Greetings all.

I would like to spend a few days riding in Southern Missouri, but I have never been there. I plan to spend two days riding up from the Austin, TX metro, four days of riding while there, then two days back.

I am looking for advice for lodging and roads to ride. I am not all that into tourist trap towns, so I don't know if Branson is a good place or not to hub the rides from.

Tentative dates for the ride are leaving Austin on or about June 10th, and returning on or about June 17th.

Thank you in advance!

 

There is lots of good roads to choose from around there. I grew up down in that area. I would suggest starting with the Springfield area as a base. A good loop would be Cassville to Willow Springs on 76 (by-pass Branson if you wish) then return by Mo. 14 to Ozark. That will give you a good taste of the Ozark Scenery without having to keep track of a lot of different County roads.

Another day I would take Mo.125 south and ride Peel Ferry (free) across Bull Shoals then take Arkansas 14 back to US 65 from there north back to Springfield. On the way back to Springfield I take some County backroads through some rugged twisty's that cut through the big foothills, I could give more detail if needed.

Poplar Bluff is another good base area depending on your interests there is more good riding roads and it is easy to spend a day checking out some of the Parks and big springs between Mtn View and Poplar Bluff.

If there is anything specific I could help with just let me know.


Peel Ferry, I'm the second guy on the left, leaned against side rail, without the doo-rag


Big Spring near Van Buren. That's not a creek or river, just the source where it's coming out of the ground.


Southwest corner of state just outside of Noel.

 

Thank you, I will check them out. We love the twisties, mountains, hills, rivers, etc, and full days of them!

 

You may even think about Eureka Springs AR. for your hub. Plenty of hotels and ever road out of town is great. Your only 50 miles from Branson MO. Make sure you have your helmet on when you hit the Missouri boarder. It is a helmet always state, no matter what the age. Just an idea, my wife and I have been going down there from Iowa the past 3 years in mid September and just love it.

 

Eureka Springs is nice but I wouldn't recommend it if he wants to stay away from the "tourist trap" towns as he mentioned.

Depending on how far north you go, if you want to explore the Rt.66 or Lake of the Ozarks area in addition to Springfield I would suggest Lebanon, Waynesville/Fort Wood, or Rolla as a base camp area. Good food and lodging at any of those places.

 

I talked with one of the officers from the Ozark Mountain HOG Chapter in Springfield and he told me about Cruise Inn & Throttle Down in Kimberling City.

http://www.cruise-inns.com/site/

We are going to stay there for six nights

 

Forgot about this thread until now. Looks like you are probably in the middle of your trip now. I think you will like that area. My nephew lives in Kimberling City, very scenic there around the lake. Good luck and ride safe.

 

Thanks for checking in! We just got back this past Saturday.

The folks that own the Cruise Inn are extremely nice. We are very happy we stayed there.

Day one was a bit of recuperating from the ride up. We went into Branson and did some zip lining at Adventure Ziplines of Branson. First time for my wife and I. The kids running the zip lines were great and a lot of fun. Seven lines overall with three of them 1/4 mile or longer. Friends that were with us were zip line veterans and loved it.

Day two we took 160 east to Gainsville, 5 north to Ava, 14 east to Sparta then 125 south back to 160. Absolutely beautiful. With exception to 5, it was nothing but pure twisties on excellent roads where 60mph was perfect through 35mph speed recommendations. Lush hills, no garbage on roadsides and never a boring moment. Oh, and another bonus, 30 packs of beer for less than $8!!! After the ride, we dropped back into Branson to race each other at the xtreme karts track. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Day three we celebrated my friend's birthday by taking everyone on a three hour cruise. We even saw Gilligan! This was the Branson Showboat lunch and show. Again, lots of fun and worth it! We did general seating and found it worth not upgrading, although upgraded had better food. We then took a scenic three hour ride back.

Day four we rode a southern loop down through Lampe, Blue Eye, then 311 down to Green Forest, then Berryville to Eureka Springs for lunch at the Flying HOG. We did stop at the HD shop, but that was a total waste of time. From there we went north on 23 to 86, then east on 76 until we hit 13, then west back to our hotel. Highway 76 was a ton of fun.

I will say this much, southern Missouri is a lot nicer, prettier and more fun than anything I have rode in Arkansas. You can see a difference literally as you cross the state line. We will be going back!!! I have rode a LOT, but not all, of the CONUS, and this is one of my all time favorites.

The only regret that I had out of the trip was that I couldn't find a single patch to put on my riding vest. Grrrrr!

 

Those were some good roads. I travel them once or twice a month all summer. There are many more loops and variations on the ones you took, the scenery never gets old.

As for the twisties, we have some around in that area that rival the much more famous ones I've been to visit but shhh, don't let the cat out of the bag. LoL!

Have a niece and her husband that perform on the showboat Belle. I'm not sure what they do, they are both multi-instrumental.

Glad you had a good time and safe trip.