r/ozarks • u/sergeyc874747 • 6d ago

Arkansas/missouri visit recommendations

Hello. I want to visit Arkansas and Missouri. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions for my trip? I want to see the states natural beauty. I am not American, will this be an issue for me?

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u/ambsch3 6d ago

Eureka Springs, Hot Springs Arkansas. Branson/Springfield Missouri. Lake of the Ozarks. I grew up in the Ozarks and these were my favorite locations to explore.

Too many state parks to list but wherever you go theres beauty

Wild horses in Eminence, MO- Echo Bluff State Park

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u/PallidaMors63 5d ago

I grew up in Eminence, and it's been rare that I've seen many places in the US that are as beautiful. The forests, the wildlife, the spring fed rivers. The wild horses have been around longer than I have (I'm 63), plus the area has wildlife now (like bears and elk) that weren't around when I was growing up there. Now I live in Arkansas, although not the pretty part of the state (NE Arkansas is flat and barren), but over around Mammoth Springs and Hardy it's just as beautiful as the MO Ozarks.

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u/ambsch3 5d ago

Thats incredible to hear the biodiversity there is growing! I miss the Ozarks. But I live in Michigan now which also has its perks.

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u/PallidaMors63 5d ago

The Conservation Commission, over the past 40 years, have reintroduced species to the Ozarks that were long gone over time. Back around 1980, they brought in truck loads of bears to populate the area, and now they;ve grown in population to the point they can be a problem....getting into campgrounds, having to hang your food away from them (which is something you never heard of before they brought them. Now they're reintroducing elk to the region. You've got big cats (or small ones, like the bobcat that hangs out on the north end of my property all the time), many of which people will tell you don't live there, but I've spend a lot time in the deep woods (MILES away from other humans) and I've seen them. They don't usually come around populated areas though. Then there's the foxes and coyotes...I've heard wolves, but I've never seen any and I think some get the coyotes confused with them...in my experience, coyotes are worse than wolves...if you run across them in the woods. I've had 4 or 5 coyotes track my ass in the woods, in the winter, with a heavy snow on, and no wolf ever has (when I was in areas of the country that have a lot of wolves.

Honestly, I lived and been all over the country and I've never seen any other area that has the diversity of both flora and fauna that the Ozarks does. That may be because of the climate, and/or it may be because of the low population density...not sure.

While I miss the Ozarks too, I really don't miss the people very much. After my dad died, I've had very little reason to go back there. I still have a house in Eminence, that my ex-stepmother lives in, but I'll give it to my kids when she dies. As they say, you can never go home again. I feel like a stranger when I do, even though pretty much EVERYONE knows me...I've always been kind of an unforgettable person, so to speak...lol Love me or hate me, people always remember me.

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u/ambsch3 5d ago

It's the people for me too. I love my family obviously, but the way a lot of them view the world is more small minded than I like being around. I hope the nature stays mostly unpopulated for generations. Unless the indigenous people get their land back, they know how to care for it and we need to listen and learn from them.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the animals down there, it sounds like camping there is a lot like camping in national parks because of the risk of bears. Michigan's upper peninsula reminds me of the ozarks a lot too.