San Diego Zoo Safari Park new mule rides at SDWAP

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
The newest attraction at the San Diego Wild Animal Park is a 2 hour mule ride. Don't expect to ride amongst the antelope - this trip goes into the undeveloped backcountry of the park. Half of the park's acreage is marked for permanent protection as natural California habitat - a very worthwhile (and often unreported) aspect of the Park's work.

Here's a link: Wilderness Ridge Mule Ride
 
Zoo directors of old would shake their heads in disappointment. What became of elephant rides, camel rides etc. ;)
 
EvilKittie said:
seems very expensive for a mule ride :o
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Unfortunately, ALL of the extra activities at SDWAP are expensive. I guess that's life in southern California. I just got the new members magazine (July ZooNooz) that states they have opened a new counter right in front of the entrance to try to sell all these "extras" to guests before they walk in.
 
yeah... it does sound interesting, something I may never do though, just like the zipline. Its too expensive, but the land there does have lots of beauty and historical value from the Mexican War.
 
Honestly, out of all of their "upcharge" attractions... this one intrigues me the most (except the photo caravan)
 
Hi! I just got a phone call today from the SDWAP saying the mule rides have been stopped as of today and may or may not resume some time in Jan due to "unforseen circumstances". Any idea what's going on? I made the reservations for two rides back in early Sept for this week, and I'm only going to be here for a couple of weeks. Another accident? Lawsuit? Animal injury? Other?
 
Well, they were walking thru the mountains on potentially skittish animals. An "incident" was due to happen at some point
 
I really doubt there was an "incident" pertaining to "potentially skittish" animals. It's not like they picked mules who weren't seasoned professionals. There are many other posibilities as to why it is closed that are much more plausable.
 
Heck, when I was a child we rode the Galapagos tortoises in the childrens' zoo in San Diego! That would be unthinkable now due to restrictions on top of restrictions. Sometimes I think we let insurance companies run our lives. Nobody worried about a tortoise stepping on your foot or biting you. It was an accepted risk inherent in the activity. Equine sports are risky and you sign a waiver acknowleding this. From handling mules before, I'd have to say they're a lot more sensible than horses in new situations and much less prone to bolt.
 
I agree, it wouldn't be a liability issue, or else we'd all know about it because its impossible to keep those things secret. Its probably something like trail damage or something with the mules. It did rain the last week, but I don't like 1/4 of an inch would destroy the trail.. =/
 
TheSnakeLady said:
Heck, when I was a child we rode the Galapagos tortoises in the childrens' zoo in San Diego! That would be unthinkable now due to restrictions on top of restrictions. Sometimes I think we let insurance companies run our lives. Nobody worried about a tortoise stepping on your foot or biting you. It was an accepted risk inherent in the activity. Equine sports are risky and you sign a waiver acknowleding this. From handling mules before, I'd have to say they're a lot more sensible than horses in new situations and much less prone to bolt.
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I would guess that the tortoise riding in the CZ was discontinued due to concern for the tortoises more than the other way around...
 
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