The park was created to preserve the area in 1976, and now visitors can explore the surrounding wilderness, view the ruins and take in the incredible lake and spring vistas.- Megan Johnson, with additional reporting by Katie Pollock Estesģ45 County Rd. In 1942, after the construction of Bagnell Dam and the creation of Lake of the Ozarks, a fire devastated the property. Snyder, who purchased the land and built a retreat for his family in 1903. As for those ruins… They sit on a hillside that overlooks the lake, and they once belonged to Kansas City businessman Robert M. We definitely had to take a few breathers along the way and had a good laugh with the ladies when we all finally made it to the top.įor visitors who come to the park by boat via Lake of the Ozarks, there’s a boat dock that connects to Lake Trail for a 0.4-mile trek up past greenhouse ruins and on toward the castle ruins. But a group of three nuns was about halfway in front of us, and they kept us motivated-if they could finish this wearing their full habits, we knew we could push through. When we started our trek up the section of Spring Trail that has 316 wood stairs, we were all weary. One of the paths we explored was Spring Trail, a 1.4-mile trek that starts off easy then gets steep. They were constantly entertained by natural pathways, organic terrain and stones to hop around on. Once we got off the boardwalk sections near the ruins, my kids (6 and 8 at the time) hiked more than 10,000 steps and never complained once. When my family visited the park, we made a giant loop, hitting several of those trails. One is even a water trail for boating the Big Niangua River. I was able to capture a few stragglers of the herd along the trek back, which was the perfect way to end our day.- Brandon Alms, with additional reporting by Katie Pollock Estesġ491 State Road D, Camdenton | 1.25 hours northeast of Springfield Variety is one of the things we love at Ha Ha Tonka, where you can have a different experience every time you visit thanks to the park’s combination of interesting 20th-century castle ruins, a natural bridge and incredible views-and its whopping 14 trails that range from super-easy to heart-pumping. Even though I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get the shots I had pictured in my mind, getting to see the herd move like that in a natural environment was well worth it. They made their way all the way back to where we had started a few miles away in what seemed like a matter of seconds. Before I could fire off a single shot, these massive animals saw us from probably 100 yards out and took off. I attached my telephoto lens, and in a blink of an eye, the entire herd was gone. Finally, after a 1.5-hour hike, we were getting close. Sounds easy enough as it is a prairie after all, but the prairie is massive with chin-high grasses, wildflowers and slight changes in elevation that made it hard to see. The problem was that there was no direct trail to the bison. Not seeing anything, we broke out a pair of binoculars and there they were! The bison were tiny dark specs several miles away, but it was for sure them. After unsuccessfully trying to spot the bison for an hour or so, we made our way to the highest point we could find along that trail. We decided to try the much larger loop trail that starts right beside the visitors center next. They are simply plowed paths that flow throughout the prairie. This was very helpful, as the trails right by the visitors center aren’t really marked. Although it wasn’t open yet, we were able to pick up some printed trail maps that were available outside the front entrance. Not knowing where to start the process of tracking the bison herd, we circled back around to the Tallgrass Prairie Nature Center. The sky filled with saturated oranges, pinks and purples. My wife, Martha, and I arrived at the park right before sunrise in just enough time to capture the burst of sunrays peeking along the horizon line. One was to experience and capture the vast open prairie fields at sunrise, and the other was to find and photograph the bison herd. And it features seven trails that let you explore it all.Īfter receiving the assignment to photograph Prairie State Park, I set out to achieve two main goals. It’s Missouri’s largest tallgrass prairie landscape, and with its flat and sprawling lands populated by swaying grass, prairie birds, colorful wildflowers and herds of bison, it looks like another world. 128 Northwest 150th Lane, Mindenmines | 1.75 hours west of Springfield Prairie State Park wins points in our books because of how vastly different it looks from other state parks.
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