I grew up about twenty minutes from The Wilds, and somehow I never visited until I was an adult, back home seeing family. It’s the kind of place you take for granted precisely because it’s right in your own backyard, and I’ve spent three trips since making up for it. The Wilds is a nearly 10,000-acre safari park and conservation center near Cumberland, in the rolling hills of southeast Ohio, where the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium keeps rhinos, giraffes, cheetahs, and dozens of other rare animals on open pastures that you tour by bus. What makes it more remarkable is the land itself, which was strip-mined for coal for decades before it was reclaimed and given back to wildlife. I’ve now been in the deep quiet of a November winter tour, on a hot summer open-air safari, and back again in 2023 for a family visit I’ll tell you about… Read the rest
Savvy Travel Advice