Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area is located in the heart of downtown Branson Missouri. Situated just north of Lake Taneycomo, the 140 acre park offers 5.3 miles of hiking trails that can be enjoyed by locals and visitors to Branson Missouri.

Table Rock State Park in Branson, Missouri bills itself as Branson’s Natural Getaway. I’m hiking the Red Trail which is a 2.9 mile loop hike in the White River Valley Trail System through out the Missouri State Park.

Designated a National Natural Landscape in 1974, the Trail Through Time in Pickle Springs Natural Area might be Missouri’s most scenic 2 mile hiking trail.

My trio of Kansas City hikes concludes with a trip to Fleming Park beside Lake Jacomo to hike the Rock Ledges Loop Trails, two trails that form a 3.1 mile hike atop and below a ledge of lovely rock formations.

Wudchuck Run Trail is a 5 mile loop trail past limestone bluffs and through the gently rolling Missouri woods in Kansas City’s Swope Park, the crown jewel in KC’s park system.

Old Kate and White Tail Loop trail circle throughout Parkville Nature Sanctuary past a waterfall, across a boardwalk standing tall over Alloe Creek, and up to the highest point in the sanctuary. This short 2.6 mile combination loop trail takes hikers past all the nature, wildlife, and history Parkville Nature Sanctuary has to offer.

I’m back hiking Rocky Falls Shut-Ins to Klepzig Mill, and this time I completed the hike! It’s rare for a Missouri hiking trail to have three very distinct points of interest throughout the hike, but Rocky Falls to Klepzig Mill lives up to the challenge.

Greer Spring is Missouri’s second largest spring pumping out 220 million gallons of water per day from Greer Spring Cave. The spring is a short 0.8 mile hike down into a ravine from the Greer Spring Trailhead, for a total out and back hike of 1.7 miles.

Probably one of the most visually stunning continuous sections of trail in Missouri, the hike from Millstream Gardens to Silver Mines Recreation Area offers breathtaking views of Tiemann Shut-Ins along the St. Francis River and the beautiful granite and felsite rock formations of Silver Mines.