The Ozarks.
It's a place where adventures await. From lush forest, beautiful lakes,
sparkling springs, awe inspiring caves, and looming mountains.
This is a unique region that many have heard of but don't know too much about.
Wanting to get to know the Ozark region, which is a plateau that touches multiple
states, but a majority falls in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.
We set out to build a road trip from Arkansas to Missouri to uncover its
pristine natural beauty and heart pumping adventure.
We won't be able to do it all, but we're going to try our dang best.
This is a two part series that will show you that beyond having more shoreline than
the whole Coast of California, there's a lot to explore in the Ozark region.
Welcome to marvelous Missouri.
Deep in the Ozarks with countless caves, canyons, waterfalls,
bountiful wilderness, and activities for anyone with a sense of adventure.
We're starting with Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.
This is a 10,000 acre park in the Ozarks near the city of Branson.
This is an all out, family friendly playground with everything
from hiking, biking, horseback riding, trout fishing, and epic wildlife viewing.
For our time at Dogwood Canyon,
we opted for the private wildlife tour where your drive and guide will take you
out in an open top Jeep to explore the grounds.
Along the way, you'll see some of the unique buildings
such as the treehouse, amphitheater, and church.
You'll drive by numerous bridges over
water crossings, see how the Lakes are teeming with fish, and make numerous stops
along the way to get up close to several beautiful waterfalls.
For the main highlight,
you'll be surprised to find out that you'll be crossing state lines
and over to Arkansas to get to the wildlife preserve.
On our tour, we're able to see a large
herd of elk, buffalo, and even longhorn cattle.
The big advantage of doing the private
wildlife tour is that the Jeep can go off road and get much closer to the wildlife
to the point where we basically didn't even need our super telephoto lenses.
Crossing back to Missouri,
and we are going offroading, where things got a little bit bumpy,
but it was a fun change of pace to close out the tour.
Another way to see wildlife is to do their wildlife tram tours.
Something interesting to know is that this was founded by Johnny Morris,
who is also the founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops,
whose mission is to conserve the land and wildlife at Dogwood Canyon.
Another one of Johnny Morris's projects is
Big Cedar Lodge, America's premier wilderness lodge that's
tucked away in the rugged Missouri Ozark's overlooking Table Rock Lake.
Within its grounds is the Top of the Rock Ozark Heritage Preserve.
And one of the things that you have to do
is the Top of the Rock Lost Canyon and Nature Trail in one of these.
Driving your own car,
you follow the trail which takes you through the canyon,
passing by stunning rock formations, beautiful waterfalls,
crossing the over bridges, entering a cave system with waterfalls
inside, a few scenic viewpoints, and some surprises as well.
There's even a bat bar in the middle where you can get snacks and drinks.
Here's a tip:
stick around at Top of the Rock for sunset because there's a special ceremony where
there's a bagpipe performance and the firing of a Civil War cannon.
Now,
you could stay at the big lodge, but we think it's way cooler to stay
in one of these luxurious glamping tents, complete with fire pit and s'mores kit.
Continuing our fun in Branson is a good old fashioned theme park.
Silver Dollar City has a fitting 1880s theme, and the whole park is infused
with Ozark's history, making it an utter joy to explore.
First things first, the roller coasters are awesome.
We started our day running straight
towards the new Time Traveler spinning coaster.
Here's a peek at what it was like.
Are we coming to time travel?
It's happening.
Ready for launch.
We're logged in.
It's not ready.
Oh, my God.
Here we go.
We did it.
The time traveled and we came back to present time.
We also got a chance to try Wildfire.
And if you look closely at our faces, we were definitely feeling those G-forces.
Love water rides? They have that too,
with the traditional American plunge, Tom & Huck's River Blast,
and Mystic River Falls, which has a raft elevator, a first in our books.
You'll be sure to get wet.
And so they even have these full body dryers.
It's a park that doesn't take itself too
seriously and always has something special going on with their seasonal festivals.
There are plenty of food options, including delicious barbecue
from the Rivertown Smokehouse and their tasty platters.
For the sweeter side of things, don't miss their homemade ice cream.
But then there are things that make
Silver Dollar City truly unique and oozing from a time period of over century ago.
They have craftsman demonstrations scattered throughout the park.
We had a chance to watch the skilled
blacksmith showing us how they make their orny decorations.
Brown's Candy Factory, where you can watch things like brownies
and brittle being made fresh, and a blown glass factory where you'll be
blown away by how they're able to create something like a mug from start to finish,
all of which eventually makes it to the shop next door.
These craftsmen really show the creativity and pioneering spirit of this era.
There's no Silver Dollar City without Marvel Cave.
Below the park is a five meter foot deep
sink hole and cavern, the original tourist attraction that started it all in 1894.
Let's go check it out. An ambitious Canadian, William Lynch,
purchased it in 1889 and eventually started leaving tourists in.
Your tour begins with the massive
staircase that takes you down to the base of the Cathedral Room.
Afterwards, you'll be guided through the subterranean passageways with chances
of seeing bats and salamanders, caverns that feel like you're inside
a pyramid chamber, deep drops in the rock, underwater passageways, waterfalls,
unique formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, and flow stones.
And at the end of the cave, you'll take a cable car that climbs back
up to the surface, ending a fantastic 60 minute tour.
We're now in the Ozark National Scenic
Riverways, the first National Park area created to protect the river system.
In this case, the famous current and Jacks Fork Rivers
of the Ozark Highlands in Southeastern Missouri.
Renting kayaks from cars, canoe, rental,
and with local guide Bill from Scenic Rivers Guide Service and Tours,
spend the morning floating, enjoying the views of the forest,
seeing the fern and moss covered limestone bluffs paddling through fun formations
like this, and encountering plenty of wildlife.
Fed by natural Springs, people love coming here because
of the clean and clear waters that make it a great place for the canoe and kayak.
And if you start from Pulltite,
you'll also get to make a stop at the Pulltite Springs where after a short
hike, you'll pass by an old log cabin and the spring where you can see all
of the fresh water bubbling up and eventually feeding the current river.
All along the Ozark National Scenic
Riverways are even more outdoor gems that are begging to be discovered
including Alley Spring and Mill, a historic site from the late 1800s where
grain was ground into flour thanks to its free water power.
Blue Spring, a vivid blue color spring that goes 310
feet deep, one of the deepest in the United States.
And Rocky Falls, an impressive, steep,
cascading waterfall that pours into a large pool of water.
Next along our road trip is the Johnson's Shut-in State Park.
Here you'll find Missouri's best example of a shut in, which is when water is
forced through the cracks in the harder rock containing the stream.
From the boardwalk and on the rocks themselves, you'll get a great view of its
spectacular shoots, potholes, and waterfalls all can find within the gorge.
In the summer, this is a great place
to cool down, swim, and go down its natural rock slides.
If you want to see a curious and magical geological formation of ancient granite
boulders, make sure to come to Elephant Rock State Park.
On the hill is where you'll see the best examples of these rocks.
Several large boulders stand end-to-end like a train of circus elephants.
You're allowed to climb on top, between, and go through the cracks.
This is part of an easy hike trail called the Braille Trail, designed specifically
for those with visual and physical impairment.
Speaking of magic, a spot you definitely
want to consider staying for the night is the nearby Magic Tipi Retreat.
They have the option of a picnic dinner, which we highly recommend as well.
Don't think we've ever stayed in a tipi before.
National Geographic calls this one
of America's Top 10 Greatest Adventures, and here's why.
Bonne Terre Mine is one of the world's largest
man-made caves that started as a mine for deep-Earth lead and was at one point
the world's largest producer of lead ore until it closed in 1962.
The top two levels are above the water,
and visitors can see how the miners worked here.
Where it gets interesting are the lower three levels where a billion gallon and 17
mile long lake exists, filling the abandoned shafts with equipment.
This is the world's largest subterranean lake.
The tour allows you to explore the lake by boat, which is quite the site to see,
but below water, it gets even more interesting.
This is home to the largest fresh water
dive resort on top of being a National Historic Site.
If you have your scuba diving
certification, you can actually go diving in the mine.
Their packages go through the weekend
and you have the option of staying in a restored 1909 train depot.
After you get your dive briefing
and change into your gear, you head in through what's called
the mule entrance through the mine and onto the dive platform.
I do think I'd be scuba diving in Missouri, but here goes.
That was incredible. Oh, my gosh.
I feel like I've explored so many parts of the cave.
So many different carts, so many openings.
The elevator shaft, steps, equipment.
That was one epic dive.
The adventure continues as we get just outside of
St. Louis in Missouri.
This is RYZE Adventure Park.
They have lawn games, mini golf,
zip lines, and even a course for little ninjas.
But its centerpiece is the adventure tower.
This tower is four stories and has 110
obstacles that range from easy to a full on American Ninja Warrior.
Once we put on our harnesses and got a hang of their double click system,
we were off to roam the tower on our own in its jungle gym of obstacles freely.
We started off easy and worked our way through the different levels.
Some were super easy, and we found others that were just really fun and unique.
Eventually, we made it to the ones
with the highest difficulty, with some success and some failure as well.
To cap things off,
how can you not do the adventure tower and take the leap of faith?
I've done it so many times, but it still gets me every time.
To close things out, we're renting bikes from Bike Stop Cafe in
st. Charles and doing a segment
of the Katy Trail, the longest developed rail-trail in the country.
Built on what used to be railroad tracks, they've since paved over the rail line,
allowing cyclists to take advantage of the incredible scenery and all
of the small towns that you can pass along the way.
It's now nothing but you and other cyclists on this trail.
One stop you should build into your trip
is Augusta, the nation's first designated wine region.
And yes, that's even before Napa and Sonoma.
When you're here, choose from one of the many wineries.
In our case, we stopped at Mount Pleasant Estates,
where they're known for their tawny and vigneault.
Love biking, but the combination of sip and cycle can't be beat.
And what better way to end off our trip than a visit to Salt + Smoke?
If you didn't know, now you know.
It's been one heck of a road trip getting to see the awesome outdoors in the Ozark
region between Arkansas and Missouri up close.
If you're curious about the full details of the Ozark's adventure itinerary
in Missouri, make sure to check out our blog on Going Awesome Places dot com.
Links are in the description down below.
Thanks for watching.
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Great scratchers there.
Yeah, I was going to say, That's very convenient.
This is horrible.
I can't.
This is so crazy.
I did it.