captain ron's gator park, petting zoo and botanical gardens

Captain Ron was rude throughout the tour and made an inappropriate sexual comment as I exited the graceful ghost. Caddo Lake is a beautiful lake and my family enjoyed our vacation but will never again waste any money on the tours provided by captain Ron. I can see why he asks for payments before the service. I encourage everyone to check out big Pines Lodge they have great food and service.

Captain Ron invited us to visit his Gator Park while we were on the Graceful Ghost steamboat. We were delightfully surprised! Although the petting zoo is no longer open, the gators are something to see. Captain Ron told us all about them and gave my kids food to feed to them. They were safely enclosed, of course! He also gave us a great tour of his beautiful gardens and told us all about the hearty, native species of plants and herbs that he grows. We spent nearly an hour with Captain Ron, and it would have been free of charge had we not made a donation. He was a great tour guide, very personable and someone we would love to see again.

This was just a great place for my family to go. We love how everything was set up. Great things to see and enjoy. Will definitely go back

We spent a couple of nights at the gator park and zoo as a getaway. We expected a botanical garden and several animals, including gators. We got to see the gators, but our timing, tail end of winter, was off, so we didn't see much action (I think we were the only people to visit that area to see gators that weekend as there were none to be seen elsewhere). Plus it was cold and raining, so we didn't get to enjoyable of the many outdoor activities offered in the area. We were just a few minutes from the entrance to Caddo Lake State Park, and about 15-20 minutes from Marshall, TX. The land was actually quite serene and peaceful. It's a gator pond surrounded by 50 - 100 foot pine trees, with a garden towards the front. There were small railroad tracks that encompassed the land, but seemed inoperable. The room we stayed in was very accommodating. It had a full kitchen, two half baths, a common area, dining area, and two separate bedrooms. It was fully furnished and decorated with what appeared to be souvenirs from all over. But most of the decorations were something related to Native American culture. The park was in conjunction with Graceful Ghost boat tours which offered steamboat rides, and pontoon rides. We took an hour-and-a-half pontoon ride which was amazing. The route took us through a bald cypress Forrest that was covered in Spanish moss. And our guide (Byron) was very knowledgable about the history of the area, as well as the native flora and fauna. He was very entertaining, seems like he's been all over, and looks like Gerard Butler. He had good stories, and offered a discount to his restaurant in the neighboring town of Jefferson for riding the pontoon. This is the cheapest lodging in the area, but don't go expecting to see the animals/botanical garden that people have talked about, because the owner is trying to sell the property and has already sold all the animals.

We stayed at Captain Ron's Gator Park Lodge (The Lazy Gator Lodge) which is an old church converted into a "cabin". With our stay, we had unlimited entrance to the gator park , botanical gardens, and petting zoo! So much fun. We woke up to the peacock's and chickens every morning. The gators were ready for their morning snacks that we fed them. We fell in love with the goats and pot belly pigs! One of the goats was ready to deliver her twins so we kept checking on her every hour. There is a train ride that is included and goes around the entire park for an up close and personal tour of the gators because the track goes over their pond!!!!......Captain Ron invited us to his personal family 4th of July cook out and fire work show, just because we were guest. Such a super person!!! We absolutely loved his grounds keeper, tour guide, house keeper, and go to girl Tanya! She was so informative, helpful, and caring to the entire grounds as well as treating us like family. It is definitely a beautiful and relaxing place. Captain Ron also owns and runs the Graceful Ghost steamboat. You get a discount if you stay at his lodge. The most enjoyable experience! Well worth going to Uncertain Texas.....

We rode the Graceful Ghost and got a ticket to the gator park for 5$ each. I wanted to see the gators. I wasnt very impressed. Yeah they were gators in a pond fenced in. you had to buy some kind of food cup from the office and you could feed the gators with that! they had some pretty flowers, other animals like a llama and a turtle. I saw a peacock flaunting his feathers hoping to attract a mate. i know someone went through the trouble of putting all this together. It just didn't hold my attention.

Fun and interesting place to visit. Our 9-month old loved the animals. It's small, but we still managed to spend 2-hours there. It was fun feeding the gators. The goats are extremely docile and great to interact with. Had everything from coatimundis to an African Land (Spurred) Tortoise. The caretakers were very friendly and showed us various plants, explained various behaviors and answered all our questions. It's located right near the Caddo Lake State Park, so it's a great place to stop by and visit during the day.

After finishing our ride on the Graceful Ghost Steamboat, my husband and I immediately took a tour of Captain Ron's Gator Park. Gators aren't the only thing to see there. We saw peacocks will full plumage, goats, chickens, bunnies, a turtle, and a llama!! We also saw bunnies that were only 2 days old - so tiny and so cute. We opted to buy food to feed the animals and gators. It was fun to feed the goats and the llama who was not shy about helping himself to the food. :) It was amazing to watch the gators swim to the food to retrieve it. We also got to watch the caretakers feed meat to the alligators. Definitely take the train ride that takes you over the gator pond and have fun looking at the different ecosystems that coexist. The caretakers are nice and happy to answer any question that you may have. You can tell that they love their job!!

I haven't thought that I will be able to feed alligators. It was really cool. Our kids were excited about railway train. And we liked to explore all those different tropical plants and herbs. Nice place to spend week end with children. Next time we want to spend couple days on Caddo lake and thinking about renting rooms in Gator park. It cost only 125$ for 4 people.

The tickets are only $5. if you ride the Graceful Ghost Steamboat, which is nearby. We took two grandchildren 11 & 13 and they both loved it. Yes it is small but it is fun! Pay attention to the different varieties of plants and flowers, we had never seen grapefruit growing before, as our home climate growing zone doesn't accomodate such. Also eucalyptus etc. The animals are well cared for. The name of their breed is posted. Kids got to feed most of them. Exotic chicken breeds, the kids liked the "silky's". A couple of interesting little animals, can't remember their name, but had long monkey like tails. The parrot was beautiful & said hello. Captain Ron was good to answer questions & is very knowledageable. We all felt it was very with the fee.

This gator park is the real thing, gators in a natural invironment, exotic animals and beautiful gardens. YOU can feed the gators. great place for a pic-nik

Not very large and lots of junk scattered throughout

If you ride on the Graceful Ghost Steamboat, you can purchase a ticket to this for $5. So worth it. If you love animals and pretty gardens, you'll really enjoy this. Captain Ron's obvious affection for his animals comes through as he calls them each by name. There are so many different types of chickens and he knows what each is. Sprocket the alpaca is quite a character, and the gators are cool. But the highlight? Captain Ron and his pet goat wrestling. It's like a dog and his master playing, only its a goat. You'd be nuts to pass this by.

We wanted to see alligators while at Caddo Lake, and decided to give Captain Ron's a try (thinking it might be a "tacky tourist trap)" & were Amazed at how nice this place is! It is beautiful, lots of beautiful flowers & flowerbeds, a really nice long observation deck overlooking a huge pond/lake area with lily pads where the alligators are. There are at least 10 alligators! They came right up to the deck area when he fed them. They snapped at the food, it was great! It made for great photos! We got video of them swimming. :-) This place is very clean also! The owner is really nice and knowledgeable about the animals. There were other animals, really cute pygmy goats, a beautiful peacock, alpaca, cute rare chickens, all in a clean environment didn't even smell! ++ Definitely worth a visit, & worth the cost! Even our 19 year old loved it! We'll go back! Thanks!!