A group of us climbs into the open-air green Jeep at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville. We know the Keeper Adventure Tour will be memorable, and we are eager to go off-road and get up close with the bison, elk, mountain goats, and other free-roaming animals.
“Hi, I’m Sunni and will be your tour guide,” says the enthusiastic keeper. “All the animals you’ll see today can be found in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, which is super cool.” When Sunni is not guiding Keeper Adventure Tours, she cares for the animals that call the 435-acre Free-Roaming Area of the wildlife park home.
A large metal gate slowly opens and the Jeep rolls through. Sunni tells us the animals are pretty active, and it will be a great day to see them. A few moments later, she drives the Jeep to the side of a hill to get a closer look at Miss Fairchild, Miss Bailey, Miss Eleanor, and Miss Nettle, white Rocky Mountain goats like you might find while hiking in the Cascade Mountains.
She explains how the female goats tend to hang out together, and the males, or Billy goats, are also usually in a group unless it’s mating season. She talks about their Spiderman-like hiking skills and points out attributes of their hooves that have inspired many a hiking boot.
Sunni talks to the mountain goats like they are her gal pals, and they seem to listen. “They stick out like sore thumbs right now, like little fluffy rocks,” she said.
Then she asks us if we want to feel how soft the goats are. Lucky for us, she has a clump of shed fur that she passes around so everyone can touch it.
“All of our animals are shedding their winter coats,” Sunni says. “As we drive around, you’ll see clumps of hair and fur everywhere. But it’s awesome because nature works together beautifully, and the birds pick it up to build their nests.”
It’s only been about 10 minutes into the journey, and there’s already so much learning and wonder during the 90-minute adventure traversing the flower-dotted meadows, marshy wetlands, under canopies of towering trees, and picturesque vistas.
Suddenly, the majestic bison herd comes into view. Bison are the largest mammals in North America and there used to be a lot more of them in the Pacific Northwest. Sunni knows the Northwest Trek resident bison so well she can get very close with the Jeep. We can see the slobber on their smacking mouths as they snack on long grass, and see their patchy, shedding coats.
In other situations, being this close to a bull bison weighing up to 2,000 pounds would not be ideal. But Sunni can read their body language and knows what’s appropriate for the moment. Our group even gets to touch a clump of bison hair that Sunni picks up and shares with us. And we snap photos of a wild bird sitting on a bison’s back.
In the distance, the keeper spots a large group of black-tailed deer and carefully veers off-road to get a closer look. There are about 30 deer in the park, and they often break into groups.
As Sunni drives along, something catches her attention, and she stops to pick up a giant pair of elk antlers on the ground. Everyone gets a chance to hold them — and they are heavy. At peak season, the males grow antlers to impress the ladies — sometimes inches in a day. “It’s a fast process. They’re saying, ‘Hey girl, I’m so good at eating and surviving. I can grow this massive thing out of my head. I can protect you,” Sunni explained. “They’re showing off. It’s like their Mercedes-Benz.”
She returns the antlers where she found them. Full of calcium, they break down over time and are a tasty and healthy treat for chipmunks, squirrels, and other small animals — nature’s circle of life in action.
Sunni explains that every season, the Keeper Adventure Tour is different. And every visit is one of a kind. You may see a bald eagle swoop into the lake to catch a fish. Roosevelt elk may be sparring during the “rut” or breeding season. And animals may have just had babies.
We enjoy snapping pictures and learning about the animals we spot and the conservation efforts of Northwest Trek and its origins. However, it’s something else that intrigues one fellow guest the most — the sheer beauty of the wildlife park itself.
Keeper Adventure Tours are 90 minutes and available at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily for up to 9 people per tour. Guests must be 5 or older and kids 5-15 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Cost is $55/members and $110/non-members per person. The tours also include admission to experience the rest of the park.