Highland Wildlife Park

We visited the highland wildlife park while staying in the area. You drive up a long driveway to get to the payment office which are two cabins, you pay without leaving your car. At this point we were also given a map and told where the blue badge parking was , there are a few spaces but as the car park is a reasonable size parking isn’t a problem . The paths around the zoo are described as gravel. It wasn’t loose or deep gravel more impact gravel a bit uneven in places, you might need. Avoid the odd large stone or tree root. But I didn’t really have any issues getting round with my scooter it did cut out twice but that was Because I hadn’t turned it up to full power. Would have been hard work if in a wheelchair due to the slope. The park also have two scooters which guests can borrow, but these are on first come first basis. The only part we couldn’t access was at the very top where the slop is very steep and unsustainable for wheelchairs or scooters. There are plenty of viewing areas by all the large enclosures with boards giving information on the animals. We were lucky enough to get to see Brodie the young polar bear born in December 2021, he was playing with his mother, there was a member of staff at this enclosure to monitor the number of people in the viewing area. She told us all about the cub and also told us the best paths to use to get the best out of our visit. She told us not to go further than the snow leopards. Which were definitely worth seeing , as they had three four month old cubs . When we got to this enclosure the keepers were just feeding the snow leopards and were on hand. To answer any questions. Nearly all the animals here prefer a colder climate, we also saw Scottish wildcats, these are. Part of a conservation project which means only some are on view to the public. We had lunch at the cafe, both entrances have slops and its fully accessible with room to get around with my scooter. There are a few tables inside others outside under a cover overlooking the snow monkey enclosure. We sat here and enjoyed having lunch while watching the monkeys play. It’s. Not a big menu in the cafe just a selection sandwiches, cakes and hot or cold drinks, due to my allergies I ended up having a child’s cheese roll as none of the sandwiches were suitable. Having said that it was ok. Once we had finished going round the park, we took a drive through the safari drive through area where you get to see camels, bison deer, przewalski horses, elk, vicuña,takin. Overall it was a great day out..

Generally accessible, although I definitely needed the whole family to act as human brakes/throttles on the really steep hills

I have visited here before but I enjoyed it even more this time. It was a bit of a drive but it was more then worth it. Accessibility is always important for me and this was no different, not all paths were easy but I managed. I was impressed with the fact that all viewing platforms were accessible, some people may struggle on some paths as it's a bit hilly. I think some paths have been upgraded recently which was helpful. We got some great views of the animals.