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OUR GUEST'S TOP 10 FREE
THINGS AT THE LAKE!
Quail's
Nest is
open all year for a quick get-away, shopping, meetings and events. Our staff
will help you plan the details for your time at the Lake. On property or off,
we'll do our best to make every minute of your stay memorable. To start with,
we've picked 10 free things that our guests say they like to do.
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Ha Ha Tonka State Park
573-346-2986
The Lake area also has the largest state park in Missouri and one of the
newest parks. Certainly one of the more unusual state parks is Ha Ha Tonka; a
geological wonderland: The park is an example of "karst topography" with sinkholes,
caves, a huge natural bridge, soaring bluffs,
and Missouri's twelfth largest natural spring. The spring gushes about 48,000 gallons of water
into the lake daily. The park has fifteen miles of trails traversing
the park, leading the visitors to spectacular scenery, natural wonders and the
famous cliff-top castle ruins. Trails vary from accessible, paved walkways to rugged,
rocky trails providing a diverse experience for hikers. Hiking trails,
picnicking, fishing, swimming and gobs of history. One afternoon, and all of
those memories are yours to take home. A Trail and Naturalist Area Guide is
available in the visitor's center at the park entrance, along with outside
exhibits. Visitors for the day can easily arrive by boat or car.
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Window
Shopping & People Watching at the Bagnell Dam Strip, home of the Hot Summer Nights Car Shows
The historic Bagnell Dam "Strip" is 3/4 of a mile of shops and
entertainment. Summer weekends are the best days for the greater form of
entertainment, people watching. T-shirt shops to beachware, antique stores to
tattoo parlors. Play in the arcades, ride go-carts, take a scenic
dinner cruise, and para-sail and never leave the Strip. Check the
Events
Calendar for Hot Summer Nights Schedule. |
Historical Willmore Lodge Museum
Willmore Lodge is the home of Lake Area Chamber of Commerce as well as the Bagnell
Dam History Museum. Stop by for visitor information, wander thru the museum and enjoy the panoramic view of the lake. You will
see and hear sites and sounds from Lake of the Ozarks since time passed. Click on the
Willmore Lodge link
for a brief history of the 1930's grand old lodge.
If history and museums are your interests, then be prepared for a treasure of information
that can turn hours into days learning of the past and how it is reflected in the present.
A small taste is at
Lake of the Ozarks History |
The Swinging Bridges and
Shallows
The Swinging Bridges is named for two wood-planked suspension bridges that cross
the Auglaize Creek. Swinging Bridges is located about 10 miles on Hwy 42 to Hwy
42-18, then a pleasant country drive along and across Mill Creek to the area.
It¹s a great place for picnicking and swimming, tubing, wading or fishing. Don't leave
without walking across at least one of the brdges. |
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Art & Ambiance Trail
This trail provides over 95 miles of country roads and highways winding through
the Lake of the Ozarks region featuring individual Artist & Craft studios,
Art Galleries, Upscale Gift Shops, Museums, Theatres, Wineries and Unique Local
Eateries. You may not have the time or the desire to do 95 miles of touring, but some of the locations
are very close to Quail's Nest Inn & Suites. |
Lake of the Ozarks
State Park
Most lake area visitors don't realize a 17,441 acre playground lies adjacent to the
southern boundary of Osage Beach. Lake of the Ozarks State Park is Missouri's largest park and
can provide a pleasant diversion while vacationing in the Lake area. If you're not looking for
"a pleasant diversion", the park has miles of hiking trails, mountain bike paths, caves,
primative camping and miles of uncharted "off trail" exploring. The park
has 85 miles of shoreline, two public beaches, boat launching areas and
the Osage Beach Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport. With over 1,150 miles of shoreline, the Lake of
the Ozarks is a family fishing paradise. Whether you fish from the dock, cast a line from a
boat or just want to try your luck from the shore, you'll find an ideal fishing spot at the
Lake. And when you find that perfect place to cast, you'll reel in a variety of fish, too.
Depending on the time of year and the weather, you'll find species of bass, crappie, striper,
paddlefish, catfish, drum, muskie and walleye at the Lake. Another fun and family-friendly
option is to hire a local Coast Guard certified fishing guide - they know the best fishing
spots and they can teach the kids how to bait a hook, how to fish and teach them about boating
safety. |
A Scenic Drive all
the way around the Lake
A 90 mile Scenic Drive around the Lake will not show you all of the 1,100 miles
of shoreline, but you will see lots of lake. From blackened limestone
bluffs overlooking the lake to heavily forested hills and everything in
between. There are winerys and numerous restaurants to have lunch or you can take a
picnic meal to eat along the way. You’ve got the whole outdoors and dozens of
beautiful panoramic scenes to be part of. |
St Mary’s Mother Shrine
The Shrine is known as the Mothers' Shrine and is probably the most meaningful
shrine in the country, featuring the Mothers' Wall of Life with names of mothers
engraved in the black granite, regardless of race, color or creed |
| Bagnell Dam Scenic Overlook
You will not only have a view of Bagnell Dam and the city of Lake Ozark, but
also see the difference in elevation between the impounded Lake of the Ozarks
and, nearly 100 feet lower, the Osage River. Don't forget to drive down to the
base of the dam to look for Bald Eagles doing their share of fishing! |
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Tunnel Dam and Lake Niangua
Lake Niangua at Tunnel Dam is 3 miles long and built by Sho-Me Power Cooperative
Electric in 1929, nearly two years before Lake of the Ozarks was filled and open for use.
The site was chosen for a dam because engineers discovered a 500-foot long cave that extended
through the ridge separating the upper and lower bends of the river. Around 1911 this tunnel
cave was modified and enlarged so that water from the Niangua would flow through it.
Hydroelectric engineers built a small powerhouse and dam at the upper end and utilized
the tunnel as a spillway for outflow from the turbines.
If you¹d like a lovely drive through Ozark backwoods and rolling hills to enjoy
a gorgeous panoramic view, a lake dotted with gravel bars and shallow water that you can
wade and tube in. Lake Niangua is perfect for wade fishing, kayaking or canoeing, so
take a picnic lunch and take a minitrip off the beaten path. |
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