Spend spring break at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary

Want your kids to make some new friends over spring break? The Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary will be open extra days next week so you can enjoy the outdoors while getting up close and personal with its residents.

Those residents range from alpacas to white-tailed deer, and many animals in between, including lemurs and a pot-bellied pig.

Jonathan and Katy Ordway of Lilburn bought the Yellow River Game Ranch in 2018, refurbished it and rebranded it as a wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is in central Gwinnett alongside the Yellow River, just minutes from Stone Mountain Park.

Normally open just Thursday to Sunday because of the pandemic, you can visit the sanctuary Monday-Wednesday, too, next week. It will be closed on Easter Sunday, however.

There are no walk-up sales — just online reservations — to ensure social distancing.

Jonathan Ordway is OK with fewer people on the grounds, he told the AJC’s Rodney Ho last year.

“I want it to be an enjoyable experience,” he said. “The crowds are good. I don’t want this to be Six Flags. I want people to leave here feeling calmer and better than when you came in.”

Admission costs $18 for ages 13-64; $17 for military and those 65 and older; and $12 for ages 3-12.

If you enjoy your visit, the sanctuary sells annual memberships for $50 per person or $150 for a family of two adults and two children. Each additional child is $30. Annual passes can be bought in the sanctuary’s gift shop.