Driving on State Route 260 between Camp Verde and Cottonwood, it can be hard to miss Out of Africa Wildlife Park.
Full of exotic animals, the park takes up 103 acres of land, and has become a fixture of the lower Verde Valley.
In the future, the park owners want to significantly expand the park by possibly doubling its size.
Out of Africa Wildlife Park moved to its current location from a smaller park on Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation east of Scottsdale. The Fort McDowell tribe is not affiliated with the YavapaiApache Nation in Camp Verde.
When park owners Dean and Prayeri Harrison relocated the park, they became involved with land developer Bill Jump, who is now a co-owner of the park.
When relocating, Jump had been worried that the wash from a creek that goes through the park property would make the land difficult for development, but the Harrisons thought it was similar to the Serengeti ecosystem in Africa. The wash now houses many of the park’s hoofed animals.
In addition to the land that is Out of Africa, Jump owns an additional 170 acres next to it and across SR 260. He bought the land on a whim, but now sees it as a potential for expansion.
“I was buying land because I could,” Jump said. “It was available and it was priced right.”
The potential expansion of the park on Jump’s land is in hopes that the park may capitalize on the construction of SR 260, which could allow far more traffic to come by the park.
“The ability to get [State Route] 260 improved and expanded was by far the most important economic development that the region could make,” Jump said.
Out of Africa’s owners said they hope to expand beyond the safari park. Their plan includes hotels, restaurants, an RV park on the other side of SR 260 and possibly a water park. Jump said he sees the potential expansion as a place where tourists could stay for days on end as a base to visit other sights throughout the Verde Valley.
“Their plans to expand can only help not only Camp Verde but the region itself,” said Steve Ayers, who works in the economic development office for the Town of Camp Verde.
Ayers said he sees the park expansion as an opportunity to bringing in tourists and new businesses to the area.
“It caters to a clientele that is not part of the wine industry, not part of the outdoor recreation venues that we have here,” Ayers said. “It’s kind of a unique venue.”
Ayers also praised the park for being good neighbors to the community, and if the park’s owners go through with their idea for a potential water park, Ayers expressed confidence in the park being conscientious about water resource management.
In addition to expanded facilities, park owners have plans to build a new road and entrance from one of the roundabouts along State Route 260, which has already been labeled as Out of Africa Parkway as part of the highway construction.
In the past several years, the park has also been toying with entertainment options beyond the park’s wildlife. Two years ago, a company installed a zipline throughout the park, and in the past year it added horseback rides and Jeep rides provided A Day In The West, a Sedona tour company.
If all of the park owners’ dreams come true, the park’s visitor count may exceed its 100,000 annual visitors it currently attracts.
“I think it would attract people from all across the country,” Jump said.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
