Off the beaten path, on a mountain in the Bybee community of Cocke County, a unique adventure awaits.

Inside the Briarwood Ranch Safari you’ll find a lush green forest where shadows dance in the afternoon sun and a variety of exotic animals await the next feed bucket carrying visitor, happily willing to exchange scritches and pats for a treat.

Except for the ostriches.

The ostriches exchange nothing and take what they want when they want. There will be no scritches for the ostriches.

The Briarwood Ranch is approaching its 20th season on the the mountain. Started in 2006 by founder Ron Nease - who died in 2016 - the park continues as a worthy tribune to the visionary Nease.

Today, the park is populated by a wide variety exotic animals including multiple varieties of deer and elk and bu

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