Lake of the Ozarks is the one of the most family friendly vacation destinations in all of America. How could a family could wrong with the friendly attitude of Missourians, the natural landscape to be discovered, the rich history of the area, and the abundance of activities for kids of all ages?
PLACES TO STAY
This area is so popular with families that forty percent of all Missourians call Lake of the Ozarks their vacation home. There are many million-dollar homes scattered along the 1150 miles of shoreline in this natural haven. But there are also many other vacation homes to stay in that make it a wonderful, inexpensive vacation area for families. The area offers many condos and vacation rental homes to stay in making it much like a second home for families to stay for several weeks. You can literally have the entire place to yourself, and cook a barbecue in your own backyard, and enjoy the view of the lake at the same time.
BOATING ACTIVITIES
You can charter a boat, rent a boat, or take your own boat out on the lake and enjoy the day with the kids. The kids can hang out in tubes and swim, while you relax on the boat. The entire family can hang out on a watermat right next to the boat. If you don't know what a watermat is, they are so cool. They are kind of like a dock, but rest on the water, while the family gets tan, fishes, and just generally relaxes. You can go fishing in this man made lake that has quite a variety of fish in it. Water-skiing, jet skiing, tubing, and swimming, are all activities the entire family can participate in.
STATE PARK ACTIVITIES
There are several state parks here for the entire family to go to and have some fun. Hiking, bike riding, horseback riding, walking, climbing, are great activities to enjoy for nearly everyone. Lake of the Ozarks State Park, and Ha Ha Tonka State Park are very popular in Central Missouri, and both have campgrounds for families to stay in. Park your RV, pitch a tent, or stay nearby in a lodge, a condo or a vacation rental home and enjoy all these parks has to offer. For the more adventurous family, Ha Ha Tonka State Park offers dark caves to explore, and sink holes, to admire. This park is a geological wonderland, and has Missouri's 12th largest spring.
BIG SURF WATER-PARK
Big Surf Water Park will show you a great time and relax you at the same time. You can lie around the lazy river, shoot water hoops, let the space bowl take you down, and build sandcastles all in the same place. It is located on Y Road.
EXPLORE SOME CAVES
There are many natural caves in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri and four of these wondrous underground adventures are open to the public. They are called show caves because they were made safe, so that every one of all ages can walk through these glorious underground areas without getting hurt. Besides being cooler under the ground, they hold many thousands of years of the earth's history inside and you can tell where earthquakes and other natural events happened, and how they happened.
Bridal Cave is the oldest caves in the Lake area, and is just off of Highway 5. Indian legend has it that actual weddings were performed here. Keeping up with the legend, thousands of people have been married in this underground chapel. Fantasy World Caves is located in a beautiful valley setting between Bagnell Dam and Eldon. Ozark Cave is still in its natural state with a stream running through it. Tours are conduced by lamplight. Jacob's Cave is a mile long trek for everyone to enjoy and is the largest cave in the Lake area. This cave is off of TT. Just north of Gravois Mills.
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri offers everything for an adventurous family to see, and to do. There's so much fun wrapped up in this natural setting that you may not have enough time to fit it all in.
by Kate Johns, our resident expert in all things fun.