3-hour tour of the life-size Noah’s Ark in Kentucky

I’m not sure when we first heard about a life-size Noah’s Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky, but ever since then, I’ve wanted to see it. When planning our 2025 RV travel season, we made visiting the boat of biblical proportions a priority. 

Answers in Genesis (AIG), the company behind the project, chose to build the floating zoo replica in Kentucky to create jobs and attract tourists to the area. AIG also owns and operates the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, outside of Cincinnati, about an hour north of Ark Encounter. Here’s what our ark experience was like.

Answers to common questions

As we pulled off the highway, a vast parking lot came into view, with no indication of an enormous vessel on the property — other than a large sign announcing “Ark Encounter.” That made us more intrigued. 

We stopped at a booth, paid the parking fee, parked Gulliver, and walked to the only building we could see. There, we bought our tickets and boarded a shuttle, which took us down a mile-long, windy road, giving us glimpses of the ark along the way.

After disembarking, we entered the Answers Center to hear Dr. Tim Chaffey, the man responsible for building the exhibits at Ark Encounter, address skeptical challenges about Noah and the ark. (The Answers Center provides a schedule of speaking content each day, covering topics such as the building of Ark Encounter, animals after the flood, and animal habitats.)

Dr. Chaffey answered common questions, such as: 

• How did Noah build the ark?
• How did Noah find the animals? 
• How did Noah feed and care for all the animals? 

We gained some new insights but were eager to investigate the ark, so we exited the building and moseyed toward the engineering marvel. We had to pass through a towering rainbow arch to get there.

Orderly refuge

As the boat came into view, it didn’t appear all that big against the boundless forested river region of Northern Kentucky. But as we got closer to the 510-foot long, 85-foot wide, and 51-foot high wooden vessel, we gained greater appreciation for its size.

Peaceful music played as we wormed our way under the structure to a ramp that led to deck 1. Orderly animal cages stood two levels high in the middle of the interior of the structure, surrounded by clay water jugs secured in wooden crates along the walls.

For some reason, perhaps because of Hollywood, I had thought the animals roamed freely in the boat. It suddenly became clear that taking care of about 6,750 total animals for a year required order. 

Set up like a museum, the displays included plaques that told us important facts about caring for and feeding the animals, as well as what kinds of animals were represented. In all probability, we learned, Noah took young animals that required less food and water and created less waste. 

A see-through cutaway model depicted the internal design of the ark and how decks and animals were likely organized to provide the most efficient division of labor by Noah and his family. 

Life on the first cruise ship

We went up another ramp to deck 2, where we found bigger animal enclosures taking up more floor space and surrounded by higher wooden walls. Each cage displayed a male and female animal of some kind. We saw the hyena kind, the alligator kind, and the giraffe kind, just to name a few. 

We also found exhibits of Noah’s study and workshop, as well as one about disposing of animal waste that was quite interesting. But the big draw on this deck was the tall wooden door through which Noah, his family, and all the animals would have entered. The Bible says in Genesis 7:16, “The Lord shut him in,” indicating that God closed those big, heavy doors.

Deck 3 gave us a glimpse into what the humans’ living quarters might have been like, where they would have rested. We even found a kitchen stocked with food for a year “at sea.” That was another thought that hadn’t occurred to me about life on the ark but would have been essential to survival on a yearlong “cruise.” ​

This deck also featured exhibits about life after the flood and fascinating details about fossils. 

A memorable experience

After a three-hour tour of the ark, we took the elevator to the ground floor, which led to a massive gift shop. We wandered around for a while before purchasing a few trinkets. Then we boarded a shuttle to return to Gulliver, eager to sate our hunger.

We could have eaten at one of the various options on the premises, including a buffet, but we thought it might be less expensive off campus. 
If you’re in the area, Ark Encounter is worth a visit. In addition to the ark, the property houses a zoo, a virtual reality experience, a playground, and zip lines. Tickets and parking are a bit costly, but when you see the ark and recognize the vision, work, and cost that went into creating it, it’s easy to understand the reason for the price. 

We left with a greater appreciation for Noah and his family, life on the ark, and what went into building and designing it.
 
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