Rhino Barn Tour @ The Wilds

Summary

For this event, we will do the Rhino Barn Tour at The Wilds, a ten-thousand acre conservation center in Muskingum County. It is the largest such center in North America and one of the largest in the entire world.

During this tour, we'll visit The Wilds' rhino herd in their state-of-the-art heated barns and learn how The Wilds' animal management team takes care of one of the largest herds of rhinos outside of Africa and Asia.

The date and time of this tour

We will be doing the 1:00 p.m. Rhino Barn Tour on Saturday, February 28. The tour is scheduled to last 90 minutes.

What you need to do to attend

Signing up here on Meetup will not get you into The Wilds for the tour. You must go out to The Wilds' website and buy a ticket.

Please purchase your ticket, then sign up here on Meetup so I know how many to expect.

Attendance cap

There are only eight total slots/tickets available for this tour. As I obviously have already bought one of the tickets, that leaves seven spaces for everyone else.

If you are interested in this event, I urge you to buy a ticket at The Wilds' website as soon as possible. Since their website is obviously public, nothing prevents other people having nothing to do with GOhio! from buying their own tickets, thereby potentially taking an available slot away from you.

Additional notes on attendance

I have now run several events at The Wilds. While the location of The Wilds and the pricing of the tickets generally leads to small turnouts, the people who have gone have all enjoyed it and were glad they went.

If you've never been to The Wilds and you like zoos or animals at all, you are likely to find any tour at The Wilds to be a rewarding experience.

Tickets and pricing

Tickets for this tour are $95, or $76 if you're a Wilds' member. I've posted screen shots, below, to help you be sure you're buying tickets for the correct event.

Wilds' memberships pay for themselves if you go to The Wilds at least twice a year, and Columbus Zoo members get a discount on memberships to The Wilds. I will always run at least two events a year at The Wilds.

Tickets for all Wilds' tours must be purchased at least 24 hours in advance of the actual tour.

Cancellations and refunds

Per The Wilds' Cancellation Policy: In order to be eligible for refund and accrue no rescheduling fees, cancellations must be made at least 14 days in advance of reservation. Cancellations made within 14 days of reservation will not receive a refund.

You may contact The Wilds at (740) 638-5030 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or you can email them at information@thewilds.org.

Waiver of liability

After you purchase your ticket, you will likely be asked to fill out a waiver of liability. This is a very short document and should take you no more than two minutes to complete.

Where we'll meet

We will meet at The Wilds, whose actual address is 14000 International Rd, Cumberland, OH 43732.

Please try to be there by 12:30 p.m. For most Wilds' tours, a shuttle bus will take you to the actual spot of the tour. So think of this as though you're going to the airport to catch a flight. It helps to be on time.

The Wilds generally asks that people arrive at least thirty minutes because the scheduled start time of their tour.

GPS / Getting to The Wilds

The Wilds is in a very rural area, but I've never had a problem getting there with my GPS (I have Verizon). I've also uploaded a JPG map, below, of Muskingum County.

Sometimes, though, it's hard to get a signal when you're at The Wilds and getting ready to leave. So you might want to consider downloading an offline map in Google Maps. Your cell phone should pick up a signal, however, within a few minutes after you leave.

The Wilds' Visitor Center does have free Wi-Fi.

Carpooling?

If you want to carpool, I recommend discussing this in the comments, below, to this event. While I don't myself carpool, I will do what I can to help you arrange something if I can.

The weather

Dress for the weather. Just because the barn is heated doesn't mean it will be warm. And wear closed-toed shoes.

Wilds' tours typically run no matter what the weather is.

After the tour

Once we're done with the rhinos, we'll head over to the very highly rated Y-Bridge Brewing Company. The brewery is about thirty minutes from The Wilds, and it will be on the way back to Columbus for most, if not all, of us. The brewery's actual address is 1417 Linden Ave Ste D, Zanesville, OH 43701.

Y-Bridge Brewing does not serve food; however, they have several food options. I encourage you to check these out ahead of time on their website for yourself. However, here are a few of them:

Within walking distance -- 120 feet away

• Angry Bull Saloon (pizza & subs)
• The Corner Pub Sports Bar and Grill (classic bar food)

Delivery options -- Door Dash

• 4 Star Pizza, (740) 452-9300
• Donatos, (740) 452-7900
• Pizza Cottage, (740) 455-6000
• Dominos, (740) 455-3126
• Papa John's, (740) 450-4100

If you live in the area or can't make The Wilds but still want to meet us at the brewery, that's fine too.