Shangri Llama Experience in Royse City, TX

I did something special for my birthday this year. I bought myself (and my family) a llama walk at Shangri Llama in Royse City, TX (not far outside of Dallas). Some friends had told us about it, and the second I realized that I could go on a walk with six llamas I was all in. It was so much fun, though, that I had to share it here!

Shangri Llama Experience

My previous llama experience is limited. While I can safely say I do have llama experience (two previous jobs required me to occasionally feed and clean up after some llamas), I don’t know llamas the way I know horses, or dogs. I mean, they are large, hairy, and roughly the size of a pony, but they don’t behave anything like a horse. In fact, the ones I have met all reminded me more of cats – aloof, easily annoyed, and not all intersted in me beyond the food I was bringing them. I’m more of an Elmyra, myself, and I like affectionate animals that I can squeeze and pet and love on. And so far, I hadn’t met a llama that would fit the bill.

Shangri Llama is a beautiful property in Royse City. They have llamas, and offer several llama experiences, from a llama lesson to a llama walk. The llama walk, which I chose, was a two-and-a-half-hour event that took place in their llama barn (we got to groom them) and then out in the pasture and even on the road as we took the llamas for a walk. 

We were paired off, and each group of two got one llama. We rotated throughout the walk so we each got to walk every llama.

After a short llama lesson in the barn to familiarize ourselves with the llamas and llama behavior, we took to the great outdoors.

I loved the lesson in the barn because we got to groom the llamas, and it gave me a chance to feel them out a little. This was also nice because my 10-year-old, who likes animals but can be scared, got a chance to meet them and spend time with them before taking them out.

During the walk, we stopped several times to switch llamas and learn some llama facts (I learned a ton). We all had a pouch full of treats that we could give to the llamas throughout the walk, which was super fun and served some of my Elmyra tendencies well.

The animals were incredibly well taken care of, and you could see that the staff (who were all family) truly loves their animals. These were the friendliest llamas I’ve ever met, and I think that’s a reflection of how well they are loved and what a great job has been done with their socialization!

Also, random fact – llamas are camelids! They’re a member of the camel family (OH OH OH! There’s a camel farm in the area, I totally need to visit them, too!).

It was December when we went, but it happened to be one of the warmest days in December. We were hot towards the end of the walk! Here are some notes for you to keep in mind if you have a llama walk at Shangri Llama coming up:

• You must reserve your llama walk in advance. You can do so here.
• There is a minimum age of 8.
• Wear comfy shoes! Also make sure your toes and heels are covered, as there’s a good chance you might get stepped on!
• Bring water, a hat, and sunscreen. You’ll be outside most of the time, and even though a lot of the walk is shaded, there’s also a lot that isn’t shaded.
• Bring your camera!
• Royse City is in North Texas, east of Dallas. We planned a morning walk and then drove to Rockwall for lunch. 

We loved our experience. We’re already planning on going again when my dad is in town next! Most likely, we’ll do a llama lesson when he’s here, which is a shorter, hands-on llama experience. 

Here are some other cool animal experiences in Texas:

• Visit the drive-through safari park at Fossil Rim
• Visit the big cat sanctuary In-Sync Exotics
• Visit the Butterfly House in Dallas