Goats and deer and woodchucks—oh my! The Wilderness Walk Zoo and Recreation Park in Hayward, Wisconsin, just isn’t that wild. To be fair, there is a tiger, as well as black bears named Laverne and Shirley. And smaller animals that aren’t exactly tame. The 35-acre Wilderness Walk represents the wilderness of Northern Wisconsin, and the animal life in that area, for the most part, is more mild than wild. We visited the Wilderness Walk last summer and found the attraction to be geared toward kids, but since I’m a big kid, I had a good time.

You can pet the tamest of the animals like the goats and deer, and kids are invited to play with the animals in the nursery.

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With other animals you’ll want to keep your distance.

I thought the zedonk, sometimes called a zonkey, was the most interesting. The zedonk is a hybrid of a female donkey and a male zebra.

Elsewhere in the park, a short trail takes you through a wooded area with educational signage about the various plant life.

We came across some fun animal sculptures in an open area adjacent to the trail.

In the Old West town, another area of the park, we stumbled through a maze.

The mystery house with the angled floor gives the illusion of water flowing upward when you ladle it into the trough.

I happened to visit the Old West town at the wrong time. No sooner did I see a Wanted poster with my picture on it …

… than I ended up behind bars and then in a stockade.

Really—I swear—I didn’t steal the gold.

I panned for it fair and square. And I put it back so some lucky kid could find it.

Be sure to check out our new road trip blog, U.S. Long Cuts.

Speaking of kids, the playground has two suspension bridges. One for this kind of kid …

… and one for this kind of kid.

We spent about an hour and a half at the park. If we had brought children with us, I’m sure we would have stayed even longer because they would have had a wild good time, and it’s a great place for a picnic. The Wilderness Walk Zoo and Recreation Park, open early May through Labor Day, is located on Highway 27 three miles south of Hayward Wisconsin. Check the web site for exact dates, hours and admission rates.

Disclosure: Our visit to the Wilderness Walk Zoo and Recreation Park was hosted by the attraction and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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