Northwest Trek

A couple of weekends ago Robb and I utilized a "buy one admission, get one free" to visit Northwest Trek. Northwest Trek is a 723 acre wildlife park, containing both a free-roaming area and traditional 'zoo exhibits'. What makes Northwest Trek special is the free-roaming area that is accessible by tram ride, and that it also only has animals that are specific to the Northwest United States.

The tram ride was really interesting. About 435 acres are fenced in for a variety of animals to roam around in at their whim. The tram ride is an hour long tour throughout the fenced area, all the while searching for one of the many species that are allowed to roam free. We spotted mountain goats, elk, bison, big horn sheep, moose, and even caribou. (The moose were elusive, and you could hardly spot them through the trees. The caribou was interesting because they are so endangered in the United States). We even spotted a wild bald eagle eating something delicious in the woods.

As for the traditional zoo exhibits, we saw bald eagles, a variety of owls, black bears, grizzly bears, raccoons, otters, fishers, wolves, cougars, bobcats, wolverines, etc. The bobcat was really active when we were there and was running around, up and down trees, and even meowing. The cougar was really neat too. But our all time favorite animal exhibit was the wolverines. There were two wolverine kits (almost a year old) that were fascinating. I didn't know that wolverines could be so fast. And while I know that they are vicious animals, I had no idea that they could be so mean to each other. Sure, they're siblings, and they were just play-fighting, but man those are some scary animals. So they were chasing each other around forever! Really fun to watch. We probably watched them for a good half hour.

Pictures are posted below. We really had a great time. The animals were really active and fun, and every time we do something Northwest-specific, I feel happy.