REXBURG ATTRACTIONS: “Don’t know If I can Bear It”
by Jenna Shirley Scoresby
Every summer my family flees the harsh desert climate to make our pilgrimage back to our Mecca: Rexburg, Idaho. My mouth is already watering when I think of being able to order fry sauce at a drive-in. I can’t wait to be able to go outside at noon and not swelter. It’s interesting making touristy plans for my children as a native of the city myself. We have a few attractions that we never miss out on when we go “home.”
Cress Creek: if you’ve never hiked Cress Creek you are missing out on beautiful views of the Snake River. It’s an easy family hike, a little rugged at the top but not strenuous. If you want to find out how to get there, visit this website http://www.visitidaho.org/thingstodo/outdoor-education/cress-creek-nature-trail.aspx
My kids like to wade in the “crick.” If you are nature-savvy you can harvest a little watercress and take it home for a vitamin-filled, but possibly giardia-filled snack.
Tautphaus Park: a very do-able zoo with toddly kids. Unfortunately we always go in mid-summer when all the animals are too smart to come out and show off in the heat. We just have to take the Zoo’s word for it that the animal on the label really is in there somewhere. But the monkeys alone make it worth the ticket. If you can stand the smell.
The Riot Zone: We are actually doing this as part of our family reunion this year. We usually get stuck at the Kiddie Fun Activity Bounce for hours, but we hope to graduate to mini-golf or go-karts even this time. Man, I wish we would have had this in high school. It would have made planning for prom so much easier on the guys.
And of course we go to Heise Hot Springs where I learned to swim as a kid. Now my kids can swim in the exact same place I did. And I mean the exact same place. It hasn’t changed at all since. At all. It’s like a time-warp in there. One day I’ll go back and there will be some serious renovation and upgrading…right?
One thing that I’ve never indulged in is Bear World the highly advertised enigma of an attraction that curiously asserts itself as Yellowstone, although it’s actually located 5 miles south of Rexburg. My hang-up about it is I feel like why should I pay for something that I can pretty much see from the freeway? Plus I once saw the Daily Show with Jon Stewart when he was totally mocking the entire operation. That may have tainted my opinion. (I searched for this clip in vain but to no avail.)
So I thought I’d ask Rexburbia: Have you been there? It looks like entry for my family would be around $70. Seriously, is it worth it? What am I missing?
Many years ago (like 10 or so) I lived out in the Thornton/Lorenzo area where Bear World was ‘built’. I drove by it many times without seeing much more than what you can see from the highway. Later, after I moved to Tetonia, a co worker who had purchased an all day pass for some relatives who were visiting invited a bunch of us to pile into the van (to which the free pass had been assigned) to go down and have a look. We rode down, and went through the winding track revealing animals carefully hidden from the view from the road. It was, perhaps predictably, sad. One of the wolves had 3 legs. The grizzly bear paced along a pen made of electrified fence. Can you get close views of the animals? Yes. Are there wolves, bears and grizzly bears? Yes. Is it the pinnacle of tourist trap-dom? Yes. Is it worth the $70 or so? No. I’m not sure it is even worth going for free, unless you just want to get it out of your system. The stretch that they make to have the ‘Yellowstone’ connection is is more tenuous than the naming of the ‘grand teton mall’ for a peak that cannot be seen from there.
There are many wonderful things in the greater Rexburg area, but I’m afraid Bear World isn’t one of them.
That just sounds sad. Now, if it was called “Three Legged Wolf World” I would be tempted to take a visit.
Thanks, JamesBC on the feedback. It’s just as I expected then. I’ll use my tourist dollars for bowling at the American Family Entertainment Center instead.
I only go to Bear World on Mother’s Day weekend when i am free and all my kids 5 and under are free. My Husband Dave usually has to work. It’s definately not worth what they charge but we did have fun feeding the bears with stale donuts and rotten fruit from the back of a really tall truck. Of course no the charge extra just to ride the truck and then they take your picture and want another $20 to keep it. My in-laws took my kids once and a bear actually stood on the hood of there car. Thay also have a petting zoo and you can pay another $20 if you want to feed the bear cubs. So if you have plenty of money to burn. Go for it!!!
Bearworld. We found it to be fun. It is relaxing to drive around and see the animals. The kids loved the petting zoo, the pig was so mean it was fun. We did pay to feed the baby bears, it was exspensive, but we did it. This was about 5 years ago and my kids still remember and talk about it, I am glad we did it and would go again. There are not as many bears as SD bear world, but it is more peacefuland has a petting zoo.
Riot zone: cleanest go cart park I have ever been too. Kids and husband love it. You could could spend alot there, thank goodness no arcade. Good clean fun!
Tautphus park, Idaho falls: wonderful fun playground, small amusement park ferris wheel ECt… Cheap simple fun. Zoo has a fun winding path, cool and shady and not to big. Perfect!! Inexspensive fun with alot of variety along a beautiful river.