You absolutely must go here! Its like being at the wild Animal park with being able to pet and feed all the animals! Every single Animal is a rescue here as well, about 40 minutes drive from down town San Diego. Wonderful not for profit organization and probably the biggest hidden gem in all of Alpine!

Wow 3 years looking for places to take my kids to feed animals and Ive never heard of this hidden gem. SO WORTH IT. Animals are very friendly, easy to feed, amazing for kids any age, so much space makes it an amazing place during this pandemic life.My kids had a blast, I had a blast being able to feed some zebras and buffalos are you kidding?Amazing place overall. Just be safe with the heat gets hot and theres little shade when walking around to get to the different animals.

Perfect place to visit with your family. Great deal for all u can do.

This place is amazing!! The animals are all well taken care of by friendly and intelligent caretakers and their enclosures are spacious and designed for their needs. All of the animals from the horses to pigs to tortoises to goats to camels to ostriches are all now acclimated to friendly human interaction and it was such a blast feeding them. Agnes has made an amazing retreat and if you are in the area this is highly worth the visit!! Double bonus: we went for a personal encounter and chose the tortoises, which just happened to be our guide Sues favorite. It was amazing get up close with Thor and Big Daddy and help make them Sues Secret Recipe Salad and go in and feed them!! Go support this amazing place in Alpine!! They have easy and effective social distancing measures in effect and even with other folks there it never felt even remotely busy or crowded and was so relaxing. You are missing out if you dont come check this place out!! 10/10 we will be going back!!

A fantastic place for people and animals. A magical place where anyone can learn to love and love to learn. Reconnect with nature or connect for the first time. Find peace and take it with you.

Very fun place to visit the staff here is very knowledgeable. The grounds were very open spaces and beautiful and overall fun time.

Definitely worth come with your little one, enjoy a day with the farm animals

This was a great experience for anybody not just for small children. My husband and I also loved feeding the animals. My daughter got to pet some of smaller animals and got to be very close to a lot of the smaller goats and potbelly pigs. The staff was super friendly very easy-going and it was not very busy which made it very nice. Lots of big shade trees and a cool breeze made this hot day very manageable and easy.All the animals are rescues, and the mission statement is that they found their forever home. This is a great cause, and a great way to spend your day. Bring a picnic lunch and be prepared to have a really nice time.

This place is great. You get a buck of feed to feed all the animals and if you run out no worries you can get more free of charge. You can easily spend a few hours here. Some pens you can going inside with the animals. I think thats an extra cost. You do get a discount if you live in alpine. Such a fun place. Great for anyone at any age.

Great for the kid mine had lots of fun...

Wonderful, outdoor destination for all ages! Spending a few hours breathing fresh mountain air can be downright therapeutic. Paired with an unforgettable opportunity to learn about unique and beautiful animals that you can feed by hand is priceless.How many people can say theyve touched a zebra? I have. You have no idea how large an ostrich really is until youve looked one in the eye. (Caution: You might strain your neck!) You think tortoises are slow and steady? Guess again! Or better yet, come out to the farm and see for yourself.Wear closed toe shoes and expect to get a little dirty. Its worth the drive. You wont regret it!

This place is amazing!! So clam, quiet, and limited to 100 persons a day so no crowds to battle with. You are able to get very close to the overly friendly animals, feeding them and interacting with them. Even the tortoises come running! We opted for the 2 hour guided tour, which is wonderfully informative and interesting. To know the back stories of the rescues, and who couldnt love the Geep (a very talkitive goat/sheep mix). All the staff are very kind and you can really see how much they truly love these animals. What a fantastic little place. We will be back for sure!!

A great place to visit very peaceful and I love the animals specially be able to feed them

Beautiful, well kept, and the animals are super happy all surounded by a gorgeous environment.

LOVED!!! We just had the best time feeding all the animals. Remember to save some food for the sweet bison at the end of the map. He is absolutely adorable. The Fresians (I call them the Kardashians because they are a little bossy and they have a cute attitude! ahahha). We met the owner and she was so nice. Everyone there is so amazing. Thank you all we had a wonderful time.

Fun place and great for kid and adults alike. Feeding all the animals, watching them interact with each other and the people. Definitely recommend going!

This is a great place to visit in Alpine. They have many different types of animals. Children really seem to enjoy this place.

I took my best friend here for her birthday. We had a great time here! We went last Friday on the hottest day of the week! They had several benches under trees! Plus they had areas that were shady under trees and some tables have umbrellas. They have a small snack shop with water and gifts too! After you park, there is a ticket hut, and the woman that greeted us was very friendly and wearing a mask. NOW, the best is yet to see! All 130 animals are great and in different paths and farms! It was an awesome day!! Not a lot of people plus you are outside and they reccomend you go in a one way direction for social distancing. They also have hand washing stations for you to use. Now, back to the animals!! They are so beautiful, big, so many of them! No problem spending the day here with nature! The staff is very nice, friendly and informative!! I even got to love on the owners(I think) dog!! My best friend had a wonderful birthday here!! We would definitely come back here again!!!!

This place is amazing! Staffs are very friendly here. We were each given a full bucket of food to feed the animals. Almost all of the animals will approach you when they see food (except the ones that cannot be feed). 2 puppies named Belle and Athos kept us company along the way, they are so sweet. We will definitely visit again!

Feeding all the animals was so cool!

Great place to take the kids. They give you a bucket of fresh grown barley to feed the animals. My kids just loved interacting with the animals and getting up close, especially the tortoises and pigs. Can walk thru the park in a little over an hour, and they have picnic tables by the zebras to eat lunch at. Definitely recommend going here.

Great way to spend the day!

This place is awesome and soo beautiful with lots of fun loving and kind animals who are eager for your presence and to eat : ) we took my niece and 14 year old autistic son and they both loved it! you can tell the staff take very well of the animals and have a great passion for animals and their well being, definently will be going back for some more animal love :)

This place is amazing! The animals are fun and lively, and the staff was knowledgable and friendly. I look forward to going back!

It was refreshing.

I took my son here on a whim and he had a lot of fun, the staff was nice and the grounds where as clean as good be with the animals there, my son and I also like that we could feed/pet the animals and the feed is covered in the cost of admission.. so if your looking for something to do on a Saturday or Sunday this is a fun little place.

Fantastic place for kids. My daughter had a blast. A bit pricey.

A great social distancing activity for kids.

Our cub scouts had a wonderful experience.

Such an amazing experience for all ages!

What a fun and relaxing place! They limit daily attendance so its never crowded or noisy. The animals have unique personalities and its so fun to watch them interact. Theyre all used to people and come running over for food so you actually see them up close. You can wander around at your own pace visiting mini horses, zebras, sulcata tortoises, camels, pigs, goats, and much more. I highly recommend doing one of the up close and personal options or the other special tours. Such a great value, and what a unique experience!

It is a beautiful place to take your whole family. It isnt a crowded place. You can feed the animals. Have a picnic here. Bring your own food they dont sell food here. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Dont have to pay for parking or the food to feed the animals.

This animal sanctuary is a great place to spend all day. The animals each have a story told by the owner in a loving and respectful way. The owner and staff are dedicated, loving, caring and respectful of all. Memorable time to be had! Call first to confirm days and times. Schedule a tour, birthday party, visit. Five star experience for both children and adults.

This place is amazing! Great hospitality! I learned so much! Feeding the animals was so the coolest thing! This place should have 10 stars! Thank you all for a wonderful day!

Awsome place! We need to advertise better no one would know it was there

What an amazing place! These animals are in the best care. Great place to take your kids.

It’s an adventure to get there in the first place , they need to put signs by the Main Street before turning to the street where is locatedThe creepy place next to it seem really weirdwith hundreds of dolls hanging (I know that’s not relevant but pay no mind to that )They have plenty of parking , bring boots or close shoes cause there’s dust and dirt in the area and you’ll be walking around.Every person there were very attentiveYou can tell they love being thereAll the animals have a very big space for them and they fed them wellThe personal knew the animals by name and they tell you facts and even about each animalWe enjoyed our time there , specially when we fed the the and and being to be around the and All the animals seem very relax content and well fedI’m glad that there’s a place like this , where they offer protection and shelter to this beautiful creaturesAnd kind people who love what they do.Thank you for such a pleasant experience for my daughter and I , and we told our friends and family about it and we will be visiting again

Always a great place to go and see a wide variety of animals up close. You have the option if you like to enter the enclosures, at an additional fee, to really experience them face to face. Youre provided buckets with food when you get there and you walk around at your own pace. Staff are always friendly and helpful. I purchased an annual membership because we go all the time. Plenty of parking and its about a 10-15min drive once you get off of the 8 freeway.

My son and I had one of our best days ever here. We immediately decided to become members, and made the excellent decision to get an up close and personal tour. We spent 4 hours petting the mini farm, feeding zebras and ostriches, and reveling in the beauty of the land. Its apparent that all of the animals are incredibly well cared for. They are free to roam, and every one is incredibly loving and affectionate. They take passionate care of each animal and treat them with deep respect. This place gets 10 stars.

A great place for a family outing. Less expensive than the zoo, and far less crowded. Also, gives you the opportunity to interact with the animals!

I loved it! Beautiful place .. all animals have their own spacious places.. they looked happy to see us. The staff are nice and knowledgeable.. they answered all of our questions.

Do you like feeling or being close to nature? Cool date, or a family outting--this is your place. Affordable and up close. This place rocks.

Friendly staff that cares deeply about animals. Enjoyable place to feed and visit animals.

GREAT GREAT PLACE! CAN PET THE ANIMALS AND FEED! UPCLOSE ENCOUNTER!

Great place to take your kids.

Great place to go to see and interact with animals. The staff is really friendly and it is a great way for kids to connect with nature.

Looking for a place to take visiting 3 year olds, found this place. Friendly staff, and kids loved feeding the animals. Not as many animals as the zoo, but more interaction with them makes up for that. Fees go to food and care of the animals, so its a good thing

Lots of farm animals and a lot of open space for them to roam... my 5 year old daughter really loved being able to hand feed the horses, piglets, camels.... on a sunny day its really an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon for anyone who loves being outdoors and enjoys animals!!!

They are so knowledgeable and truly love the animals.

What a great place to visit. The atmosphere is very relaxing. A fun place to take children to. It is very low key.

Wonderful environment for people of all ages to enjoy. Welcoming and relaxing.

Came here on a fieldtrip. Staff is very lovely. The kids loved feeding the animals. It was a very nice experience.

Outstanding for the whole family!!! Our kids from 6 to 2 had a great personal experience with the animals and getting to feed them! Parents enjoyed feed the animals as well as watching the kids excitement:)First time in, we decided to become members!

We loved seeing the animals! The adorable little chickens are amazingly cute, and goats are adorable.

Cheyanne is retired now and living like a king at childrens nature retreat in japatul ,he loves visitors and frissbee,s!he is alpine favorite buffalo !!!!

The animals love visiting with people, even the ones who you cant really feed. Its 100% safe if you follow the rules, and the kids had a great time.

Great place to take kids for animal interaction. A beautiful setting and friendly staff.

We love it there!! Such a peaceful, beautiful place with wonderful animals to interact with. Our favorites are the Friesian horses, the miniatures and the pigs!!

We loved the time we spent there with our 11 year old and 4 year old daughters and they had a blast! The buckets full of sprouted barley grass lasted two hours as we fed a variety of animals all over the grounds, and the staff was very friendly.

Our 3 year old son loved it. Were looking forward to going back again with him.

This place is wonderful. Perfect Sunday afternoon

We totally enjoyed our day here! We took my grandaughter and we enjoyed it as much as she did. The animals looked so happy and relaxed and very well cared for. I was surprised as to how friendly the animals were . Probably because we get to hand feed them. Even the zebras and animals that you think would be more skiddish were super friendly. I will definately recommend this to my friends. A nice relaxing day even if you come without the kids just to enjoy the animals! Also I want to thanks the great friendly staff for being so nice and going out of their way to make our day fun!!

This place is awesome. I never really liked zoos because it always seems like the animals are unhappy there. Its like theyre just a spectacle for tourists to gawk at, and it kind of makes me sad. I never got that feeling with the animals at Childrens Nature Retreat. These animals look well taken care of, and happy. And just about all of them you can feed yourself.Me, my wife, and son showed up here spur the moment one day after reading about them on the internet. We were greeted by a really nice woman who told us the pricing. We were a little shocked at the price, and we were kind of on a shoestring budget at the time and we wouldnt have been able to afford for all of us to go in, but she explained that we could buy tickets through Groupon for half price. But instead of sending us away to do that, she not only recommended that we could do it right there, but she let us use her phone to buy the Groupon tickets because we had no data plan on our phones. It was very thoughtful of her to do that and we enjoyed our time there very much. Like I said, Ive never been a zoo person, but this was different. I just had a sense that these animals were treated a lot better than ones at the zoo. Its hard to explain why I felt that way, but youd just have to go and see for yourself. Its a fantastic little spot to go to or a few hours and my son loved seeing all the animals up close.

Loved it. It was so fun I recommend it for everyone!

Lovely place!

Beautiful property and up close with fantastic animals.

Unique. Relaxing and fun for kids and adults.

We come here every time we visit California a rare gem

Wonderful people and animals

The staff was friendly and animals accessible, however, given most animals are actually farm animals, this place is overpriced.

Good for kids, and a relaxing place for adults.

So much fun!

Lots of animals,oak trees,peaceful,beautiful area

Great experience

Our kid loved it!!