briarwood auto safari

Took the family here and wow! The park workers were out of their way friendly. Not expensive at all. You can actually pet most of the animals. "Way better than the zoo!" Said my kids :-)

Wonderful animal park for all ages. You can drive your own vehicle or go with a group on a wagon pulled by a tractor. I recommend the wagon. They make several stops for you to feed the animals. They have these buckets of animal food that you can purchase before you start your adventure. If you have kids, be sure to take them to Briarwood .

This place was amazing! We had a great time. The gentlemen running the place were very helpful.All the animals on the safari were sweet. This is a don't miss for sure!!

Love this place... super fun for anyone of any age. Recommend driving your own vehicle through (makes it more fun)...however you will be cleaning feed out of your car for months. Its worth it though!

This is such a fun place! We took our car thru the first time which was fine, however, I highly recommend the wagon as you have more opportunity to take pictures and you are more relaxed and can interact better with all the animals. They have beautiful grounds and the animals are so fun to watch. The llama's were very eager to get their snout's in the buckets of food. The white buffalo was beautiful and all of the animals were enjoyable. The staff were very friendly. I highly recommend this place and I look forward to our next visit!

Must drive through and have folks in back of pickup with food buckets. Animals come right up and eat, we had a buffalo lick the tailgate, it was hilarious. Animals all look healthy and happy and all the visitors, kids and adults were happy too!

We traveled to East Tennessee to visit my side of the family. My wife discovered Briarwood in a tourism brochure and wanted to go see the Safari. My Mom joined us as we drove out to meet the exotic critters. We purchased 3 buckets of food and entered the woods where the wild things lived. The farm had gotten a huge load of tomatoes from a local farm and was spreading them through the woods. This brought the animals out as they happily munched on the fruit. We were there on a quiet day and were able to stop often and take plenty of pictures. We found Custer, the rare white buffalo, who was contentedly dining on the tomatoes. There were some deer, goats and zebras who came up to our car to get some of the feed. We moved on observing the plethora of animals gathered for the fresh food. The highlight of the drive through the woods had to be our encounter with the llamas. While the zebras would stick their head in the window they were easy enough to get past without any hassle. The llamas had the advantage of height and the flexibility to get their heads deep into our car. My wife fed them in the backseat while I drove and took pictures. There was one good looking llama we dubbed 'Larry'. Larry was tenacious about keeping up with the car and getting all the food my wife would share. We decided Larry had eaten enough and I drove on but Larry kept pace and his head in the window. I stopped so my wife could safely roll up the window. Larry figured this out and quickly cut in front of the car. Once he cleared the road I moved on thinking we were done with Larry. The road through the woods curves around and as we came around a sharp bend we were greeted by the sight of a smug Larry who was standing in the middle of the road blocking our way. We figured he deserved a reward for knowing to take a shortcut to catch us so he got some more feed. He followed us until we neared the exit where the birds were fenced in. Just be wary of trying to roll up a window while these animals are trying to stick their heads in your vehicle. Keep situational awareness and have fun. Once out of the fenced in area we parked and got out to visit the petting zoo portion. This was my first opportunity to interact with a wallaby. I was surprised how soft their muzzles were as this fellow ate feed out of my hand. All of the critters we hand fed did a great job in not biting or using their teeth. They were very cooperative and their lips felt like furry fingers as they picked the feed. My wife really wanted to see the lemurs. They had already been fed and were back in their house. Thankfully we were talking to Pauline, who was feeding the animals, and she rousted the lemurs from their siesta. We got to see all three while they snacked on some fresh fruit. They spent about 15 minutes with us before they retired again but it was enough time to enjoy them. We crossed the road to see the Jacob's Four Horned Sheep, the peacocks, the swans, etc., but the store was closed that day. I would suggest spending at least 2 to 2 1/2 hours at Briarwood.

We visited Briarwood Ranch on 9-16-14 and after driving 2 hours we were very disappointed in our visit.The employees we talked to were nice and friendly, but this is the 2nd rudest we have ever been treated by a business. We arrived just after opening on Tuesday morning and inquired about a wagon tour. The man that i took to be in charge told us that I could take my own vehicle as it might be an hour before enough people showed up to make a wagon tour feasible. I had read reports (on this site) about vehicles being damaged by the animals and i did not want to take mine inside.We were told that we could walk around the petting zoo while we waited. We did that and no one else showed up to take a wagon tour. The man told us how slow business was this time of year and i soon got the impression that we were not going to be taken on a wagon tour. he did not tell me this directly, but he did keep hinting about me taking my own vehcile even after i had told him that i did not want to.Well, we waited around for over 2 hours and still nothing. The man in charge went inside and went up the hill and did not come back and i could not help but get the impression that he was ignoring us and was hoping we would leave so he would not have to deal with us.Well, he got his wish as when 2 and a half hours rolled up, we got in our vehicle and left with our money still in our pocket. He obviously wasn't interested in our $40. He might know about critters, but he did not appear to know much at all about business nor customer relations.As i said earlier, i thought we were treated very rude and we will not be back..i would not recommend anyone visit there unless they are with a group as Briarwood Ranch does not seem to be interested in a retired couple out on a Tuedasy morning.We won't be back.

When you experience something so unique and wild, you start to wonder if it's really legal. That's what I kept thinking during our auto safari. I couldn't believe how close we were able to get to the animals here with no workers around. I had two Zebras heads in my car within inches of me and then one of the zebras sneezed. Extremely gross but it added to an experience that I will always cherish and never forget. My 10 year son was able to feed and pet a zebra, he'll always be able to say that, I can't think of anywhere else in the world outside of Africa that you can do that. So I ask again, how can this be legal. Anyone in this area or visiting the Smoky Mountains needs to make the trip up to Briarwood, you won't be disappointed.

Great price! Great staff! Perfectly hilarious fun!We decided to stop and check out the safari as we made our 8 hour journey from NC to AL. Best decision ever! My mom and I were traveling together, and I wasn't sure she was really up for this adventure. We both had a terrific time! This is the most up close and personal I've ever come to exotic animals. They literally stick their heads in your car window. We did get feed all over the car, not because the road was bumpy, but because we were freaking out as the animals ate from our hands! Be sure to save some feed for the animals in the petting/fenced areas at the end and across the street. We got 3 buckets and had enough. We almost did the wagon, but decided to go in our own car. I'm glad we did. In the wagon you're exposed, but in our car we had the option to roll up the windows when we got overwhelmed. The wagon does have the benefit of a guide though, and I'm sure the friendly and knowledgable staff do a great job of that.I can't wait to do this again and now have all my family and friends looking for an excuse to travel to the area and experience the safari!

Briarwood drive thru safari was just ok. We took our 3 & 7 yr olds & allowed them to ride in the front of our van with us. We had 2 buckets of feed but it was also feeding time for the animals, which pretty much had a lot of them at the beginning of the zoo. Those were right there at our van to see quite well...however they didn't seem too interested in us...except for a few & one decided to stick his whole entire upper body inside my window...which caused both kids to freak out...the 7 to was I. The very back end of the van in record time & the 3 year old was screaming like a banshie...the animal (whatever he was...looked like a cross between a reindeer, no horns, & a horse) didn't seem to care he'd just scarred my kids for life...animal food was going everywhere...I mean he was pretty much on my lap, while my husband had finally noticed (he had been feeding a calm deer out his window) after I yelled at him...to get the kid while I tried to get the animal out of our vehicle before he completely climbed in....LMBO!!! Oh how I wish the video camera had been rolling!!!! So....we tried to feed the zebra...nah, he was trying to get to the feed trough. :/. So we journey up the hill hoping to see more animals...we did a few, but overall not a whole lot. It was funny to see the big ole hog running off the deer trying to get his food. Too much of the journey was just driving thru the woods on a dirt road, no animals in sight, which was disappointing. Near the end were some Alpacas I'm assuming. They were sweet & I was able to feed them out of my hand. The kids enjoyed walking around at the end where the animals were caged & couldn't get to them. Lol. The cost was $50. For us all $ $3. For feed, I thought it was a little too much to pay, but I guess they have to pay for animal food & upkeep, so it was ok. I wish there would have been a place to wash my hands at the end. There may have been across the street at the store, but the kids were ready to go, so we had to find a gas station to run in to wash our hands. Yuk! After 3:00 pm they said you could home back the next day for free, but we really didn't want to. I'm sure it was a one time thing as it was nice, but I just wasn't blown away. However if I could recreate the incident at the beginning of our self driven tour, I'd video it & submit it to funniest home videos. :)

Feedin' Hungry Critters Is Simply Awesome! Will come again soon!Feedin' Hungry Critters Is Simply Awesome! Will come again soon!

this is a great place a whole lot of fun we drove her own car through fed the animals my dad who is handicapped I was able to do this and had an amazing time it was a lot of fun can't wait to go back

It was more than we expected. Our ten year old grandson loved it. You can go straight to it or go to Newport and take a group hayride. Call or visit website for times and special occasions

We went here with a church group. The kids had a blast feeding the animals. A word of advice, take their tractor pulled trailer tour rather than driving your own vehicle unless you have an old beat up truck. The animals will be rough on your car to get to the food. They don't have the greatest bathrooms and you should bring your own picnic lunch if you want to eat while you are there. Basically this place is a huge petting zoo.