Dogwood Canyon Nature Park
I got up early this morning and discovered I had slept with a fruit roll up. After the horrible dinner last night at Outback Steakhouse in Branson the only thing I had to snack on was a handful of fruit roll ups I had grabbed as I was heading out the door and the remainder of my popcorn from the movies that morning. At least it was an unopened one, because that would have been kinda gross to wake up stuck to my back or something. Especially in a hotel room, I wouldn't know what it was and probably start freaking out! lol
After a quick breakfast I headed out to Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in Lampe, Missouri. I had been here once before a few years back and loved the place. The downside to the place is it isn't free, you do have to pay to get into the park. How much all depends on what activities you want to do while there. The price is reasonable and the park is exceptionally well maintained!
You have several options to see the park..... you can walk, which is not only the cheapest but also my personal favorite. You see more, get to explore more and take everything in and at a much slower pace. But as my aching feet and muscles can tell you, at three miles each way for a total round trip of 6 miles, it is easier said than done!
If you are looking for an easier approach, but still want to go on your own you can rent a bike. You can also take a guided segway tour of the park or ride in the comfort of a guided tram tour. These are only ways to see the park, there are other activities to do there like ride ATVs, go fishing, take a guided fishing trip, they have an archery range and hold archery tournaments there, they have a beautiful rustic wedding chapel, just to name a few.
The main trail through the park is paved and runs along the creek. Along the trail you will see multipul caves and you'll be amazed by how many waterfalls there are!! I will have pictures and video up soon!
I took both the tram and walking tour of the park. I did both because the tram tour takes you into the very back of the park on the Arkansas side of the border where you get to see Elk and Bison. They stop the tram and pour out 5 gallon buckets of feed next to the tram. So you get to really see the animals up close!!! How close? Well an elk nibbled on the sleeve of my shirt and I petted another one as it walked by.
It's elk mating season so most of the bull elk were down in the corner together by the fence and I couldn't get any good pictures of the without fence in the background. There was one bull elk with all a large harim of females and he was very protective. When one of the bison came near he charged the bison and the bison made a quick exit! I snapped a picture with the elk's head lowered, the bison side stepping quickly and a cloud of dust kicked up from the bison as it dodged the charge.
The best time to take the first tram tour of the day at 10:00 a.m. It's the first time the animals get fed that day so they are the hungriest and it's cool so they are more likely to be active as opposed to just lounging in the shade during the heat of the day.
If you choose to do the biking or walking tour of the park I would really recommend taking a picnic lunch. You'll really earn some bonus points with the lady with a picnic lunch by a waterfall!!! The bikes have a basket on the front you can carry things in, a small soft sided lunch cooler would probably be a perfect fit. If nothing else take something to drink!!!!
After hiking miles I finally came upon a vending machine. It was $2.00 for a drink, (you know how frugal I am, I think that is expensive and usually I'll suffer till I find a cheaper place to get a drink). But knowing I still had a long way to go and trying to keep from getting dehydrated I decided to splurge. Excited to get a nice soothing ice cold beverage to quinch my thirst in the heat I fed my bills into the machine. Trying to stay with a somewhat healthier option and more replenshing I hit the blue powerade button...... sold out.... so I hit the next poweraide button....... sold out........ So I went to the third optioni Dr. Pepper...... vending..... and out comes a purple poweraide. Good thing I was wanting Poweraide in the first place and not Dr. Pepper!!!! But you can win them all, because that soothing, ice cold beverage....... was as hot as freakin coffee!!!! Had I not been so desperate for a drink I would have stuck it in the creek to cool it down.
I passed a really nice lady from Alabama who had been on the Tram Tour with me earlier and she and her husband were now biking the trail. She recognized me from earlier and had drinks with her and offered me one, but by then I had already drank 3/4 of the Poweraide so I was ok. It was still really nice of her to offer!!!
After a full day of hiking and being extremely sore from being out of shape. I decided to call it a day and head home. I stopped by Sam's to get gas and unfortunately they had raised their price up to $3.71, only about $.03-.04 cents cheaper than everywhere else in Springfield. Luckily it didn't take much to fill the tank, I was surprised how good of gas mileage I got! I think the whole trip from Springfield back I only used a little over five gallons.
As much as I didn't want to, when I talked to my mom on the phone she had ran out of bannanas and a couple other things. So I walked or more hobbled at this point into Sam's and picked her up a few things so she wouldn't have to go out. Now I'm back home...... until the next adventure.
After a quick breakfast I headed out to Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in Lampe, Missouri. I had been here once before a few years back and loved the place. The downside to the place is it isn't free, you do have to pay to get into the park. How much all depends on what activities you want to do while there. The price is reasonable and the park is exceptionally well maintained!
You have several options to see the park..... you can walk, which is not only the cheapest but also my personal favorite. You see more, get to explore more and take everything in and at a much slower pace. But as my aching feet and muscles can tell you, at three miles each way for a total round trip of 6 miles, it is easier said than done!
If you are looking for an easier approach, but still want to go on your own you can rent a bike. You can also take a guided segway tour of the park or ride in the comfort of a guided tram tour. These are only ways to see the park, there are other activities to do there like ride ATVs, go fishing, take a guided fishing trip, they have an archery range and hold archery tournaments there, they have a beautiful rustic wedding chapel, just to name a few.
The main trail through the park is paved and runs along the creek. Along the trail you will see multipul caves and you'll be amazed by how many waterfalls there are!! I will have pictures and video up soon!
I took both the tram and walking tour of the park. I did both because the tram tour takes you into the very back of the park on the Arkansas side of the border where you get to see Elk and Bison. They stop the tram and pour out 5 gallon buckets of feed next to the tram. So you get to really see the animals up close!!! How close? Well an elk nibbled on the sleeve of my shirt and I petted another one as it walked by.
It's elk mating season so most of the bull elk were down in the corner together by the fence and I couldn't get any good pictures of the without fence in the background. There was one bull elk with all a large harim of females and he was very protective. When one of the bison came near he charged the bison and the bison made a quick exit! I snapped a picture with the elk's head lowered, the bison side stepping quickly and a cloud of dust kicked up from the bison as it dodged the charge.
The best time to take the first tram tour of the day at 10:00 a.m. It's the first time the animals get fed that day so they are the hungriest and it's cool so they are more likely to be active as opposed to just lounging in the shade during the heat of the day.
If you choose to do the biking or walking tour of the park I would really recommend taking a picnic lunch. You'll really earn some bonus points with the lady with a picnic lunch by a waterfall!!! The bikes have a basket on the front you can carry things in, a small soft sided lunch cooler would probably be a perfect fit. If nothing else take something to drink!!!!
After hiking miles I finally came upon a vending machine. It was $2.00 for a drink, (you know how frugal I am, I think that is expensive and usually I'll suffer till I find a cheaper place to get a drink). But knowing I still had a long way to go and trying to keep from getting dehydrated I decided to splurge. Excited to get a nice soothing ice cold beverage to quinch my thirst in the heat I fed my bills into the machine. Trying to stay with a somewhat healthier option and more replenshing I hit the blue powerade button...... sold out.... so I hit the next poweraide button....... sold out........ So I went to the third optioni Dr. Pepper...... vending..... and out comes a purple poweraide. Good thing I was wanting Poweraide in the first place and not Dr. Pepper!!!! But you can win them all, because that soothing, ice cold beverage....... was as hot as freakin coffee!!!! Had I not been so desperate for a drink I would have stuck it in the creek to cool it down.
I passed a really nice lady from Alabama who had been on the Tram Tour with me earlier and she and her husband were now biking the trail. She recognized me from earlier and had drinks with her and offered me one, but by then I had already drank 3/4 of the Poweraide so I was ok. It was still really nice of her to offer!!!
After a full day of hiking and being extremely sore from being out of shape. I decided to call it a day and head home. I stopped by Sam's to get gas and unfortunately they had raised their price up to $3.71, only about $.03-.04 cents cheaper than everywhere else in Springfield. Luckily it didn't take much to fill the tank, I was surprised how good of gas mileage I got! I think the whole trip from Springfield back I only used a little over five gallons.
As much as I didn't want to, when I talked to my mom on the phone she had ran out of bannanas and a couple other things. So I walked or more hobbled at this point into Sam's and picked her up a few things so she wouldn't have to go out. Now I'm back home...... until the next adventure.
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