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Ozark
Mountain Region
America's new live
entertainment capital, crystal-blue lakes surrounded by forested hills,
and attractions based on colorful native lifestyles are just part of
what's waiting for you when you arrive in southwest Missouri's Ozark
Mountain Region.
Near the region's center is
the state's best-known little town. Branson may offer more family fun than
anywhere else, highlighted by more than 40 music/variety shows. Some
shows, such as Presleys' and the Baldknobbers, have been delighting
audiences for decades.
Recent years have brought many
new names, and spacious new theaters, presenting musical styles that range
from traditional country and pop "classics" to today's sounds.
At Shepherd of the Hills
Homestead and Outdoor Theatre you can take a tram tour of this literary
historic site, enjoy crafts and games, then watch the fast-paced drama
recreating the Shepherd's tale of life on the Ozarks frontier.
Nearby Silver Dollar City also
will transport you back to the turn of the century. Here you'll see 100
craftspeople work their magic, and thrill to exciting rides and music
shows, all in the setting of an 1890s Ozarks town. Major festivals spice
up each year.
Branson's newest highlights
include a 6-story IMAX (R) Theatre, Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum,
Branson Scenic Railway, Dixie Stampede dinner attraction, and water fun
aboard the Polynesian Princess and Showboat Branson Belle.
On Branson's doorstep is
river-like Lake Taneycomo, where cold waters support an excellent trout
fishery. Also close by is sprawling Table Rock Lake, its 43,100 acres a
delight for anglers, boaters, scuba divers and other water recreationists.
Equally big, and fun, is Bull Shoals, a hour east of Branson. And the
upper end of Norfork Lake provides the region with yet another sparkling
jewel.
Towns around all four lakes
have plenty to offer. In Eagle Rock, Forsyth, Kimberling City, Pontiac,
Rockaway Beach, Shell Knob and Theodosia, you'll find dozens of shops with
Ozark crafts, art and antiques, plus museums, restaurants and resorts.
Another group of towns that
warmly welcomes visitors is along the Ozark Mountain Parkway (Hwy. 265), a
scenic shortcut to Branson from the north. There's Marionville with its
rare white squirrels, "The City of Art" at Reeds Spring, and
crafts galore at Lakeview (Branson West).
Popular state parks in the
region include Table Rock, on the shores of its namesake lake, and
ruggedly scenic Roaring River, which offers trout fishing, hiking and
camping.
When you visit Springfield,
the state's third-largest city, plan stops at the history and art museums,
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Dickerson Park Zoo, Frisco Railroad Museum
and conservation nature center. The city offers shopping opportunities
galore, which should include one of Missouri's most popular
attractions--Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. There's nothing else like it
anywhere.
Just outside Springfield you
can take a "wild ride" through Exotic Animal Paradise, relive
Civil War history at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield and General
Sweeney's, and go underground at Fantastic Caverns, America's only
ride-through cave. In and around the nearby town of Ozark you'll find
numerous antique stores and malls, and canoeing on the James River.
East of Springfield are two
more premier float streams, the North Fork River and Bryant Creek, whose
valleys boast several historic water mills. At Mansfield you can visit the
house where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived when she wrote the "Little
House" books.
An hour west of Springfield is
Joplin, a booming mining town in the late 1800s. The Everett Ritchie
Tri-State Mineral Museum and Dorothea B. Hoover Museum, both in
Schifferdecker Park, tell the town's story. Artist Thomas Hart Benton's
only autobiographical mural, "Joplin at the Turn of the Century,
1896-1906," graces the town's Municipal Building.
Nearby Carthage is known for
its Victorian homes and Civil War museum and battle site. Artist Sam
Butcher's Precious Moments Chapel and Visitors Center is here too, along
with a restored 1930s rural village called Red Oak II.
Just south, at Diamond, is the
George Washington Carver National Monument. Its museum highlights the life
and career of this renowned African-American agronomist who spent his
boyhood here.
Farther south is colorful
Neosho, known as the "flower-box city." And in the region's
southwest corner is Noel, flanked by several fine canoeing streams and
scenic wooded hills.
The Ozark Mountain Region
offers something special for everyone, from music fan to outdoors
enthusiast to history buff to art lover. Anytime of year, you'll find this
region is the right getaway choice for you.
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