“Get in the car! We’re going to see T-Rexes!” And with those nine words, you become Parent of the Decade.
The Dinosaur Adventure Drive-Thru is coming to the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup in October, and that alone is an experience worthy of a road trip. With 80 life-sized dinosaurs (including a 40-foot animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex and 30-foot Brachiosaurus) inhabiting a transformed fairground, it’s the perfect combination of thrilling and educational.
Dinosaur Adventure Drive-Thru at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup.
Schedule your visit and buy your tickets in advance here (no tickets are sold on-site). It’s only here for a limited time: Oct. 15 – 18; Oct. 22 – 25; Oct. 29 – Nov. 1
Afterward, for dinner, families love the casual-but-cool vibe at Trackside Pizza, where the pies are top-notch and trains pass right by the restaurant, delighting the young ones. Or Crockett’s Public House, just across the street, is a local favorite with a surprisingly deep wine list for a casual/cool restaurant, and has been featured by Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
Crockett's Public House in Puyallup.
Then stay overnight at a Puyallup hotel just a few minutes’ drive from the Fairground and the dinosaurs.
Fairfield Inn & Suites Puyallup
Before heading out to the next big stop on the road trip, grab a full breakfast at Meridian Café or a cup of locally roasted Dillanos coffee and a bite to go at Anthem Coffee.
With the prehistoric and animatronic part of your trip done, you can focus on the living, breathing, snorting part: Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. For the first time in the famed park’s history, you can use your own vehicle on a drive through the Free-Roaming area as part of their Wild Drive.
The Wild Drive experience at Northwest Trek allows you to take your own vehicle into the Free-Roaming Area
Want to take it up a level and leave the driving to the pros? Get up close and personal with a moose? Stare down a bison? Then hop in a specially outfitted Jeep with one of the park’s keepers for a Keeper Adventure Tour (now with extra safety precautions). Get off the tram tour roads of the Free-Roaming Area and bring your family on a 90-minute animal adventure they’ll never forget. (Sound like any 1993 Steven Spielberg movies yet?)
Keeper Adventure Tours get you off road, into the hidden corners of the Free-Roaming Area at Northwest Trek