City: Branson, MO

Category: Parks & Recreation

Description: This 130-acre park opened in 1999, a gift of Dr. Lyle Owen, a retired college professor who bought the land in the early 1930s and built the 340 stone steps from the top of the bluff above Lake Taneycomo down to about 60 feet above the water’s edge. It was no easy task carrying the stone and mixing the mortar at that time. Owen inscribed one step: “Let those who tread here not forget that these steps were not made of stone and mortar alone, but of sweat and blood and agony.” The area contains two trails. Trail number one (0.5 mile one way) is a trail to the steps, but if you go down the steps, you have to come back up them, and though it’s only 340 steps down, it seems like 3,400 on the climb up! Plans are to extend the trail along the bluff and have it loop back to its start. The trail and steps offer a scenic view of the Lake Taneycomo valley and feature a natural waterfall and several caves, including one called Old Soldiers Cave, which served as a hideout for a gunsmith during the Civil War. It takes about an hour to take the trail walk and the steps. Trail two winds its way through forest and glades. The 1.3-mile trail is fairly level, accommodating families with children and folks who desire an easier stroll. A picnic area can be found halfway down the trail.The Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area is open during daylight hours only in the fall and winter and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the spring and summer. Access to the area is from Fall Creek Road, about 0.2 mile south of MO 76. Turn left off MO 76 at the stoplight just before Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater. Then look for the park sign on your left.