Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary Zoological Gardens

Great time! Drove two hours to get there, worth it. Easy to get to from 94. Went in the winter, it was still fun. Sounds like there are even more activities during the summer.

We enjoyed our visit. Staff were knowledgeable and really enjoyed what they do. We learned a lot and got up and close with the alligators. Great experience.

We visited on 3÷21÷14. My family with kids ranging from 7 – 14 years old had a blast. We were scared that it would be boring since it was too cold to be outdoors, but we were wrong! the main building has like 70 small gators (they’ll even let you hold one and take pictures), and several snakes that they’ll let you hold. They also have a greenhouse where they keep the larger gators in the winter. You can tour that and get up close and personal with some huge gators and tortoises. Family run business. Mr. Critchlow was an excellent tour guide with a great sense of humor. His passion for these reptiles really shows. Come support a family business with a true mission to help these rescued reptiles — you’ll be glad you did!

Very nice sanctuary. Was in the area with a friend, checking out random places, and wasn’t sure what we would experience. What we found was a truly unique place that sprung up for a good cause. It is owned and operated by a family that has had a lifelong love of alligators. We bought some alligator food and toured the facility with one of the family/​employees Peter, who taught me more about alligators in an hour than I had learned my whole life. I’ll save most of those lessons for your visit :)
What I liked most about this place is that it’s a true sanctuary; definitely not a theme park making money off trapped animals. Every alligator at the facility is rescued, coming from a variety of backgrounds and situations. But all share a common theme of someone not being able to care for them. If it wasn’t for this place, the alligators would have been either killed or abandoned.
It’s an outdoor facility set up into various ‘schools’ as larger size alligators tend to attack and eat smaller ones. There is a pre-​school, elementary school, middle school (with the ‘kids’ acting a lot like human kids in some ways haha… bickering over food, snapping at others who took food they thought was theirs, etc.), and the full grown area. There were also some tortoises in a separate enclosure, some unique plants, and a sprinkling of other rescued animals as well that fit the theme.
There was construction off to the side for a ‘college’, and lots of evident room of space for these alligators. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that alligators are quite smart, and can be fairly tame; several came to the trainer when their names were called. It was evident that a lot of care was given to recreating as much as possible the native environments of these wonderful animals.
If I’m in the area, I will be back for sure. Truly a hidden gem.

Very small place but with well treated, happy animals. Personal tours are given and they are excellent with guests. Mr. C is exceptionally funny and good with children.