Oregon has the most successful cheetah breeding program outside Africa, and you can drive straight through it
Oregon breeds more cheetahs than any facility on Earth outside Africa, and it happens six miles south of Roseburg, at a place you drive straight through in your own car. Wildlife Safari isn’t a walk-around zoo — it’s 600 acres of open pasture where lions, rhinos, giraffes and cheetahs roam loose while you stay buckled in and let them come to you. No cages, no walking, no strollers stuck in gravel.
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The park opened in 1972 as a nonprofit built around saving endangered species, and its cheetah program has produced more than 200 cubs since — the most of any breeding facility outside Africa, and second in the world only to a center in South Africa. You’ll drive right past the breeding grounds yourself, on the carnivore loop near the end of the route.
The full drive takes about an hour and a half if you don’t stop for photos, which you will. The route moves continent by continent: African plains first, with zebra, ostrich, Watusi cattle, and free-roaming rhino and giraffe, then wetlands, then a North American stretch of bears, bison and elk working through canyon forest, then Asia, before the carnivore loop closes things out with Sumatran tigers and those cheetahs.
Your car is basically your safari vehicle here, so the rules are worth knowing before you show up. Convertibles and Jeeps need their tops up the whole way through, motorcycles aren’t allowed at all, and every vehicle needs full doors and working windows.
Admission runs $29.50 for adults, $26.50 for seniors and $22.50 for kids, with children 2 and under free. Active-duty military, veterans and first responders get in free, and Douglas County residents get a 10% discount at the gate.
Hours shift with the season — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from March through September, trimming to 5 p.m. in October and 4 p.m. from November through March. The park is open 363 days a year and only closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there’s rarely a bad week to swing through if you’re already running I-5.
Skip the assumption that this needs a full day. Ninety minutes gets you elephants, tigers, giraffes and a working cheetah breeding program, no walking and no lines — that’s a hard combination to beat anywhere else in Oregon.
Pets aren’t allowed in the drive-through, but free, unsupervised kennels wait at the entrance if you’re traveling with a dog. Once you’re through, the Safari Village at the exit is free to walk around, with keeper talks running throughout the day if you want a closer look at what just drove past your windshield.
Roll the windows down as far as the rules allow, and see how close a giraffe gets before you’re the one backing off.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel in Roseburg or Eugene before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead — there’s an RV area right on site.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
