Vacation Ideas in the Lake of the Ozarks

Looking for some vacation ideas in the Ozarks? How about outdoor activities like Bridal Cave, Ha Ha Tonka State Park, or boating on the Lake of the Ozarks Niangua Arm? Look no further. With every water activity imaginable, the possibilities at Lake of the Ozarks are almost endless, and Lake of the Ozarks fun facts are… just plain fun.

“Ex Travel Junkie Blog owner Denise and her husband visited Lake of the Ozarks and this is their first hand experience of the park.“

First, a little about the region.

Our first Lake of the Ozarks fun fact. Lake of the Ozarks was created in 1931 when Bagnell Dam created a reservoir in southern Missouri. Result of the dam completion – a truly spectacular lake that covers 86 square miles (57,000 acres) and spans 1150 miles of shoreline. MILES people. This recreation area is huge. The lake consists of several rivers, 4 of which converge on a single point creating the 4 Corners section of the Lake.

In addition to the massive body of water associated with the Lake of the Ozarks region, several state parks border the waterway, Lake of the Ozarks State Park, and Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Believe me, we will be talking about these later.

We love the outdoors. Lake of the Ozarks’ best activities is outdoors.

Fall 2017, Papa Joe and I were exhausted.

We had experienced a busy year of traveling. During the year we visited incredible destinations and met lots of fascinating people. But with 6 kids, 13 grandkids, and crazy-busy jobs, we kept seeing our neglected RV in the backyard. We knew we had to find a destination that was fairly close. You know, a getaway in that RV for a while.

We did all sorts of crazy things to figure out where to go, including pulling out a map and drawing a 6-hour radius from our home base. We discussed going further away and taking work with us to allow for a longer stay. Anything that included taking work with us was QUICKLY ruled out.

We also looked at staying close to home – but that wouldn’t allow us to experience anything new. A trip to Missouri seemed like an easy decision.

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We were excited to go someplace new

I was sold on the idea but had to convince Papa Joe that there would be Lake of the Ozarks activities that would appeal to both of us.

We were excited to go in our camper. But the destination didn’t excite us – especially Papa Joe. See, I have family ties to the area and have visited this area of Missouri numerous times throughout my life, but Papa Joe had never visited this part of the Ozarks.

Regardless, we loaded up the camper, fueled up the truck, and hit the road. This is what we found – deciding to travel to Missouri was probably our best travel decision of the year! So much so, that we returned with Trixie the following year.

We researched campgrounds and chose Scallywags RV Park.

Wow, what a name!

Deciding which campground to stay in was probably the hardest decision we had to make. There are more campgrounds in this area of Missouri than I could have imagined!

Our second Lake of the Ozarks fun fact – there is an entire cove with pirate-themed names. Scallywags, Captain Rons, Pirate’s Cove, the list goes on and on.

We landed on Scallywags because of the other amenities that were close – convenience store across the street (within walking distance), onsite restaurant/lounge, beach/recreation area onsite, as well as restaurants within walking distance.

Ok, let’s be truthful. I liked the name. The campground was located less than a mile to our boat rental and 15 miles to major commercial areas.

Most of you won’t care about the campground

Shame on you… you don’t know what you are missing. RV’ing is not a bad way to go.

What most of you will care about, is what Lake of the Ozarks activities we found, how much will they cost, and the area is family-friendly. Life on the river moves slower than life in the city. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good.

What are the top 3 Lake of the Ozarks activities?

Papa Joe and I like to get out and do new things. I’m sure that comes as a surprise. While there, we enjoyed hiking the trails in Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Cave exploration at Bridal Cave. Boating – ooooh yeah, there was boating – all over the lake but especially along the Niangua Arm. Barbeque. Moonshine. Dam exploration at Bagnell Dam?

All of that and so much more!

Lake of the Ozarks activity # 1

Papa Joe loves driving a boat. Really – driving anything fast. As numerous as campgrounds are, there are more boat rentals. I can’t find my statistics, but there are thousands of boats on the lake each weekend in the summer.

Lake of the Ozarks fun fact #3. The lake has over a hundred establishments located on the lake’s edge – from marinas to restaurants to nightclubs to beaches.

And that includes pleasure boating, speed boating, water skiing, and fishing. Yeah, the fishing. Papa Joe and I were out for a relaxing afternoon stroll. Now, the reason for which is another blog topic completely. Let’s just say the alcohol came AFTER the stitches.

Anyway, back to the fishing

Lake of the Ozarks is one of the nation’s great fisheries, hosting professional, amateur, and club fishing tournaments all year long. The floating docks and underwater structures such as “crappie beds” provide excellent habitat for a variety of fish, including walleye, largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead and blue catfish, white bass, spotted bass, and crappie.

The region sponsors numerous fishing competitions, starting in March and lasting deep into the Fall.

Anyway, our time on the boat was spent going up and down the main channel and Niangua Arm, and in a day we explored a very small portion of the lake – and loved it all! Sadly for me, no fishing on this trip, but there’s always another chance. I think it is illegal to visit the Lake of the Ozarks without getting on a boat, so this has to be a must-do.

Any boating activity in the lake includes rest stops at the multiple restaurants, gas stations, and adult beverage venues along the lake. After a couple of visits to Lake of the Ozarks, here are some of our favorite boating haunts.

Lake of the Ozarks activity # 2. This feels like Dr. Seuss…

This brings me to another passion – hiking. We explored Lake of the Ozarks State Park and Ha Ha Tonka State Park, both of which were within 20 minutes from our campsite. Lake of the Ozarks State Park was interesting, but we really enjoyed Ha Ha Tonka State Park, which btw was voted #4 State Park in America by readers of USA TODAY and 10Best. Not shabby.

With trails ranging from easy (some are handicapped accessible) to rugged, this park takes visitors through natural wonders such as the Colosseum – a massive collapsed stone arch over a wooded sinkhole, to man-made attractions like the Castle Ruins.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a Must-Do all on its own. The scenery is amazing, and hiking trails are not only well maintained, but they also accommodate all difficulty levels. That is really a noteworthy feat, and fairly unusual.

We spent several days on the hiking trails at Ha Ha Tonka and didn’t see the same thing twice. Fun fact = the park features over 16 miles of trails, as well as picnic areas, camping, and water recreation areas. It was a treasure, and if your idea of fun is hiking the trails, Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a must-do.

What’s next?

You get 3 guesses here…. What is the furthest activity from beaches?

I got it – Caves! Believe it or not, despite being slightly claustrophobic, Papa Joe and I really enjoy caves. Southern Missouri and Arkansas have a high concentration of limestone and dolostone, amongst several other interesting geologic features.

The presence of limestone with geologic shifting has resulted in an area of the country absolutely riddled with caves, some of which feature incredible stalactite and stalagmite formations.

Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park are great examples of this. Located just a few miles from our campsite, this made for a nice afternoon of entertainment. The attraction contains more than the cave, with interactive hiking trails, games for the kiddos to play, and guides VERY excited to teach visitors about their wonderland.

I am really impressed with Bridal Cave.

I am sacrificing my vanity to show readers the fantastic bridal veil in Bridal Cave. This thing is absolutely amazing, and, for lack of better words, is a solid veil of cave goo with sheets of columns stretching from floor to the mile-high ceiling. Well, maybe the ceiling isn’t a mile high, but it is very tall, and the veil is amazing.

The cave itself was pretty dramatic, with a large cavern bordered with a veil-like formation. The cave is aptly named and is reported to be the site of numerous wedding ceremonies. Definitely worth the money. And worth a return trip with Trixie in 2019.

One last picture of Bridal Cave – really, is an incredibly stunning area of Missouri. This deep lake is at the end of the Bridal Cave guided tour. I have intentionally NOT edited the colors… and held onto my camera very tightly to prevent dropping it. The climb down to the lake was steep and that camera would have been a goner.

I feel like an infomercial…

This region of Missouri offers numerous other activities, such as a thriving outlet mall, swimming in the lake, Bagnell Dam tours, distillery tours, and what is reported to be “world-class” golf, not to mention winter sports like snowmobiling.

Here are a couple of resources for Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks activities – there is simply too much to do to discuss in a single blog post. FunLake.com and LakeOzarkNow.com are reasonable places to start. We found the best barbecue sauce at a moonshine distillery. Believe me – local spirits, Papa Joe’s smoked ribs, and Ozark BBQ sauce make one he!! of an ending to a day of hiking! My last Lake of the Ozarks fun fact for the day is we found the best barbeque sauce EVER at a local distillery. No lie.

Let’s break down our Missouri Lake of the Ozarks activities.

Campsite rental was $216 for 6 nights. Our home base was the RV. There were a couple of restaurants within walking distance, and meals at the camper cost the same or less as at home.
Fuel to get to the Lake? Remember, Papa Joe drives an old truck. We spent as much on fuel as our campsite rental.
Hiking trails – free!
Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park – $18 per person, and filled a rainy afternoon with beautiful and informational activity.
Dining out – $10-$20 per entrée, pretty standard. Of course, you could spend more, but we have pretty pedestrian tastes when we’re camping.
Boating – that was the expense of the trip. An 8 hour day for a tritoon cost $125, but adding in the cost of food and beverage on the lake, and it adds up pretty fast. Food and beverage for the day were around $50 for lunch and a snack in the afternoon. Remember the Niangua Arm for great restaurants and activities.

One more picture, this one from Thunder Mountain, which is where Bridal Cave is located. How pretty is this location?

Overall, Lake of the Ozarks is not a crazy expensive destination. I estimate our fuel, camping, admission, and boating expenses right at $650, for 6 days total. It could be a lot worse.

Now for the takeaways

Ha Ha Tonka State Park features small streams that feed into the Lake of the Ozarks, and the streams are very pretty.

Having visited both in late summer and early fall, I prefer early fall and watching the trees change. This region of Missouri is an absolutely beautiful area of the country. Boating on the Lake of the Ozarks Niangua Arm is good any time of the year.

With the rolling, heavily wooded hills, water everywhere you look, sounds of birds everywhere, Lake of the Ozarks may just be paradise.

People are weird.

Let me explain this…..

There is the local population that needs tourism, and that group is friendly and welcoming, helpful. Then there is the population that is crusty – tourists bring noise, pollution, a change to a “way of life”. Which is probably where my “people” come from.

But, even in their crustiness, I find the personalities interesting – go figure. I don’t need people to be friendly to have fun. Remarkable to me – though the region spans 4 counties, everyone knew everybody else, just like in small towns or villages. To me, that says Lake People care about each other, which is the most important thing.

I would love to return and use the Lake of the Ozarks as a home base for a family trip. Most of the grandbabies are all “city” kids and need open areas to play. Rocks to throw, bird poop to step in, bugs to chase, hiking trails to explore, and lake water lapping at their toes. A more relaxed way of life than every day at home.

What’s good for the grand-babies is good for my internet friends

Don’t go there looking to have entertainment dropped in your lap. Go there expecting to absorb everything around you. If you go with that frame of mind, you will go back over and over. Which is probably why I keep returning.

Winner-winner-chicken-dinner. Outdoor Lake of the Ozarks activities is absolutely a solid recommendation!

If you want to learn more about accommodations, places to eat, and activities, check out all the info on TripAdvisor.