Sunday, July 14, 2019 – Dogwood Canyon Nature Park

I drove west to visit the Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

About Dogwood Canyon Nature Park

“Promote and protect the natural environment of the canyon’s wildlife and plant life.”

Aside from a few amenities to make Dogwood Canyon Nature Park more accessible to our guests, the rugged landscape has been left untouched and, with just a little imagination, you can travel back to a time when European settlers first entered the area or, even further, to explore the mark that Native Americans left on these Missouri hills and hollows.

The first parcels of the property were acquired in 1990 by Johnny Morris, founder/CEO of Bass Pro Shops. The park is owned and managed by the Dogwood Canyon Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the canyon’s natural plant and wildlife environment. The Foundation promotes environmental conservation by maintaining the park and providing the public with an unspoiled setting for exploration and the enjoyment of various outdoor activities.

The purposes of the Dogwood Canyon Foundation are to promote natural conservation, and to protect the natural environment and its wildlife and plant life by acquiring and maintaining ecologically significant, undeveloped land to benefit the general public. To achieve its purpose, the Foundation owns, operates and maintains Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

It cost me $20 to get in to the property.

A Single-Day Ticket
grants you access to:The Dogwood Mill & Artifact Display, Canyon Grill Restaurant, Treehouse (as seen on Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters television series), Nature & Conservation Center, plus, the ½ mile Hickory Ridge Trail.
Walking & Hiking on 6.5 miles of paved paths and 9 miles of trails

Then I paid $32 for a 2 hour tram tour ticket.

Daily Wildlife Tram Tours

Overview

Call it a “ride on the wild side.” Step aboard our comfortable, open-air trams and explore the beauty of Dogwood Canyon on our very informative 2-hour narrated Wildlife Tram Tour. You’ll wind through the canyon floor, past towering bluffs and waterfalls, and make stops at the 1800’s-style Hope Wedding Chapel, Thunder Falls Crossing to feed the fish, and Glory Hole (a magnificent blue-green pool where some of our largest trout reside). Then, cross the Arkansas border and enter the Bison~Elk Country pasture where you’ll encounter some of the largest residents of Dogwood Canyon, American bison, elk, whitetail deer and Texas longhorn. Separate park admission is required.

My tour started at 10am and ended at 12:15pm.  The weather was a perfect mid-70’s cloudy day.  The tram had about 20 people on it.  You stop and get off a couple of times during the tour.  Here are a few photos of my tour.

After the tour I went back to the trailer, packed up and headed out.  A pretty good shower came up as I was leaving and dumping my tanks resulting in my getting drenched.

I stopped in Branson for a late lunch and headed home.  I arrived home safe and sound about 6 pm.

#255 – Saturday, July 13, 2019 -Branson

I just had a lazy day today.  I went in to Branson for a while for some wandering and shopping.  I brought a salad back to eat for dinner.

Here is a picture I took out of the trailer window when a sail boat went by.  I saw the Branson Belle go by also.

#254 – Friday, July 12, 2019 – A Little Weekend Getaway

I left home about 10:00am for a nice warm, sunny drive to Branson.  Check in time for the campground was 4:00pm.  I arrived at Old 86 Park about 3:30pm.  This is an U S Army Corp of Engineers park.  It is $21 per night for Electric and Water.

I had read great reviews for this park.  The park is southwest of Branson on Table Rock Lake with 75 sites.  You continue past the 76 exit into Branson on 65 for another 8 miles to Highway 86.  You go 6 miles west on 86 and then turn right on Highway UU and continue about a couple of miles to the campground.  So it is 16 miles to Branson from the campground.

I am very impressed.  Water views everywhere.  All the sites are paved, I get cell service and I am getting 10 channels on my little TV antenna.  I also have shade on my trailer.  I love my site and the view is great!

It was 84 degrees here today.  I enjoyed watching the boats and other watercraft go by.

Sunday, June 19, 2016 -Rolling on home

I packed up and left the RV park at 9:45am.  I drove down 76 highway, stopped for a couple of photos and then went to McFarlain’s.

It’s a Giant Chicken!!!!

It’s a Giant Meatball, Tomato, Pasta and Fork!

At 11:00am I watched an IMAX 3-D film at McFarlain’s featuring our National Parks.  It was 40 minutes long and cost $12.00.  It was pretty good.  It focused on  about 10 of the parks.  I have visited most of the parks featured but many of the views were shot from planes or helicopter so it was a very different perspective.  It was narrated by Robert Redford.

I had a little lunch before leaving Branson.  I stopped in Springfield at Camping World and At Home.  I arrived at Mom and Dad’s just before 6:00pm in time to set down to family dinner for Father’s Day.

#174 – Saturday, June 18, 2016 – Much Better Weather

Friday evening there was fog on top of the lake due to the extreme warm air temperature versus the cooler lake temperature.

Lake Taneycomo

 

 

Here are some photos that show how small my RV site is..

 

The weather today was much better.  I think it hit 90 or so.  I hit some downtown shops this morning then continued on down 76 strip stopping at various stores along the way.

At 2:00pm I went to see “Rockapella” at the Andy Williams theatre.  I stopped at the half-price ticket place and purchased the ticket for $19.00 before going.

They are a group of five guys that call themselves contemporary a cappella.  Four of the guys sing and one is called a “vocal percussionist”.  He makes sounds like instruments.  They were pretty good.  I thought the sound on the percussionist was a little loud and covered up the singing more than I would have liked.

This theatre is pretty large by Branson standards and there may have been 100 people in the audience.  When I went to get my seat assignment about 25 minutes before show time, the ticket agent said I could be on the front row.  I declined and she gave me a seat in the 4th row.  When I saw how deserted the place was I relocated back a few rows.  Several people chose to spread out and up.

After the show I continued shopping until 6:30 or so.  I went back  to the trailer, hitched up to get ready for tomorrow, put on my new shoes and walked to the Landing.  I did check the distance today.  It is 4/10 of a mile from the RV park to Bass Pro (most southern business at the Landing).

This weekend is the 10th anniversary of the Branson Landing.  Tonight they had a concert.  A local group performed first and then at 8:30 Trey O’Dell (contestant on the Voice) performed.  At 10:00pm in honor of their 10th anniversary, they had 10 minutes of fireworks.

Branson Landing

 

I walked back from the concert area to the RV park after the fireworks.  About 1/2 mile or so.  The weather was delightful.