The Eureka Springs area is just a few miles from the border with Missouri, so it was an easy 42 mile drive (although still curvy and hilly) to Lampe, MO and our next stop.  The main feature of this area is Table Rock Lake.  It actually starts in Arkansas, curves around into Missouri and back to Arkansas.  You get the picture.  It is a Corps of Engineer lake with a hydroelectric dam on the White River.   It is said to have more shoreline that the state of California. Because of the Corps control, there is very little construction on the shoreline, so the vistas are very natural woods.

In Lampe, we stayed at another new park called Black Oak RV.  It was similar to the other two new parks we stayed with nice accommodations but no landscaping.  So very stark looking.  It had almost 200 pads and there were 6 of us (we are at the top of the hill)!  But it was a good place to center our explorations and the sunsets were gorgeous. 

The major city in the area is Branson, MO, and it was about 20 miles away across the lake.  When you google the top things to see and do around Branson, the top 2 are Dogwood Canyon Nature Park and Top of the Rock Ozarks Heritage Preserve.  Both are owned by Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro and Cabela stores.  He is known to have a penchant for nature and history and both of these parks are a good example of his conservation efforts.  We decided to visit both.

Dogwood Canyon is basically a 3.2 mile long path along a beautiful creek with waterfalls and trout.  The landscaping is well managed.  As for the visit, they charge a fee to let you in and allow you to walk the length of the canyon and back.  Pay for exercise.  They do offer tram rides, bicycle rental etc., but we were happy to do the walk.  We did the whole 6.4 mile roundtrip in about 4 hours with stops along the way.  It was very enjoyable and a pleasant day.

Top of the Rock is different.  It is also a canyon area, but you rent an electric golf cart and travel along the path with overlook and highlight stops along the way.  Again, lots of waterfalls like Dogwood Canyon, and interesting sculptures of wildlife and outdoor scenes and table rock formations.  One main feature is a natural (?) cave with a natural (?) waterfall inside.  And of course, in the cave was a snack bar with topical drinks in case you needed some refreshment.  I am a little tongue in cheek here but overall, the scenic overlooks were amazing and the trip very interesting.

A final feature of Top of the Rock is a museum of the history of the Ozarks from prehistoric to modern times including a lot about the native American tribe’s life and culture.  When the dam was being considered and constructed in the 1950’s, many people were concerned about the loss of history and received permission to excavate some of the 900 sites that were identified would be lost.  The result is a fantastic display in the museum of these artifacts. 

All in all, both sites were worth the price, and we would recommend them if you are in the area.

After 3 days at the Black Oak RV, we moved across the lake to the Table Rock Lake State Park which was more like a real campground.  We had a very nice spot at the end of road and close to the walking path. We walked over to the marina to check out a possible boat rental but the cost was not justified.  So, we decided to go into Branson proper to see what that was all about. We did go out for Missouri barbecue to Crazy Craig’s Cheeky Monkey BBQ (it’s a long story). Gail could not pass up the Oo Ee Oo Ah Ah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang Monkey Pint! It was good!

We drove into the old downtown area along the White River first. The river walk was nice, and we made the hourly water fountain display.  We decided to have lunch at a Cantina Laredo to get our Tex-Mex fix (even though it was not real Tex-Mex)!  We walked the old town area and visited a few of the antique malls and were really amazed at the stuff we grew up with on the shelves for sale.  Are we antique too?

Then on the way out of town we hit the real Branson.  This is the “Strip-like” area with the theaters, show events, hotels, aquarium and museums.  Not enough time this trip.

But we did stop one more time at an overlook with an observation tower looking down over Branson, the river valley and a peek at the lake too.  A nice end to our time in Missouri. 

Now on to Atlanta!