And this is not just one exceptionally good enclosure - the entire park is like this. Anyone visiting the Northwest U.S. needs to make plans to visit this wildlife park - probably the best in the country.
This little-known wildlife park is definitely one of the best of its kind, and there used to be a few hundred photos in the ZooChat gallery showing the natural exhibits that are spread throughout the grounds. What a pity that there are now less than 40 photos left after the "Great Photo Purge" of 2010, and now many ZooChatters might never know what they were missing out on.
It's no doubt a nice exhibit but I have seen a lot of exhibits that are both naturalistic and in which you can see the bears. This applies to many European zoos for instance, but in those cases it is exhibit, whereas Northwest Trek is simply a fenced-off natural woodland. Having not been there myself, I'd like to hear from those that have how easy it is to spot the bears.
NWTrek is not like most zoos. I think people are more likely to be patient and look hard. If the visitor wanted to see every animal within seconds of getting to the viewing area, they'd never penetrate far enough into the site to get to the bears! That said, I have been there twice and seen the bears in the exhibit each time. Once, right at the viewing shelter. In some of the exhibits (wolves come to mind) the animals may be a bit far away but the effect of seeing them acting naturally in the forest is so terrific that I much prefer it to having them closer but surrounded by rockwork. But that's just me
On my last visit to Northwest Trek (the summer of 2009) I believe that I saw every single animal apart from the red foxes. That includes black bears, grizzly bears, lynx, bobcats, cougars, beavers, wolves, coyotes, otters, fishers, wolverines, raccoons, bald eagles, golden eagles, various species of owls, skunks, porcupines, etc, plus all 7 or so species of hoofstock in the 435-acre enclosure. The exhibits are basically all fenced woodland, but the animals are surprisingly easy to locate. The park is a natural wonder, but much better to visit in the summer as on the hour-long tram ride the windows are removed for increased viewing opportunities. The rest of the park, including a small nature center, is seen on foot within a dense, thick forest.
For the two bear exhibits (grizzly and black) there are walkways that surround the massive, acre-size enclosures. The fencing is typically tall, metal, electrified containment, but the bears are never seen other than with zero obstacles. There is zero mesh, glass, bars, or anything else, and in fact at times I've wondered about the barely perceptible electric fence near the ground that keeps the bears apart from humans in the covered cabin areas for closer viewing.
