food at the front is $5.00 or throughout the Preserve, and you'll find areas where you can pay 50 cent for a handful. We opted for the 50 cent food.

Food: There was no actual food for us to eat, but we packed sandwiches, snacks, and drinks and ate after the safari ride. They do have sanitizer throughout the venue, but we still brought our own. Wipes are a good investment as well if sanitizer doesn't make your hands feel really clean.

The Smell: I saw plenty of reviews complaining about the smell. For one, I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. Animals smell, so I was so confused as to why it was even mentioned. Also, there was no repulsive smell throughout our visit. Please ignore those reviews.

Bathrooms: We actually didn't see any actual restrooms, but there were plenty of porta potty's. We had children, so we used them. They were clean. I'm not sure if it's because they are really sticklers about cleaning, or we went earlier enough where there was no room for people to dirty it up. Anywho, it worked out for us.

Overall: We are already planning to go back! This was a...

I feel it prudent to preempt this review with a personal confession- I do not go to zoos or circuses. Seeing wild animals in captivity and on display for human amusement has always and will always make me incredibly upset. I know that not everyone feels so strongly. That being said, I leave the following review.

Positives- Catoctin is incredibly well priced. It is easily affordable to take a family there. You get admission (and I had a coupon from a Valpak in the mail) and can choose to get a feed cup (which I would totally recommend). The entire preserve is shady with many spots to sit down and take a break. You can take your own water and snacks and you can get really close to the exhibits. There is an intermittent food truck-type guy at the end of the park who had decent food. This park is small enough that there aren't large, overwhelming crowds and the flow is very easy.

Negatives- As stated at the start of my review, I am very sensitive to animals in captivity. While we were there recently (late June 2022), there was a hawk that was clearly in distress on the group in its enclosure, a bigger cat that was pacing (which obviously is a sign of distress as its enclosure was not nearly big enough for its needs), wolves with their tails between their legs (a sign of major discomfort), and monkeys clearly and literally reaching out of their enclosure (which was staggeringly small for the amount of monkeys within it).

I get the preserve part of this park and applaud it. However, animals breed in captivity will never be able to be wild... so why are they being bred at all except for human amusement? That's gross to me and it seems like this preserve may be part of the problem of captive animals across the world.

Overall- I don't know that I will ever go here again. I was mis-remembering that they were a rescue and not simply a zoo as I was there many years ago. There are some animals there that are clearly in distress which is beyond upsetting. The park is well designed but I can't get over how upset some of these...

I want to give this place more stars. I really do. It's hard to give it more stars for a few reasons. First, the hand wash stations all did not have water in them. They just sat there, useless. The hand sanitizer stations were low or empty as well. Second, the food selling areas were closed, or they consisted of a couple of random-looking dudes selling some kind of food off the back of their truck and under a tent. The drink vending machines sold you a small soda or gatorade for $2, cash, no credit cards. Third, the people we asked for directions didn't know exactly where anything was, and the signage is ancient. (One sign was celebrating 2008, year of the rat in the Chinese calendar.) There are some maps around, and you can kind of follow those, but some of the exhibits on those maps are no longer there. Fourth, the butterfly garden consisted of a garden where, if you were lucky, you'd see a butterfly. We saw no butterflies. Finally, some of the animal enclosures didn't seem sufficient. Arctic wolves were running around in an open cage in 70-degree weather, panting and looking like they needed something. The petting/feeding areas seemed crowded, with different species in them. A pig almost got gored by a goat's horns when they fought over the food we were feeding them. I'm not a veterinarian, though, but this place has had its share of issues in the past. We finally washed our hands and walked out through a gift store where a group of uninterested employees fiddled with their phones. This place has great potential, but it still has a lot of work to be done in the areas of hygiene and customer service. If you're planning on going, bring your own hand sanitizer or, as we happened to have with us, baby wipes. Expect some of the advertised exhibits to be closed or non-existent. Expect employees to be confused at your questions, and plan to pay extra for drinks, food and feeding the fish or...