If you’re in the Lake Simcoe area in the summer time, one place you really must visit is the Muskoka Wildlife Centre. The centre fashions its self on being not a zoo, but an ‘interactive learning centre’. I’ve been there twice, and will be looking forward to visiting once more in august of this year.
It’s situated 20 minutes north of Orillia, Ontario or 10 minutes south of Gravenhurst, Ontario on HWY 11 North – so if you’re travelling north you’ll see it on your right, and if you’re travelling south it’ll be on your left. You’ll spot it by their large sign by the side of the road.

Muskoka Wildlife Centre's sign on highway 11.
The Centre offers a glimpse at the wonderful world of Ontario wildlife in and around the Muskoka region- you’ll get to see all the native species such as the Raccoon, Wolves, Skunks, Moose, Bald Eagles, North American Badgers, Porcupines, a Brown Bear, Lynx, Bobcat, Cougar and a whole lot more – a definite must if you want your kids are interested in wildlife, or even for you!
The park is not just set in a typical open area with fences and paths. It’s set in a beautiful setting, in a small wooded area with meandering paths which go up and down small hills – making your trip more exciting and more of an adventure as you walk about the park on carefully signposted tracks hunting for your next enclosure.
But there’s more than simply animals just to look at – as i mentioned earlier, the centre classes its self as being interactive, and that is certainly the case – if you are not told by the kind people when you pay your admission ~ ask them when the next handling is. You will get to meet a variety of different animals from skunks, raccoons, ground hogs and some snakes – though the animals you meet will depend on which animals are available for handling when you visit. This allows yourself and your kids to get a hands on experience – finding out – how do some types of animals actually feel like – is the fur on a skunk super fluffy – or is it more coarse? I’ll leave it up to you to find out!
Please read on to see a gallery of photos and to read more about this must see location:
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Posted in Lake Simcoe, Muskoka, Ontario |