Campground Review: Lion Country Safari KOA

Have you ever heard of a campground where you can hear the lions roaring from your campsite?  No, I am not talking about an African safari, this campground exists right in Loxahatchee, Florida.  Lion Country Safari KOA has an onsite zoo where you and your family can have a weekend full of fun!  Let me share our experience:

The Campground

While this campground is a typical RV PArk, with little shade, the campsites are slightly larger than your normal KOA campground and the camp hosts made sure to space out campers so that there was an empty site between campers on non-busy stays.  The onsite laundry facility had 10 washers and 10 dryers, which made doing laundry for a large family quick and convenient.  The camp store, pool, dog park, and playground made our stay even more pleasant.

Lion Country Safari

Of course, the highlight of this RV park was the zoo was is located onsite.  However, there is an additional fee to enter.  Due to how large the zoo is and the that there is a safari feature, you must drive to the zoo from your campsite.  The tour starts with a self-guided 4-mile safari where animals can come right up to your vehicle!  The safari is divided into 7 habitats where you can see animals like rhinos, emu, zebra, alpaca, and of course lions!  There is an online audio tour that will guide you through the habitats and give you facts about the animals you are seeing, which can make it a great educational experience.

Adventure Park

Once the safari is complete, you can park your vehicle and enter the adventure park which includes even more attractions such as amusement rides, a splash park, and a petting zoo, which are all included in the price of your ticket.  Our first stop after the safari ride was walking through the zoo and learning about the other animals on site some of our favorites included:

• flamingos
• macaw
• lorikeet
• coy pond
• monkeys
• goat
• alligator
• sloth

There were also animal encounters where you can pay just a few dollars for the food to feed giraffes and birds which was an experience our kids will never forget.

Attractions

In addition to the animal encounters, there were several rides and activities to do.  The carousel and elephant ride was open while we there and the kids were able to ride them several times with no wait.  There was also a mini-golf course, a train ride, and a mining station which were not open when we visited on a weekday in November.  The kid’s favorite part was of course the water park which we saved until the end of our visit and stayed there until closing.  There were 2 different splash pads, Safari Falls & Safari Splashground.  The larger waterslides were only open on the weekends.

I felt the value of Lion Country Safari was good considering everything that was included in the price of the ticket.  Once you were in the park, there was very little you needed to pay extra for.  I do suggest packing your own snacks and lunch if you are on a budget. The cafe options were pricey although the food was of much higher quality than that of a normal cafeteria-style restaurant  As you can tell we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.  If you are in the area for a longer time, you can check out the offerings in the surrounding West Palm Beach area.  Need an RV Rental to travel to this amazing campground?  Check out our availability here