Six Days in Branson, Missouri: Day Three, "Top of the Rock"

This is the third post of a new travel series to Branson, Missouri.  To start at the beginning, go HERE!

On day three in Branson, we went to a fun and beautiful place called "Top of the Rock".  Top of the Rock is a must-see if you are ever in Branson.  A lot of people complain about the price, but I thought it was worth every penny.  

Top of the Rock is located at the highest elevation in Taney County and offers great views of Table Rock Lake and the Ozark Mountains.  It offers multiple attractions to tourists and residents including a scenic golf cart cave tour, a golf course, a museum, restaurant, and a stunning sunset ceremony.

On the day of our visit, we took the golf cart cave tour called "Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail".

It cost $10 to just enter the park;  this is the part most reviewers complain about.  People don't like that you have to pay just to enter and then pay again for whatever you want to do while there.  I understand their viewpoint, but I think if they didn't charge the $10 they'd have a lot of people entering just to soak in the views and then they'd have a shortage of parking.  But if you just want to go to the restaurant to eat, to have to pay $10 to enter seems kinda steep.

After you pay your $10 admission fee, then you have to pay for your golf cart and are charged per-person, not just for your golf cart.  So if you're a large family, it can add up fast.  Prices range from $40-46 for an adult and $20-40 for a child 4-11 years old. 

The Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail is 2.5 miles long and has nine waterfalls.  

You drive your golf cart on the trail (they are set to a certain speed so no one can go too fast) but you are welcome to pull over and stop at most areas to get out and take photos and enjoy the views.

The cave was incredible!

Here is a short video of us driving inside the cave:

Before you are given your golf cart, you have to pick a designated driver and sign a waiver.  I decided to be our designated driver because I thought it would be fun. Little did I know how difficult it would be and my hubby had a good time teasing me about it.  Did you know golf carts don't have rear or side mirrors?  It's really hard backing up or pulling out into on-coming traffic without mirrors, 😀

That's me driving down the covered bridge while hubby jumped out to get some photos.

Here's a fun short video of us bantering over how difficult it is to drive a golf cart down a hill and over a bridge.

We visited Top of the Rock early in the morning, which I have read is their busiest time, but we are morning people, so that is when we went.  I've been told by a friend to go at 4:00 pm, then when you're done with your golf cart ride to go to the Top of the Rock restaurant area and watch the sunset ceremony.   But people also say it's fun to go at night because everything is illuminated and it is very pretty.  I think you would miss the landscape views if you went at night, but now that I've been there during the day, I would be willing to go back at night.  I also think it would be fun to go in the fall, as the fall colors in the landscape would be incredible.  And, during the Christmas season, they have a special "Christmas Light Tour".   

There are many impressive wildlife sculptures on the trail that light up at night.

The waterfall on this bridge went right over the road, so we had to drive through water! That was exciting!

Here's a video of us going through this area.

This was such a pretty spot on the trail.  I just loved the bridge!

This is area has a great viewing area where you can spot eagles and see Table Rock Lake.

This is Horseshoe Bridge and Falls, it is so breathtaking!

When I first heard about the "Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail", I thought that it looked so beautiful but riding in a golf cart was stupid, why couldn't I just walk it?  But once I did it, the golf cart ride just made it so much more fun and I think it's awesome for people that would like to get out in nature more but can't because of physical limitations.  So whoever came up with this idea, kudos to you!  Now we just need to create more of them across the country in every national park! 😁

The bridges form a horseshoe shape;  it's fun to see one bridge from the other bridge.

It took us about an hour and a half to drive the 2.5 mile trail because we got out and looked around a lot.  After the golf cart ride, we then headed up to the top where the restaurant and golf course is to see these amazing views!  This is also the area where the sunset ceremonies are held.

Unfortunately when we were there, we couldn't walk around because the whole area was under construction due to a sink hole that occurred in 2015.  They have been excavating this sinkhole ever since and have discovered a "Cathedral of Nature".  Crews have removed 1.6 million yards of dirt in the "hopes of discovering a new wonder".  The sinkhole is currently 350 feet wide, 600 feet long, and 250 feet deep.  See more photos of the sinkhole HERE.

Even though you currently can't walk the grounds of the area, you are free to walk around the building which has two restaurants, shops, and a museum.

The museum is included with the price of your "Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail" ticket.  It is a collection of American West and Civil War paraphernalia, artifacts, and artwork along with prehistoric creatures.  

We were actually shocked at how HUGE this museum was.  We thought it would be a small museum, but it was a large maze which you could spend hours in.  

They had quite the extensive collection of arrow heads.

The pre-historic animals were certainly interesting.  

The Native American collection was the largest I had ever seen anywhere. 

Everything was so beautifully and meticulously displayed and the building itself was just stunning.  Just look at those ceilings and light fixtures!

My husband and I just watched the movie "Tombstone" and we were so impressed with Val Kilmer's performance of Doc Holiday so it was really neat to see the clothes that he wore in the movie on display in this museum.

This museum seemed to have a little bit of everything, like Abraham Lincoln's Empire Desk, even though the focus of the museum is on the American West.

It even had the Lincoln Funeral Flag.  This brought tears to my eyes.

We had spent the entire morning at Top of the Rock, but we weren't done for the day yet!  We still had plenty more to explore in Branson on Day Three.  Stay tuned to see how we finished our day!

For more posts on Branson, Missouri, check out these posts:

Six Days In Branson, Missouri:  Silver Dollar City, Day One

Six Days in Branson, Missouri:  Silver Dollar City, Day Two

Day Four of Our Vacation in Missouri - A Visit to Branson

A Return to Branson, Missouri, Part One

A Return to Branson, Missouri, Part Two

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!