Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo

This place was amazing!!! We went in the slow season on a rainy day and still had the best time. I got to pet a kangaroo, feed some crazy colorful birds, go deep down in a cave and see albino lizards & crickets. The bat house was sadly closed. We also got a great lesson on milking a cow and herding sheep. A must stop for anyone in the area.

My wife and I went on a Monday in the afternoon, bought a groupon pass so it was around $ 32 total.
It was awesome.
The cave tour had no electricity so we used LED flashlights and I thought it enhanced the cave exploration. It wasn’t that big of a cave but it was really pretty.
We petted kangaroos and emus and fed exotic birds called lories. All very awesome experiences, kangaroos walked right up to you and you can pet them.
The staff was really nice and very knowledgeable, and overall an awesome time.

KDU is such a wonderful surprise!
We have been to KDU in the past, but this time we actually planned more time to allow for all of the animal shows and the cave tour. We really enjoyed our visit. The stars of the show are the kangaroos. We held down our squeals of excitement as we petted this docile mother kangaroo. She is so soft and adorable! We also met another adorable albino kangaroo joey in the animal show later. He just did not let his human caretaker get more than a couple of feet away. After about 10 minutes, he blissfully went back to his kangaroo «pouch» which his caretaker must wear on her… oh…so cute!
If you are into big exotic birds, you will be in luck. There are 5 big macaws, 2 cockatoos and 3 kookaburas here. The macaws and cockotoos are all «will birds» donated to the zoo after their caretakers can no longer care for such big, LOUD birds. I am glad these birds have found this sanctuary. They all appear to be well cared for, no feather picking here! But beware if you have children that are easily startled. The macaws’ screams are more than startling… they make your heart skip a beat… or two.
We also loved the Onyx Cave tour. This cave tour is short, yet sweet. It has winding steps, water feature, stalactites, stalagmites as well as tight squeezes. The cave is totally dark so the flashlight (provided) is very much needed. There are some low hanging rocks that make the hard hats (also provided) totally necessary. I banged my hard hatted head on them as soon as the guided told us to watch out for them. I am not sure I would take smaller kids on this tour due to the darkness and wet, slippery rock surfaces and tight spaces.
All in all, this was a great visit and more than worth the drive from Louisville.

I thought this place was great. It’s very laid back and shoesting, so if you’re looking for shiny and state-​of-​the-​art, keep driving. But if you like quirky roadside attractions, run past the gift shops and head straight for the animals. The birds were a hoot (get it) — there’s an African Grey that pulls leaves from the bars of his cage for you in exchange for head scratches. He’s so adorable I could have pet him all day. The headlining kangaroos are fickle– they endure your pats so long as you make it rain shredded carrots. Once the veggies dry up, they move along. You’re pretty much set loose in the kangaroo pen with a couple dozen of them (and some emus, tortoises, peacocks and a capybara-​like-​creature), with only some gentle suggestions as to appropriate behavior. Laaaid back. When some rebels got a little too close to an aloof mob of roos, guide Billy simply sang «I wouldn’t get much closer if I was you…» In other words, get KOed by a buck, that’s on you, fella. Spelunking is included in the admittance fee, so we checked it out and were pleasantly surprised. It’s a small cave and a short tour, but unlike it’s larger local counterparts, this cave feels almost untouched. You provide the lighting (flashlights or headlamps) and the path can get a little rough, so it feels pretty authentic. All in all, we were there for a couple hours and could have easily spent a couple more. Well worth the $ 26 fee, and I could see my family stopping by again on our next jaunt down I65.

It’s like an over-​sized backyard with animals or a very miniature zoo. And a miniaturize cave tour. I was expecting more for the price. Glad I used a Groupon and not pay full-​price. It will be probably cheaper to go to a zoo and go to the Mammoth Cave Park separately.

Plotted a road trip of random adventures and were excited to visit Kentucky Down Under. Website said they closed at 6pm so we based our trip timing on that. We arrived 4:02, two hours before the supposed closing time. Two girls at the front desk informed us that they stopped selling tickets at 4pm because they were shutting things down (yes, it was 2 min after 4pm… and there was zero willingness to accommodate despite the fact that there were only about 10 cars in the lot). No kangaroos for us. Super unimpressed.

This place was AMAZING. We purchased a groupon and got myself and my boyfriend in for $ 35. We spent about 4 hours here and it was well worth it. They have numerous exotic animals along with your average livestock. The birds are very interesting and beautiful. There are a series of animal shows that they use to teach you about the animals they care for. There is also a kangaroo area where they take you on tours and you can feed and pet and interact its kangaroos!!! That was my favorite part. It was a very fun adventure for our one year anniversary and I know if I had kids they would absolutely love it too. We finished the day with a cave tour and while inside they gave a history of it which was very unique. This was a hidden gem for sure and I hope more people take the time to go and visit.

Lots of animals, lots of walking/​exercise. You can rent golf carts to drive around the property which is a nice touch. The staff are friendly and knowledgable. There are also a lot of opportunities for children to interact with the animals as well.

25 for adults, 19.99 for military… To be honest when we were walking up the hill into the park I thought I just wasted my money but the time I spent, the more I enjoyed it! The park is small and there isn’t a ton to do that you may find in larger zoos but it’s easy to spend 3 – 4 hours in here…
To me, feeding and petting kangaroos was well worth the cost of admission! On top of that you can feed birds, goats, and a donkey. This part of the park is very interactive and the animals look well cared for. All the guides are great, especially Uncle Billy, dude is a trip.
I want a kangaroo now as a pet, they’re awesome! Go here, you’re guaranteed to have a blast!

I guess this was worth the price of the groupon. Beautiful day. Spent about two hours looking at birds and people watching.
In general, this place is kind of like a petting zoo from the 70’s. Nothing has changed. Could buy food for the goats and sheep and feed them.
The black goat was cool. He was patient, waited for the food and let us pet him. He didn’t walk away when the food was gone like the kangaroo did.
Eat before you get there or bring a picnic lunch. Our cave tour was scheduled for us 2.5 hours from when we arrived so we skipped the tour.
Might not want to travel to far to come here but if you are nearby it is a nice stop.

Pretty good place it is a little pricy but worth it if you hate walking they rent golf carts but they really don’t mention it unless you ask. Not a bad stop!

This place is wonderful! This was our second visit after many years and it was better than we remembered. They have lots of interesting birds that are active and interested in you as you come to check them out. They have a cave tour that’s included in admission. It’s a short tour, but very interesting and the guides are great. There’s a walkabout where you can pet kangaroos, see wallabys and emu. I wish we had stayed longer!

The people there are really nice. We stopped in because we saw a sign for Big Bubbas BBQ. Well, Big Bubba is out of business but the Kentucky Down Under zoo people are going take over and so there’ll be food there too! It probably won’t be full swing for a while but lady said probably hot dogs and such on weekends until then. Oh, cool animals too! :)

Absolutely fantastic place! We came to Kentucky as a last hurrah before school starts up again next week and decided on visiting Kentucky Down Under on the first day. Boy was that the best decision ever! The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. We got to meet, pet/​interact with, and learn about kangaroos, parrots, emus, tortoises, dingos, wallabies, various birds, and we even got to milk a cow! Going in and feeding the Lories was amazing! There is also a gator, tarantula, and a snake in the visitors center! The cave tour was very cool (literally! Lol) and interesting! The guide was knowledgeable and even kept all the kids in the group engaged for the entire tour. We also got to see the blind albino crayfish! The only things we didn’t do/​see is the gem mining, which we meant to do but just forgot and we didn’t get to see the dogs herding the sheep, which was due to the hot weather. We were a little disappointed not to see the herding, but totally understood. Safety (and health) of the animals should always come first! We had some homemade sloppy joes (yum!!!) from the snack shack on the property and bought some fudge from the gift shop on our way out. The Peanut butter explosion fudge is fantastic!!! So delicious!!! We spent a wonderful and memorable day here and would recommend this place to anyone and everyone! Stop in, you won’t regret it!
Btw, one of the other reviewers mentions an electrical fence that will zap your children, this is NOT TRUE! We actually asked about the enclosure fence (prior to reading that review) because it does look like it may be an electrical fence, however, the fence is just wired that way, it is NOT electric. Trust me, we all touch it (including a 6 year old girl), no one got zapped. And a couple of the animals were leaning against it as well, I doubt they’d keep laying there if they were getting zapped.

This was a great experience for my whole family. We enjoyed seeing the animals and interacting with them. Unfortunately the bat exhibit was closed for remodeling when we were there. The kids (me too) loved going in with the birds and hand-​feeding them nectar. This was the first time I had ever touched a kangaroo. The cave tour was short but nice, my toddler was betting to go again! The café food was unbelievable! You don’t expect much for food at this type of place but a lot of it was made from scratch by a woman named Jodi who was very helpful when it came to our food allergies/​sensitivities. One of us is allergic to pepper and 2 of us a gluten-​free but we all ate well. The Chilli was absolutely Delicious on the all beef hot dogs (no bun) and FRITOS!

Dropped in here today because someone recommended it to us yesterday and it was on our way home. It was a little expensive and I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect but we had a great time. Apparently the park has changed owners recently and is in a bit of a transition. That means that they are putting a new lighting system in the cave and tours are currently by flashlight only. They are also moving some of the animals around and thus some of the signs are wrong, but the staff was perfectly happy to help out and explain what we were looking at. The kangaroos were great fun. We got to pet one and the momma kangaroo and her Joey decided to check us out and walked within two feet of us. Our favorite activity was feeding the very friendly lorikeets. They were a blast.

Have you always dreamed of visiting Australia but only have one afternoon and less than $ 20 in your pocket? Then head over to Kentucky Down Under. It’s the Only Australia themed park with a Cave in the entire state! It’s a one of kind place where you can see Kangaroos, wallabys and emus and then eat a hamburger made from those same animals. There’s a majestic albino peacock guarding the entrance to the Cave. I hope I’m not the only one who can see it. Caves aren’t really something you’ll find in Australia, but there is one there, so why not go inside and look around? There’s also a giant bird cage where you can go inside and feed birds, but to be fair, you can feed birds for free in most parks everywhere. #diabeticpigeons. I was super pumped to see Kangaroos since they are one of my favorite animals, but I was also bummed when our tour guide asked me not to stick my hand in its pouch. Then what is the point of the pouch if you can’t put beanie babies in it? If I want a bunch of restrictions then I’ll go to a Cuba themed park, but I thought the Outback was a little more laid back. There’s only one place in Kentucky where you can experience the real Australia, and that’s Outback Steakhouse.

Good for smaller kids to pet the animals… Like other Unilocalers have said you can pet the kangaroos cockatoos emus lories and parakeets. It’s a pretty small place. They also have reptiles snakes birds even a camel. The outback walkabout is the best thing here. Our guide, savannah, was super cute and sweet and she took some great pictures for us! The kangas just had babies so we got to see their pouches but no heads popped out.

This is an interesting day trip. It is called KY down under because it is owned by someone originally from Australia. They have Wallabies, Emu, birds, sheep, reptiles and some other animals from Australia. You can feed the Lorikeets, go on a walk and pet the Emu and Wallabies, see a live sheep herding demonstration and even learn all about different kinds of sheep. They also have a cave tour, a presentation on reptiles, and a presentation about the Aboriginese people.
Overall this is a very interesting day trip that is worth taking. Its especially interesting for children. My little boy is elementary school aged and he loved it, but he was a little scared of the cave.

Update a few signs, freshen up some already well maintained buildings and this would be a first rate destination in and of itself. The staff is über friendly and National Park Ranger level knowledgeable. I was very impressed. Your kids will get to pet kangaroos, wallabys, emu’s, have lories and parakeets land on their heads and shoulders, sift for gemstones, help shear a sheep — and oh yeah, tour a first-​class cave that could be an attraction all on its own with an extremely well versed naturalist. Lots of animals to see and interact with. It’s a very hands-​on place, mate!