It’s Day 12 of my Ozark Trail Thru-Hike and I complete the Middle Fork Section and head back south on the Trace Creek Section to make my way to the Taum Sauk Section. Along the way I pass Wolf Pen Hollow, a beautiful waterfall, and twice cross the surprisingly small Middle Fork. Turning south onto the Trace Creek Section is tough knowing that the end of the thru-hike is a mere three days hike further north.

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.

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.

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.

This week I head to Sam A. Baker State Park in Missouri to hike the Shut-Ins Trail to the top of Mudlick Mountain (1,313 feet). It’s the end of October and the Missouri fall colors were in full effect on this midwest hiking trail. Along the trail there is one beautiful Missouri bluff view, three historic stone camping shelters, and an active fire tower atop Mudlick Mountain.