Country Park With Animals in Stunning Scenery (Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre (Comrie))

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre (Comrie)
Date:	16/05/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great views, nice and well managed site, variety of things to do

Disadvantages: not very impressive selection of animals for the admission charge

Auchingarrich is located a couple of miles south of Comrie, seven miles west of Crieff and about half an hour drive from Perth.

It's a "wildlife centre" which usually seems to be a code for a farm with a few animals (some wild-ish, some very much domesticated) thrown in. Auchingarrich is more of a country park with animals (mostly wild-ish) thrown in, set in an extensive area of Highland Perthshire countryside.


**Getting There**


We live about 10 miles south of Perth and when I looked up directions, each of the sources I consulted (AA route planner, Google maps, Garmin Sat-Nav) suggested a different route. I chose the Garmin route which takes off A9 and goes through Braco and then across country to arrive in Auchingarrich from the south rather than going via A85, Crieff and Comrie.

This proved to be a good decision as the route took us along an edge of Army firing range through a stunning area of very Highland-looking, pretty wild countryside. I wouldn't necessarily want to drive that way in pouring rain, as part of the way the road virtually edged a rather deep gorge, but on a sunny day at the beginning of the Easter holidays it was a glorious drive. If you are coming from the part of the world south of Perth, do go Braco way!

The park itself is at the end of a rather long drive which is not exactly a dirt track but neither it's tarmac: a rough kind of stones/ash/gravel surface, similar to what we have on our village's internal drive.

The main car park is located in front of the Centre, but as the grounds are rather extensive, there is apparently also a disabled-accessible car-park very near to the highest point of the park.

All facilities (the ticket office, cafe, gift shop and toilets) are located in a wooden-cabin style building by the car park. You can seemingly enter the park from other sides without actually paying - there are polite notices asking you to, but no turnstiles or fences. I liked that trust in the honesty of most visitors!

**Animals**

The selection of animals is not particularly impressive. If you come to Auchingarrich expecting a zoo-like experience, you will be disappointed. Still, there should be something to interest most children and adults.

Mammals include the Highland coos, mountain goats, yaks, deer, donkeys, ponies and wallabies, as well as meerkats, porcupines and skunks. The three mammal highlights of our visit were prairie dogs, coati and otters.

Prairie dogs are everywhere in Auchingarrich: a bit like rabbits in the countryside, you can see them in most enclosures, in the sides of hills and even along paths. Their network of burrows must be extensive under the whole area of the park. They are rather cute and especially my daughter enjoyed spotting them and trying to approach.

Coati are an unusual type of a raccoon, long nosed and nimble. They live in a cage in Auchingarrich, and as they are awake in the daytime, there was quite a lot of activity going on and the children were rather fascinated.

Otters live by a stream in the further-away part of Auchingarrich (on the way back from yaks) and during our visit one came to the fence! Otters are notoriously shy and being able to be face to face with one was very rewarding.

There are a lot of birds in Auchingarrich, normally not that interesting for children, although emus, rheas and ostriches were quite interesting. A big deal is made out of The Hatchery - a big shed in which baby chicks and eggs before hatching are kept. My daughter enjoyed handling a very young chicken and a rabbit, while my toddler was distinctly wary. I think this would be particularly attractive to city children who have less opportunity to interact with farm animals.

Auchingarrich has a newly-opened Falconry Centre, which is run as a separate business and has an extra charge. We didn't visit as by the time we got round there it was getting late and the wee one was getting tired, but for an older child it is bound to be one of the highlights.

The enclosures are large, and even the cages that some animals live in seem roomy. Animals seemed healthy and happy enough.


** Not Just Animals**


The scenery surrounding the Centre and the extensive grounds of the park itself are, for me, one of the biggest attractions of Auchingarrich. The views are breathtaking, and the park extends further out and up, allowing for a lot of walking (and quite a bit of it is hilly).

The path surfaces are for the most gravel or earth and thus, if you have a baby or a very small toddler with you I would only recommend taking a pushchair if it was of the all-terrain, thick-wheeled variety - otherwise a sling or a baby backpack would be much better.

There is a decent outdoors play park just behind the cafe (which is great as the children can play while the grown-ups rest and drink their coffee). An unusual part of the play-park is a set of giant tunnels called "rabbit burrows" to run around in. There is also an indoor play barn, which I suppose would be good for a rainy day, but on the day of our visit it was dry and the bark chip covering the floor meant that the whole inside was unpleasantly dusty.

There is also an old fire engine on site - and my toddler had great fun climbing in, out and pretending to drive it!

There is a reasonably looking cafe and a pretty standard gift shop, but as we brought a picnic and only bought drinks there I can't comment on the food quality.

There are also barbecues provided near the picnic benches, though the idea of lugging coal and raw meat for a day out in an animal country park seems odd to me. But presumably some people like such a thing.

Auchingarrich is quite high up and open to the elements, so bring something warmer as it's likely to be more chilly than where you are coming from. As always and everywhere in Scotland, rain gear is virtually mandatory even on the blazing-sun days. Some of the paths in the Centre are actually roofed, and the hatchery, the play barn, cafe and gift shop could provide a diversion in case of a short downpour, but essentially it's an outdoors attraction and thus best visited on a sunny (and preferably warm) day.


**Admission Prices**


Adults £7.50
Children £5
Family £24

Children under 3 are free and the family ticket admits 2 adults and up to 4 children. There are discounts for big groups.

Bags of food 50p

The entrance charges are not particularly good value for money, although it obviously depends on the composition of your party: the family ticket can be good value if there are two adults and more than 2 paying children. I went with both of my children (one is 8, one is below 3) so our total bill was £12.50 which felt reasonable but not fantastic.

It's certainly not cheap, but neither it's excessively overpriced.
To compare it with other similar attractions within an hour's drive, Blairdrummond Safari Park (which is a proper zoo with a bit of fairground thrown in) would cost us £5 more and is overall a much more interesting place (though doesn't share Auchingarrich's stunning location). On the other hand, the Deep Sea World near Edinburgh which I consider to be one of the most overpriced attractions in Scotland would cost over £6 more for what is a 2 hour visit at the most. Dundee's Camperdown Wildlife Centre has a better selection of animals (albeit in a much smaller space - but it's surrounded by an extensive country park and has a brilliant play-park nearby) and is a true bargain - would only cost our party £7.15 to enter.

It's open year round, from 10am till dusk (but the shop and cafe close at 5pm).

www.auchingarrich.co.uk


**Summary**


I tend to see Auchingarrich as an expensive country park with animals rather than a zoo-like attraction and I really like it. You can easily make it a whole day out, arriving late morning, bringing a picnic lunch and leaving mid to late afternoon.

In the greater scheme of things though, it's very much a local place rather than a major attraction worth a long drive. I would not suggest a visit if it entitled more than an hour drive, but if you are nearby, it's certainly worthwhile, especially if you have preschoolers and younger primary aged children. Older kids and teenagers would probably find it bit tame, though.

Highly recommended for people with children aged 2 to 10 staying within an hour drive, but probably not worth the drive and admission price for others.

Summary: Go if you are staying with children aged 2 to 10 within an hour drive, probably skip otherwise