When we started our YouTube channel in the Summer of 2022, we created a video to give a wide range of suggestions for family-friendly activities in Branson, Missouri. The Branson area welcomes millions of visitors each year. There is so much to do here! So we broke down our activity suggestions into several different categories:
Check out our suggestions video here: What To Do in Branson!!!
Silver Dollar City
If you continue down the Highway 76 strip, heading west, you will eventually come to arguably the biggest can’t-miss activity in Branson. Silver Dollar City is a theme park where you feel like you’ve stepped back into the 1800s.
The rides are an absolute blast! This park does a great job of incorporating modern rides and entertainment for every age, height, and level of daringness. Our girls are little, so they really enjoy parts of the park like Fireman’s Landing and The Grand Exposition. Whereas, when we go with our young adult son, we like to ride roller coasters like Time Traveler, Outlaw Run, Powder Keg, and Wildfire. Different festivals rotate through the park in all seasons of the year. Be sure to follow us on all of our socials so that we can keep you in-the-know about Silver Dollar City news and updates.
If you are in Branson towards the end of a calendar year, you CANNOT miss An Old Time Christmas at SDC. The lights and shows are absolutely incredible! We have loved the Broadway-style productions, and the entire park is a beautiful example of how you imagine a town of pure Christmas magic to appear. It features over 6.5 million Christmas lights throughout the park, including an 80 foot Christmas tree in the town square that usually lights up around 5:30PM each evening, synced with a musical light show that plays every 15 minutes. Christmas at Silver Dollar City is a can't-miss!
Live Shows and Entertainment
No Branson list would be correct without the thing that put Branson, MO on the map. We are talking about live shows and entertainment. One of our favorite can’t-miss productions is:
Sight and Sound Theater: The shows that appear in the Sight and Sound Theater are absolutely top-notch and stunning. Everything from the stage sets to the actors, voices, and live animals. It is all just amazingly immersive. You actually feel like you’re part of this story because the stage wraps around each side of the audience. Shows rotate through this theater, along with their theater in Pennsylvania, to make Bible stories come to life on stage. We have seen Noah, Jonah, Jesus, Samson, Joseph, and most recently, Queen Esther, and we have loved every single production.
The Lakes
The lakes of Branson provide hours of entertainment for both the adventurers and leisure-seekers, alike. Our region is called the Tri-Lake area because it is home to three large lakes. Table Rock Lake is the one that most Branson travelers have heard about. It offers unlimited time on the water. If you don’t have a boat, no problem…. You can rent whatever type of watercraft you desire at the State Park Marina or Indian Point Marina. They offer kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, or just about any type of motorized water vehicle you can imagine. You can even book a time out on a 48 foot Catamaran known as the Spirit of America. If you just want to go for a dip in the water, Table Rock has you covered there too. Moonshine Beach offers the only public sand beach on the lake. If the weather is not cooperating or you prefer to admire the water from dry land, our recommendation is the Dewey Short Visitor Center. It is a free experience with a wonderful view of the lake and the Table Rock Dam. We like all of the historical information they house there, while our girls would much rather play in the interactive sand pit. Jayme on the other hand, just wants to bask in the beauty of Table Rock Lake.
Lake Taneycomo is the lake that the Branson Landing sits on. It also happens to be about 45 degrees Fahrenheit year 'round. This is due to the fact that its water comes from Table Rock Lake at a depth of 140 feet. So, obviously, we do not suggest swimming in it. With a Bass Pro only a stone’s throw away from the water though, you better believe it is great for fishing. Many state record fish have come out of the waters of Lake Taneycomo.
The third lake is Bull Shoals Lake. It offers a lot of the same activities of Table Rock without near the amount of people on it. To us it is less of a tourist lake and more of a natural beauty lake with cliffs and beautiful views all the way from our house in Missouri through a good chunk of Northern Arkansas. When we choose to go out on a lake, Bull Shoals is usually our go-to.
Outdoor Experiences
To add to your opportunities to explore our area’s nature, there are countless trails and experiences here in the Ozarks for you to traverse. Something more unique to our area is the amount of caves that you can check out.
Places like Top of the Rock, Dogwood Canyon, Marvel Cave, and Talking Rocks Cavern…..offer beautiful encounters all while getting some exercise in.
Shopping
Another highlight of the Branson area is the wide range of shopping opportunities. Many people love to shop at the stores in Tanger Outlets. Tanger offers 77 stores (and counting) where you can find some of your favorite name brands, for some really great prices! The Shoppes at Branson Meadows offers another avenue to fill your retail itch. Plus the Grand Village Shops provides niche stores when you are looking for something in particular at a very beautiful location.
If smaller shops with more Branson souvenir-type merchandise is what you’re looking for, Branson’s got ya covered. Stores are plentiful in the Downtown Branson area, as well as the many stores that line the Highway 76 strip.
Speaking about the plentiful shopping opportunities also brings us to our next favorite part of Branson, that you really shouldn’t miss:
The Branson Landing
Sitting right on the shore of beautiful Lake Taneycomo, The Branson Landing is home to a variety of retail stores, entertainment experiences, and, of course, delicious restaurants. Our family enjoys setting out to walk down the center of the landing, as well as the trail paved right on the water’s edge. Our daughters never let us miss the fountain show that occurs every hour on the hour, and they usually leave somewhat soaked because there IS certainly a splash zone near the fountain itself. If you are wanting to remain dry, we recommend watching the show that features fire, lights, and water shooting up to 120 feet in the air, all choreographed to great music, from a distance.
Attractions
Our next suggestion of types of activities to do are the attractions. A place like The Track Family Fun Park really stands out, with entertainment like go-carts, bumper boats, arcade games, and other rides that are sure to excite the thrill seekers in your life! The Branson Ferris Wheel, standing in at 150 feet tall, is a sight to see AND see from! With gorgeous views, and nearly 16 thousand LED lights, this attraction on Hwy. 76 is one that cannot be overlooked!
White Water is the go-to family water park to make a splash and stay cool during the hot summer months. Ride it out in the wave pool, relax on the lazy river, or enjoy the tall water slides and other thrill seeking experiences. Coconut Cove is a children’s play area where our girls love to spend the majority of their time!
Fritz’s Adventure provides over 80,000 square feet of explorable space, where you can climb the highest city walls, soar over the attraction on the SkyTrail Ropes Course, and zip down their newest Treetops Zipline Course. You can also do your best American Ninja Warrior impersonation as you attempt to scale warped walls and other athletic challenges. We personally love that they have the Sky Tykes course closer to the ground for the little ones, so they don’t miss out on the ropes course fun!
The Titanic Museum is one that we really can’t leave off this list. You simply can’t miss the giant shipwrecked liner, located on the Highway 76 strip. This museum really opens the door to the past, as you walk through as a “passenger”, viewing over 400 artifacts from the actual Titanic ship and its original travelers. One of my favorite parts of this self-guided tour is walking up and down the gorgeous replica of the Grand Staircase. People often wonder what the water could have felt like on that dreadful night of the sinking, but YOU can feel it, by touching an actual iceberg and placing your hands in freezing, 28 degree water. Then, hold on as you try to climb a simulation of the sloping decks of the ship’s stern at different points of the ship’s sinking. Towards the end of your self-guided tour, take in the stories of the Titanic Memorial Room to discover your passenger’s fate and true life story about their journey aboard the Titanic.
Escape Code-
If you are ready to work together, or enjoy a good mystery, head on over to our next attraction. Over the last few years, escape rooms have become one of our favorite activities to do when we travel. Out of the over 20 places we have tried, our personal favorite escape rooms are housed in the Escape Code located at The Shoppes in Branson Meadows. Everything in these rooms are extremely high quality. From the props, to the storyline, to the lighting. It is all just phenomenal! Their employees are some of the most friendly people you will come across in all of Branson. We promise that your family will remember everything about your attempt at escaping these unique rooms.
Hollywood Wax Museum-
Have you seen King Kong on the side of a building as you cruise the 76 strip? That iconic image leads us right to this next attraction. The Hollywood Wax Museum lets you get up close and personal with your favorite stars! We have so many fun pictures of the characters, props, and sets in the museum. It offers lots of laughs and fun as you create cherished family memories here. After you hit up the museum, you can hop in their 5-D theater experiences at the Castle of Chaos. We make it a competition to see who can use their laser blaster to get the highest score! Hannah’s Maze of Mirrors offers a fun way to find your way out of this entertaining experience! When you finally make it out the door, grab your putters for some friendly competition at Shoot for the Stars Mini Golf, attached to the museum. We highly suggest getting the bundle package so that you can experience all four of these great Branson attractions at one time!
There are so many great options to add to this list, and we look forward to sharing them with you on our channel, on our socials, and right here on this blog. So be sure to SUBSCRIBE and FOLLOW along with the Branson Fam!!!
Golf
Another form of outdoor exercise in our area is golf. Branson, Missouri has always been one of the premier golfing destinations in the Midwest, but with Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro, Cabella’s, Tracker Boats, Big Cedar, and much more, investing heavily into Branson golf over the last few years, we believe Branson offers one of the best golf experiences in the entire world. Big Cedar Golf courses offer some of the most unique courses that are so breathtakingly beautiful that you catch yourself constantly stopping your round of golf just to enjoy the nature around you or take pictures of things that you will most likely not see anywhere else in our region.
Golf Week From USA Today rated the top 3 public courses in the state of Missouri to all reside in Branson and they left off the best one due to it not being open long enough for their rating system. The number 1 course according to their chart was Ozarks National. One of the Big Cedar Courses, Ozarks National is a beautiful par 72 course nestled in the Ozark Mountains. The number 2 rated course is Buffalo Ridge which has views that few will ever see on a golf course. It has free roaming Buffalo right off of some of the fairways. This includes an extremely rare White Buffalo. The number 3 rated public golf course in Missouri is Branson Hills Golf Club. This course is located on the north side of Branson and was rated the top course in Missouri from 2012-2018. Without the Big Cedar Courses coming in, this course would still likely be number 1. It is my opinion that these courses will all be knocked down one ranking as the next review cycle begins. Paul loves the newest course in the Big Cedar family so much that we have a poster of it displayed in our house. That course is Payne’s Valley. Payne’s Valley pays homage to the Ozark’s very own World Golf Hall of Famer, Payne Stewart. Your outing will take you through caves, up bluffs, across gorges and concludes with the world famous 19th hole.
They have coined it the 19th wonder of the world and it features an island green with an enormous waterfall feeding the lake around your target. The course was designed by arguably the biggest name in golf history, Tiger Woods, and would be worth visiting even if you never swung a golf club in your life. But if you enjoy golf, Payne’s Valley will be a course that you will never forget.
Branson offers many other golf courses, but those are the creams of the crop in our opinion.
Drive the Highway 76 Strip
Our next can’t miss activity to do in Branson is a trip down The Historic Branson 76 strip. A LARGE majority of Branson resides on "The Strip." Any direction you look, you will see hotels, shows, entertainment, and restaurant options. One drive down the strip is like a show in itself. On the right is Wonderworks, a building that was constructed completely upside down. On the left is Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Straight ahead is a giant octopus that sticks out of the Branson Aquarium at the Boardwalk. Everything on the strip is big and is lit up by plenty of lights. What should be a normal restaurant, includes a 43 foot tall chicken. Right up the road is an Italian restaurant where you enter through a huge meatball. A trip down the strip is a completely unique experience, and we could not recommend it more.
Even though there is SO much to see…. It can also be very frustrating to sit in slow-moving traffic, especially right before common evening show times. In the past few years, Branson has done a great job of trying to create different driving routes to help avoid some of the known traffic on Hwy 76, but we highly suggest that you always try to arrive early to your destination. Utilize the alternative color routes around town to avoid the busy Hwy 76 strip until necessary. Be sure to follow our channel for ways to avoid the frustrations of 76 traffic throughout your visit, because WE know that YOU don’t want to sit in that traffic anymore than WE do.
Branson is ever changing and we are here for all of it! Let us know: What do YOU want to know about Branson? What are some videos and posts that YOU would like to see from the Branson Fam? If you have found our information helpful, please consider subscribing and staying connected!
Until our next adventure, fam, we’ll catch y’all later.
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