Outdoor Adventure

Outdoor Adventure

Within minutes of the neon lights of Branson’s entertainment district, outdoor enthusiasts may enjoy ziplining, hiking, biking, riding a motorcyle, canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, trout and bass fishing, hunting, trap and skeet shooting, spelunking, rock climbing, as well as recreational and competitive sporting activities. Public parks, beaches, resorts, campgrounds, national forests and recreational facilities abound.

The Branson/Lakes Area has three pristine lakes with hundreds of miles of natural shoreline and more than 100,000 acres of city, state, federal and privately owned forest, conservation, wilderness and park areas available to visitors.

PADDLE BOARD ON TABLE ROCK LAKE

by Beckie Fairchild

Visitors can hike trails at the 1,574-acre Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area. In addition, there are three hiking trails, a cave and a view of Lake Taneycomo within the 130-acre Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area on Fall Creek Road.

Missouri’s 1.5-million acre Mark Twain National Forest offers outdoor recreational opportunities in and around the nearby towns of Kimberling City and Forsyth.

TOPOGRAPHY The Ozark Mountain terrain of caves, streams, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, grasslands, forests, steep rocky hillsides, bottomland and glades make up the breathtaking topography of the area.

OZARK MOUNTAINS

by Nate Luke

BALDS Although hardwood forests cover much of the Branson/Lakes Area, one of the most intriguing features is the “glades,” frequently referred to as “balds” by locals because of their characteristically sparse terrain of semi-desert soil, ledge-rock, scattered cedar trees and prairie plants amidst rolling seas of oak and hickory trees. You’ll most often see glades on the south and west-facing slopes of hills where intense and prolonged sunlight – coupled with fires started by lightning, Native Americans or early settlers – have kept them relatively clear of trees.

BALD KNOBBERS The area’s balds served as important meeting spots for the 1880s vigilante justice gangs that organized in Taney County after many years of lawlessness immediately following the Civil War. Started by upstanding citizens, the Bald Knobbers, as they became known, concealed their identities for fear of retribution by criminals and eventually lost popular support due to their increasingly ruthless and seemingly indiscriminate (and sometimes murderous) tactics.

You can still see “Baldknobbers” in Branson, the musical instrumenttoting kind, at the Branson’s Famous Baldknobbers show – well past their 60th year of bringing live music and good, clean family entertainment to audiences.

DOGWOOD CANYON The 10,000-acre Dogwood Canyon Nature Park offers the best outdoor experience in the region for visitors of all ages. Miles of paved trails allow for walking and biking alongside cool spring-fed streams with rainbow trout and waterfalls. Guided tram and jeep tours offer a ride-along trek into pastures where herds of bison, elk and longhorn cattle roam. One-of-a-kind experiences include Segway nature tours, fly fishing for trophy rainbow trout and horseback riding alongside towering limestone bluffs. You won’t want to miss exploring the Nature & Conservation Center, with live animal and fish displays, hands-on crafts and wilderness survival demonstrations. Journey to the treetops for a birdseye view of the park and experience a treehouse built by Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters that offers even more to explore! A working gristmill with live demonstrations and an extensive artifact hall offer a look into what life was like in the Ozarks hundreds of years ago. The Canyon Grill restaurant rounds out your experience with a full lunch menu of locally sourced dishes and indoor/outdoor seating with stunning waterfall views.

DOGWOOD CANYON NATURE PARK

WOLFE MOUNTAIN Wolfe Mountain, just seven miles north of Branson, is home to Branson Zipline Canopy Tours. An authentic zipline canopy tour, plus SnowFlex Tubing Hill, has visitors soaring through the trees while traversing a series of ziplines, sky bridges and platforms or tubing down the slope. The guided eco-adventures include third-party, safety-certified guides sharing topographical, ecological and historical information. Guests choose from four different canopy tours or take the Blue Streak Fast Line with Freefall Xpress – a thrilling zip with a 100-foot freefall.

SNOWFLEX TUBING HILL

TABLE ROCK LAKESHORE TRAIL The two-mile Table Rock Lakeshore Trail connects the Dewey Short Visitor Center to the Showboat Branson Belle and Table Rock State Park. The eight-foot-wide paved trail is open from dawn to dusk and can accommodate foot traffic, motorized wheelchairs, bicycles, skateboards, Segways and scooters. The Ozark Mountain Nature Trail Association hopes eventually to extend the trail into a 12-mile hiking and biking trail reaching from Lake Taneycomo in Historic Downtown Branson to the town of Reeds Spring.

OZARK MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE Every day is a great day for hiking, and there are some beautiful valley views and vistas. Sometimes you may see wildlife scurrying about: deer, foxes, squirrels, opposum, skunks and a few armadillos. It’s not uncommon to see wildlife within the city limits of Branson. If you visit one of the area’s lakes, rivers, city parks or campgrounds, you may see birds on the flyway to summer or winter grounds. The woods are teeming with deer, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, great horned owls, great blue herons and pileated woodpeckers. Look for quail, songbirds, red fox, squirrels, otters, beavers, minks, armadillos, opossums, roadrunners, coachwhip snakes, garter snakes, skunks, eastern collared lizards and box turtles.

RV PARKS & CAMPGROUNDS Are you planning an RV or camping trip? If you are, you’ll be happy to know that Branson offers a variety of camping sites and RV parks for you to enjoy. You may want to stay lakeside or on top of the Ozark Mountains, but wherever you stay, you are just minutes away from great live shows and exciting attractions; neon and nature beckons you.

In the Branson/Lakes Area, there are 35 RV Parks with 2,870 sites: 2,000 with full hookup (electric, water, sewer), 735 water/electric or just electric and 135 tent sites. You can enjoy the comforts of a full-service 20/30/50-amp RV site or unplug and reconnect with your family in the backwoods near one of three pristine lakes in the area. Most of the area’s RV Parks and campground sites are located on or just minutes away from Lake Taneycomo and Table Rock Lake and are close to nearby Branson shows and attractions.

Many offer WiFi and Internet access to help you keep up with emails from family and friends, and most are very petfriendly. Some Branson/Lakes Area RV Parks and Campgrounds are Good Sam award-winners and are often featured in Trailer Life magazine.

RVing is definitely a family affair. Kids, parents and grandparents benefit from time spent together. And you cannot beat s’mores around the firepit.

TABLE ROCK LAKE STATE PARK

by Nate Luke

GOLF The Branson/Lakes Area is the fastestgrowing golf destination in America. Three courses have opened in the past four years, and another three are planned to debut in the next three years. And they’re not just any courses. They’re mindblowers, with some recently opened ones designed by Nicklaus, Fazio and Player.

Big Cedar Lodge redefines the perception of golf in the Ozarks recently unveiling Ozarks National Golf Course, designed by architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Carved into the Ozark Mountains with incredible vistas, this 18-hole course is fully walkable and capable of hosting future PGA and USGA tournaments.

The Mountain Top course designed by Gary Player opened in 2017, with two more by Tiger Woods currently under construction, including Payne’s Valley, named after southwest Missouri native, Payne Stewart.

There are eight courses in the Branson area. Top of the Rock course is part of the Big Cedar Lodge resort. A Jack Nicklaus designed, 9-hole, par 3 golf course, one of only eleven courses in the nation recognized by the Audubon Signature Cooperative Sanctuary Program. These area courses are so good that two of them – Buffalo Ridge and Top of the Rock – are played annually as part of the PGA Tour Champions Legends of Golf each spring. Top of the Rock includes Arnie’s Barn (yes, it’s from Latrobe, Penn.), the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, and the Lost Canyon Cave tour (in a golf cart which is included in the greens fee).

THOUSAND HILLS GOLF COURSE

The new and planned courses join an existing collection of good to great ones. The Buffalo Ridge Springs course has a growing reputation as one of the top public courses in the nation. It ranks as the best public course in Missouri. A Tom Fazio design utilizing the natural features of the landscape, formerly Branson Creek, now has a herd of bison looking on.

Branson Hills Golf Club is a tribute course honoring Legendary Missouri golfers. Natural rock outcroppings, waterfalls, creeks and wooded areas are incorporated. The course was designed by Chuck Smith with design consultant, and PGA Tour Professional, Bobby Clampett. Thousand Hills Golf Resort was rated 4-stars by Golf Digest magazine. This course has gained popularity due to its unique ability to cater to all golf skills levels. From novice to professional, the three separate sets of tees ensure a challenging, fair game for all.

LedgeStone Country Club at StoneBridge Village was described by Golf Digest as a “masterpiece of mountain golf architecture.” The 18-hole, par 71 championship course is just minutes from downtown Branson.

LEDGESTONE COUNTRY CLUB

Pointe Royale is a true “shot-maker” course with lush bent grass greens and Bermuda fairways, eight water holes, sand and grass bunkers and tees for all levels.

Holiday Hills invites you to “play a round” with them. The scenery alone is breathtaking. A round of golf at Branson’s first golf course, built 1938, is an adventure.

THREE PRISTINE LAKES The Branson/Lakes Area is well known for its three pristine lakes: Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals. Water sports enthusiasts can swim, water ski, wakeboard, tube, boat, sail, scuba dive, jet ski, parasail, kayak and, of course, fish. The lakes’ waters never freeze, welcoming visitors’ activities year-round. All three lakes offer resort lodging, camping and picnicking facilities and easy access to the water at a number of public marinas and boat dock/launch areas. Several commercial docks offer fishing guide services and a wide range of boat rentals, including ski boats, pontoon boats, bass boats and wave runners. Many of the resorts on the three lakes offer guide service, rental boats, snack bars and private dock facilities for visitors’ boats.

TABLE ROCK LAKE Accessible from multiple public and privately owned locations just minutes west of Branson, Table Rock Lake has been delighting visitors and residents alike since it was formed by the damming of the White River in 1959. While visitors can find dozens of places to stay and play along the banks of Table Rock Lake, the area’s commercial developments have placed a high priority on preserving the scenic beauty of the Ozarks’ natural shoreline, bluffs, forests and wildlife.

TABLE ROCK LAKE

by Nate Luke

FISHING TABLE ROCK LAKE Missouri’s deepest (200 feet) and clearest reservoir, Table Rock is nationally recognized as a top bass fishing lake. Large numbers of largemouth, smallmouth, Kentucky spotted bass and white bass thrive in its diverse underwater structure and immense forage base. Bass, crappie and large bluegill are caught in abundance. Catfish of all sizes also roam the bottom of the lake.

Many area resorts and marinas can connect you with an experienced fishing guide, and there are hundreds of national, regional and local tournaments held throughout the year.

TABLE ROCK LAKE

by Nate Luke

LAKE TANEYCOMO Accessible from many points, including downtown Branson, Rockaway Beach, Forsyth, Powersite, Hollister and the Fall Creek area, Lake Taneycomo was formed with the completion of Powersite Dam in 1913. Originally a section of the White River, Taneycomo is now technically a lake, yet retains the look and feel of a river. When Table Rock Dam was completed at Taneycomo’s headwaters in 1959, the nature of the lake changed. Taneycomo’s water now comes from the bottom of Table Rock Lake, making it a cold water lake. The cold, clear water, stocked annually with approximately 750,000 rainbow trout, makes Lake Taneycomo a world-class trout fishery.

Resorts and full-service public marinas offer canoeing, kayaking, fishing boats, motorboats, guides, tackle and pontoons for relaxing and fun-filled lake activities.

LAKE TANEYCOMO

by Nate Luke

FISHING LAKE TANEYCOMO The uppermost portion of the lake is reserved for artificial lures only, such as tiny jigs and crankbaits. These headwaters are also ideal for fly fishing with flies that imitate the freshwater shrimp and other natural bait that trout feed upon.

The locals say the best way to catch trout is by drifting salmon eggs or angleworms. Affix the eggs or worms to a small hook and cast into holes with an ultra light rod and reel. This method used from a drifting boat or dock will yield a nice stringer.

Lower Lake Taneycomo harbors a wellkept secret. The downstream area closer to Forsyth offers considerably warmer water and many other species of fish, making Taneycomo a versatile and challenging destination for anglers who are aware of its changing character from one end to the other. Fishing guides are available to help you make the most of your Lake Taneycomo experience.

BULL SHOALS LAKE Bull Shoals begins where Taneycomo ends and flows eastward from Forsyth into Arkansas. Bull Shoals Dam, the fifth largest concrete dam in the United States, is located seven miles north of Cotter, Arkansas. The lake’s shoreline is relatively undeveloped and features steep bluffs and rock ledges. The lake has many areas within 20 ft. of the shoreline measuring 50 ft. deep or more. Its crystalline water makes the lake an ideal spot for scuba divers. Light tackle and line are the best choice for anglers.

Bull Shoals also provides a variety of public access points and a selection of quaint fishing lodges that offer privacy and a chance to explore surrounding Ozark Mountain scenery at its finest.

FISHING BULL SHOALS LAKE Bull Shoals Lake is popular for its white, largemouth and spotted bass. It is a popular tournament lake and has a reputation for producing lunker fish of several varieties, including stripers that weigh in at more than 50 pounds. Record catches on this lake include a 5-pound, 5-ounce white bass, a 13-pound, 14-ounce largemouth bass and a 21-pound, 1-ounce walleye. Crappie, bream and catfish of all sizes can also be found in Bull Shoals Lake.