Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
4.5
About
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is located at Mile 79 of the Seward Highway. AWCC is a non-profit sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, research, and quality animal care. The sanctuary maintains over 200 acres of spacious habitats for resident animals to feel at home displaying their natural wild behavior. It is common for visitors to see brown bears swimming, moose strutting, wood bison roaming, muskox playing, wolves posing, porcupines climbing, and more! AWCC has been able to provide care for hundreds of displaced animals because visitors to AWCC have made critical contributions in the form of admission fees, tours, donations, memberships, and gift shop purchases. General Admission tickets to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center do not sell out. Tickets can be purchased upon arrival the day of your visit. Or book a tour or Animal Encounter! Book early and enjoy Moose Encounters, Bear Encounters, and Walk on the Wild Side Tours.
Duration: 2-3 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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  • slvf7
    Mount Pleasant, South Carolina45 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    LOVED this experience!
    A must to see! We visited earlier in the morning. The animals had recently been fed and they were fairly frisky. We saw the black bear climb quickly to the top of one of the trees in his very spacious living environment. We saw the wolves come together packlike and start howling. I felt like I was living National Geographic. The moose, reindeer, bears, bison, elk, ....were amazing and the environment for each was spacious. Thrilled to see how AWCC is nurturing a learning and healthy environment for the animals. Definitely recommend AWCC!
    Visited May 2023
    Written May 26, 2023
  • PoohRules
    147 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent Alaska Wildlife Center
    When I saw below someone rated them three stars for taking more care of the animals than the guests, I had to correct that the best way I can. Clearly that visitor is not able to read and understand the purpose of this place. They do amazing work with these animals and obviously take great care of them, and they deserve it! We loved our visit! The paddocks are large and yet getting up close to the animals is so amazing. I was stunned at how close we got to a brown bear. The staff were very attentive to the animals. In a way, I wish we would have gotten to take a tour to learn more about the animals and the organization. We walked through on our own. It was a chilly, misty, windy day, but we still had so much fun. We would both highly recommend this as a visit if in Anchorage, or on your way to/from Seward.
    Visited May 2023
    Written May 28, 2023
  • Dickenson Family
    Kemptville, Canada938 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Muddy Adventure
    We stopped here on a bus tour for about 45 min, which was not enough time to see everything. We were there in May and it was rainy so it was quite muddy. Lots of animals to see, would have loved to spend more time as it is quite large.
    Visited May 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written June 1, 2023
  • Greg W
    Suwanee, Georgia10 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Can't miss, must visit stop on your trip to Alaska!
    I was in charge of taking a large group of over 100 to the Wildlife Center as part of a conference. They were fantastic to work with while setting up our visit (thank you Nicole!) The visit was fantastic and all the attendees loved their time at the center. The most beautiful place to see animals I've ever been to. This is a must stop when visiting Alaska! Thank you again to the entire team at the AWCC for an incredible morning.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled on business
    Written June 1, 2023
  • Dave Skis
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Go here to see wildlife up close
    Go here to see the Big 5 + lots more up close. It's great to see them from train or bus but they're often far away dots - here I was probably 20 feet from a grizzly bear! The Wood Bison are also extremely big.
    Visited June 2023
    Written June 2, 2023
  • iowacityia
    2,128 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Tuesday, May 23rd visit.
    Our motor coach arrived around 2pm. This was on our way to Anchorage, as part of our Holland America land tour. After our cruise. I really wasn’t expecting much from this stop, but I was pleasantly surprised. And for me, this environment the animals are in, is much more enjoyable than seeing them in the smaller confined areas of some zoos. This was not saddening to see at all. Just the opposite. We saw plenty of animals. The bear, and wolves, stood out for me. But there was plenty to see. They have a nice gift shop, some food stalls at the main building too. Very nice. This was a nice stop during our land tour, and I would visit this again.
    Visited May 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written June 3, 2023
  • Jon C
    Franklin, Tennessee4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    IN the cold rain still worth it
    Do not miss the bears......they are incredible and beautiful. Planned on a trip into the wild to see bears, but postponed cause this was so good. (real reason was bad weather, but at the end of the day, we were thrilled being so close to both brown and black bears)
    Visited May 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written June 5, 2023
  • Carlos
    21 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A must in Alaska!
    No visit to Alaska is complete if you do not go to AWCC. You get to see all the local animals you want with a great policy: they provide shelter for Alaska Wildlife in need of help. Imagine some cubs that loose their mom. They will die in a few days unless AWCC finds them. It is a must! You will love it.
    Visited June 2023
    Written June 17, 2023
  • LAMMER13
    Rochester Hills, Michigan334 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Informative. Worth the visit.
    Love what they do for the animals. Laid out in a 1 1/2 mile circuit. Can be walked, driven, biked. If it’s a nice day, definitely recommend walking. Opportunities to get up close to the animals. The bears and the wolves were a favorite. There is even a three legged porcupine who was rescued. He loved his photo ops, The signage is very informative. They tell the story of how the animals were acquired. The animals are very well taken care of. Great for families, kids, solo travelers. A “must see” if you have time.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written June 19, 2023
  • Susan R
    11 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Awesome Creatures in a Beautiful Location
    You will never be as close to a grizzly or black bear than this! My family of five had a wonderful time walking the trails and taking photos. Definitely worth the time to schedule this experience into your Alaska trip. And the backdrop of the mountains is gorgeous!
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written June 21, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles3,876 reviews
Excellent
2,413
Very good
1,051
Average
306
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65
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xiphoid76
Minneapolis, MN554 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021 • Couples
Sad place, would not recommend. I don’t understand how they have so many positive reviews. The animals were in small enclosed areas. So much nicer to see them in the zoo where they are much better taken care of. 17 dollars per person is a rip off. The road was unkempt, no walking path.
The moose encounter was a bait and switch - you pay 15 dollars per person to feed a moose a dandelion for 10 seconds. Not set up to take a picture and no education - what a waste of 30 dollars for two of us.
Save your money and drive the road to Seward and see many moose on the way in the natural habitat or go to the zoo and see the animals there in a much more humane environment.
Written June 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RickFLL
Fort Lauderdale, FL372 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
This conservation center provides a home for orphaned wild animals. All the animals are rescues and are fixed so that they can’t reproduce, except for the bison which are endangered, so in turn are encouraged to reproduce. Visitors can adopt an animal through contributions. Note that this is not a zoo, as there are no cages (except for the eagle). It’s all outside with 18 to 20 very large enclosures and there is a lot of walking (however you can also drive by most of the enclosures in your car). Because it’s all outside, It could be a challenge on a rainy day. Be sure to wear good sensible and sturdy shoes because of the gravel and dirt roads and paths. I enjoyed the visit and took a lot of great pictures of bison, moose, antelope, reindeer, musk ox, bears and wolfs. And a porcupine and bald eagle too. Be sure to bring your camera so that you can zoom in on the animals. The enclosures are large, so spotting some of the animals can at times be a challenge, but certainly worth your effort. I would recommend to family and friends, but be very aware that you have to be mobile (able to walk unaided) to see much of it.
Written August 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Erin Nic
3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021
Fairly cool place to see some of Alaska's elusive wildlife, but manage your expectations (as other posters have noted). The animals are inside fenced enclosures and when we were there, being fed so they stayed close to the fences.

Upon being advised to visit here by the Anchorage Visitors Center, I was a bit apprehensive. I typically do not like centers or animal viewing opportunities like this because I don't care to see animals in enclosures (so....not a zoo person, like at all). I've seen one too many animal appear to be stressed out and pacing, especially the predator animals that are meant to live in 100's of miles of range. That being said, I did not see one pacing animal and all appeared to be happy, healthy and living their best critter lives. I learned through the center that all the animals there are rescues of some sort and likely would have died if not brought to the center for rehab. Post-rehab, they were not able to be released to the wild for various reasons so they help the world learn about who they are and live their best lives possible.

One of the cons we experienced were some of the people present. Sad, but true. You can either walk or drive the loop to view the animals and most of the people walking showed zero regard or recognition for those that were driving the loop. Many walked straight down the gravel driving road or, worse, let their kids run wild and then gave us the "stink eye" as we SLOWLY drove (rather crawled) past so as to be mindful of their unwatched children. I don't know how you fix this as it's not the Center's fault, but it did diminish the experience for us a bit. Sure, we could have walked it, and did some portions, but were on bit of a schedule and driving the loop was the better option for us.
Written September 13, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

calliam
Winston Salem, NC104 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
We were really looking forward to our Moose encounter but we ended up standing in a huge line with lots of other people who had also paid for the moose encounter. We waited for a VERY long time while they desperately tried to get one moose to come over and then we had maybe 3 minutes for four of us to poke some leaves through the railing and then was ushered off the little walkway. If you visit do not pay for the encounters - they are not worth it at all.
Written July 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Hannah K
Benicia, CA13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Couples
My fiancé and I booked a “walk on the wildside tour” during our Alaska trip and I honestly cannot believe we were the only ones on the tour!

Our tour guide was Cannon and he did an amazing job showing us around and teaching us about the animals. We got to go in and feed the porcupine named Kit Kat - who was adorable. We also got to feed and pet the female deer in the enclosure - the males were skittish lol.

I learned so much and saw so much more than I would have with regular admission and I HIGHLY recommend this tour for couples or families with kids. So many great photo opportunities!

Great experience!
Written June 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello Hannah, Thank you for visiting and for your review. We're glad you enjoyed your Walk on the Wild Side tour and hanging out with Kit Kat! We hope you'll tell your friends and family about your positive experience with us. See you next time! Best, Pete
Written August 9, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Dreamer761531
Hendersonville, NC19 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
I was familiar with AWCC because of seeing them on TV, so I wanted to visit when we planned our Alaska trip. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and the entrance fee is well worth it and goes to a great cause. These were the only bears we got to see while in Alaska :) The enclosures are roomy and don’t make you think of a zoo at all. In fact, you won’t necessarily see all of the animals because the enclosures are so roomy for them and they have natural places to hide. That said, we did see all of the animals.
Written September 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

alltravellvr
Ohio389 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022
Despite reading TA reviews, we honestly came here not certain what to expect, and we're so glad we made this a stop! It's very easy to get to, and as you pull in, there's a booth where you pay and receive a map. Ahead, you can choose to either park and walk the 1.5 mile loop or drive it and stop along the way. We chose to walk, and that's what I would recommend. There's not lots of places to park along the way, and you don't get to see the animals in the fields or inside barns as close from the car. It was an easy walk, and surprisingly fun to watch the animals in a somewhat natural environment. The bear enclosure has a nice ramp from which you have a great vantage point, and we were there the hour or so before feeding, and they were very active. As someone else commented, it would be wise to bring drinks, snacks, and/or lunch because they have limited food services. The entrance fee goes to a good cause - rescuing and providing sanctuary for injured animals. Kids would love this! Plan on 2+ hours inside, dependent on how fast you walk and the time you want to spend on each animal.
Written July 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Katherine Z
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Couples
We decided to go to the conservation center hoping to see different animals and salvage a gloomy day; we unfortunately did not. We felt the conservation center was extremely over priced for the experience ($25/person). We were really hoping to see wolves, some bears, moose, etc. While we technically saw all of these but the bears, it was underwhelming and disappointing. The animals seemed to lack energy and seemed skinny/malnurished. We were told we could drive through the park as many times as we wanted, but that seemed pointless. Honestly, based on price of admission, and the lack of animals, I’d recommend going to the zoo.
Written February 23, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi there! Thank you so much for visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and we are so sorry to hear your visit did not meet your expectations. The AWCC is home to over 15 species, with over 150 residents. We can assure you these creatures receive top notch care from our round the clock staff of highly trained individuals looking after their well being. Our keepers know these animas by name, and pay close attention to their weights and diets. We are glad you were able to see most of the species on your list (aside from the bears who are in torpor at the moment), and we hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Alaska!
Written February 24, 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

KCruise92
29 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
My family and I recently visited Alaska, and the AWCC was one of our most anticipated destinations. We booked the Moose Encounter and the Walk on the Wild Side Tour. The moose encounter was fantastic! We loved getting to meet these wonderful animals up close! The staff limited the number of guests on the boardwalk where you get the feed the moose, and this lead to it feeling like a more private experience. While you get limited time with the animals due to other people booking the encounter, I never felt rushed or like I was being pushed out to accommodate other guests. We then walked around the facility and explored until it was time for our other guided tour. We had a great time on the Walk on the Wild Side Tour. Our guides were very knowledgeable and friendly, and we really enjoyed learning some of the personal stories of the animals in their care. We even got to do some animal encounters, which were an added bonus to the experience. If you are looking for a fun economical animal encounter, I highly recommend the moose encounter! If you are looking for a more personal experience, and have questions/want to learn more about the animals in their care and Alaska, I would recommend the guided tour. Guests were required to wear masks for all animal encounters, but otherwise masks were not required when walking around outside. Overall, we had a fantastic time and the views around the facility made it even better.
Written July 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ryan n
Apollo Beach, FL82 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
Our group of 8 stopped in here on our way from Seward to Anchorage to see the "wild" animals. It is a little pricey at $17 an adult but they have a good number of Alaskan animals in pretty natural setting. We saw black bear, brown bears, reindeer, Moose, and some other stuff. They have a food truck on site as well.
Written July 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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