Day Trips From Columbia, SC: Eudora Farms Drive-Thru Safari Park

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Photo courtesy of Eudora Farms Safari Park

Eudora Farms is a drive-thru safari park located in Salley, South Carolina. It’s actually the very first drive-thru safari park in SC! Eudora Farms allows you to observe and feed exotic animals from around the world, all while seated in the comfort of your own car. The animal safari boasts over 300 exotic animals with many who will walk right up to your car to feed.

It took my family a little over an hour to get there from our home in Columbia. We decided to go there on a Wednesday since the website indicates it’s not as long of a wait on a weekday. Once we arrived, we only had to wait 15 – 20 minutes before we could enter.

When you pull up to the entrance, you will see a petting zoo, two or three food trucks, and different play areas. Before you can enter the farm there is an admission fee of $18 – $45 (depending on number of passengers). Children 2 and under are free. Animal feed buckets are $5 per bucket.

Once we paid we began to enter the farm. The first animals we saw were bulls and cows. The bull horns were so big! As we got closer to it, the bull began to throw his head back and forth while blocking the entrance to get into the farm where the rest of the animals were. Of course, there was nothing we could do about it so we had to wait until it moved before we entered. Once he moved and we entered, there were more cows. Before we knew it there was an ostrich at our car!

My kids were scared to feed the animals so I was the only in the car who purchased food to feed them (and I was scared myself!). When the ostrich came to the car I stuck my bowl of food out of the window. It felt as though the ostrich was gonna go through the bowl the way he was eating it. I let him eat a few times out of the bowl before we moved forward on the trail. 

As we went further along on the trail we saw more ostrich, bulls, and cows. Then we began to see goats, camels, zebras, and deer. At the entrance, they told us not to feed the zebras because they bite. And although we saw others trying to feed the zebras, I did not. I didn’t want to be bitten! But the zebras were beautiful definitely my favorite animal out there.

At the end of the trail, there was a giant giraffe. We stopped to look at it before exiting. It’s inside of a fence but it is able to stick its head inside of the car to get food. By the time we got to the giraffe, I was all out of food because the camel had already eaten the last of it. 

After you finish the trail you are allowed to park to visit the petting zoo as well as grab something to eat. Eudora Farms also boasts a large Parakeet Adventure area with over 200 parakeets. They are in the process of developing a large educational center, an app for your phone that provides animal education as you drive through the park, and a walk-through trail that would allow viewing of animals such as Ring Tailed Lemurs, kangaroos, a tortoise, African servals, and binturongs

There is also the option to take advantage of public wagon rides where you receive a guided tour with tour guide and a bucket of feed. 

Overall, I really enjoyed our trip to Eudora Farms. The farm continues to add more animals over time. Eudora Farms Safari is definitely a great place to take your family!

*Tip: Go early and on a weekday to avoid large crowds.

Eudora Farms Animal Safari is located at:

  • 219 Salem Lane, Salley, SC 29137

Hours of operation are:

  • Monday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 
  • Sunday: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Admission cost:

  • $18 – $45 (depending on number of passengers)
  • Children 2 and under free (and not included in total number of passengers counted)

Have you been to Eudora Farms? Tell us about your experience! 

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Marissa Evans
Marissa was born in Charleston, South Carolina on Sept, 27, 1986 to James Sweat and the late Tracy Graham. She is the youngest girl of six, two sisters and three brothers. She grew up in Holly Hill, and graduated from Holly Hill Roberts High. Marissa furthered her education at Midlands Technical College, receiving a certificate in Early Childhood Education in 2017 and an associate degree in Early Childhood Education in 2018. She has been married for seven years to her husband Terence Evans. Together they have three children (Jaylen, Jada and Ny’Asia Evans). Her oldest and only boy, Jaylen, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism. Marissa and her husband are also the founders of the movement #Dontstare which is to raise awareness to how rude staring can be.

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