Lake of the Ozarks - Pitstops for Kids

What to do with kids at Lake of the Ozarks

June 10, 2019 By Amy Hagstrom

The Lake of the Ozarks is a well-known Midwest destination for summer fun and recreation. With 84 square miles of water, 1100 miles of shoreline, and a host of on-land attractions, the Lake has something for everyone. Here’s a taste of what to do with kids at Lake of the Ozarks:

The Bagnell Dam Strip:

This classic taste of the Lake offers fun, touristy attractions like old-time photos, a haunted hotel, and the Dog Patch Arcade, an open-air arcade with an old-school nostalgia.

Fun parks:

LeMans Family Fun Park, on Bagnell Dam Boulevard, offers single and double go-karts, a miniature go-kart track for the little ones, bumper boats (a great way to cool down on a hot day), and miniature golf with a view of the lake. They also have two other locations around the Lake area. If the weather’s bad, try Miner Mike’s, an indoor fun-plex with arcade, Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and more, open year-round.

Boating:

Boats and personal watercraft are available for rental all over the lake area. Fishing, tubing, skiing, and swimming in the quieter coves of the lake are perennial favorites.

Sightseeing Cruises:

Tropic Island Cruise takes guests on a 1 1/2-hour cocktail cruise in a 75-foot boat, highlighting some impressive multi-million dollar lakeshore homes. This is a great a date if you’re staying at a resort that offers child care (like Tan-Tar-A or the Lodge of the Four Seasons), but if you bring the kids along they might just get to steer the boat.

State Parks:

Ha Ha Tonka State Park was developed to feature the ruins of a castle built on the bluff overlooking the Lake. With hiking trails, a large spring, and a boardwalk stairway connecting the blufftop with the Lake, this is a highlight of the Lake area—and free to the public. And Lake of the Ozarks State Park offers beaches, mountain biking, a water trail, camping and cabins (even yurts!), and cave tours.

Food:

What would a vacation be without great food? From fine dining to down home Ozark cooking, the Lake has it all. Check out Tonka Hills Restaurant for casual, family-friendly atmosphere, with breakfast all day, a salad bar, and a fabulous fried grouper sandwich. If you’re on the lake, pull in around the 8-mile mark and grab a bite at Alhonna Resort’s Bobber’s Cafe. For a quick dessert, stop at the outdoor service window at Randy’s Frozen Custard, on Osage Beach Parkway, for a concrete or a cone. (Bonus: they have an air-conditioned room around the corner reserved for their customers, with an air hockey table.)

Shopping:

Osage Beach Outlets features more than a hundred brand name stores, from shoes to apparel to cutlery, and is open year-round. And who can resist the classic Ozarkland, whose exterior tells you everything you can find within its walls?

Other fun:

Tan-Tar-A resort has horseback riding and an indoor water park, both of which are open to the public as well as to resort guests, who get a reduced rate. The lake also boasts more than a dozen high-end golf courses.

On summer weekends, the Lake area fills up with visitors from surrounding metro areas, so if you can come during the week you’ll find the water and the roads less crowded. There are transitional seasons in the later spring and early fall in which some attractions are open weekends only, and many places close down in the winter, but during the Christmas season the Lake area offers several light displays worth driving through.

Be sure to check out our additional posts on Big Surf Waterpark, Bridal Cave, and the family-friendly Alhonna Resort!

Portions of our trip were made possible by the Tri-County Lodging Association’s Lake of the Ozarks Hospitality Bank, but all opinions are our own.

End of summer getaway: Alhonna Resort on Lake of the Ozarks

August 24, 2016 By Amy Hagstrom

Tucked into the side of a shady peninsula in a quiet corner of the Lake of the Ozarks is a homey, friendly resort that combines comfort and convenience with a low-key, no-fuss atmosphere. Alhonna Resort is a great place to get away from the crowds while still being in easy reach of tourist attractions and golf. Read on for all you need to know before booking Alhonna Resort on Lake of the Ozarks:

Accommodations:

Alhonna offers a mixture of cabins, motel rooms, and condos, all non-smoking (smoking permitted on decks and porches), with one to four bedrooms. We were given a three-bedroom condo with a king, two fulls, and a twin bed, which offered our family of six ample room to spread out. It had simple but tasteful furnishings, with a spacious kitchen counter with four chairs, a microwave and dishwasher, and a separate dining area. The two full bathrooms were stocked with soap, but be sure to bring your own shampoo. We had a comfortable couch and as a bonus, a day bed that the kids adopted as their favorite spot.

Our condo had a porch that overlooked the lake, where we could sit at the picnic tables and watch speed boats go by. We also got better wifi reception outside, so when we needed to use the internet, the porch was our go-to place. (We found wifi and cell signal to be sketchy in many parts of the Lake area because of the geography.)

Accessibility & Amenities:

The Lake is inherently hilly, but some of the lower units at Alhonna are accessible by ramp. The property is compact, so you’re never far from where you want to go. Housekeeping staff does not come in daily; this is really a home away from home, so if you need replacement towels and linens, visit the housekeeping area, across the street from the office. Note: you need to bring your own beach towels for use at the pool or on the boats. Alhonna does provide coin-operated washers and dryers next door to the housekeeping unit.

On site you’ll find two fire pits (wood available for purchase at the office), a sandbox and small beach, a fishing dock, both indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs, and a small playground.

If you own a boat, you can bring it and dock it at the resort during your stay. If not, you can rent a variety of craft from the resort, from large-deck pontoons to fishing pontoons and bass boats, as well as ski boats, skis and tubes. They also offer a paddle boat, kayaks, and paddle board. It’s a point of pride with Alhonna’s owners that their boats are kept in tip-top condition. We made use of a beautiful pontoon for two hours’ cruising the lake and swimming in a small cove, then took out the paddleboat and a kayak in the quiet cove around the resort. Rentals start at 8 a.m. and all boats are due back in the dock by 6 p.m.

Dining:

Bobber’s Cafe and Lounge carries on the theme of comfort without fussiness. The atmosphere isn’t fancy but the food is fabulous. The sweet vanilla pancakes were out of this world, and the fried French toast made it onto someone’s plate every morning of our stay. You can get salads if you’re feeling healthy, or fried anything—pickles, green beans—if you feel like indulging. It’s a nicely rounded menu, with all the usual suspects and a few interesting gems like a tomato stuffed with chicken salad. You can dine inside or out on the veranda overlooking the pool and the lake. The lounge is adjacent to the cafe and has a billiards table and a couple of video games.

Rates & Details:

If you need more details, Alhonna has one of the best FAQ pages I’ve ever seen. Come during the week if you can, as weekends are always much busier at the Lake and crowds tend to be rowdier. Off-season rates start as low as $75; in-season rates range from $80-90 for the smallest units to $390 for the largest. One final point of interest: Alhonna resort will soon be featured in a new Netflix series called “Ozark,” with Jason Bateman.

Alhonna Resort is located at 677 Outer Drive, Lake Ozark, Missouri, just a few miles past the Lodge of the Four Seasons.

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Our family enjoyed Alhonna as guests of the resort, in exchange for an honest review.

Big Surf waterpark in Lake of the Ozarks

August 22, 2016 By Amy Hagstrom

Big Surf waterpark, in Linn Creek, Missouri, is an exceptionally well-maintained waterpark at the Lake of the Ozarks, offering thrill levels appropriate for all ages and comfort zones.

Park Features:

The wave pool

The centerpiece of the park is the wave pool, which runs ten minutes on and ten minutes off all day long. In the rest periods, it’s a massive zero-entry wading pool that, eventually, reaches a depth of 6 feet, though at least half of it is 3 feet or less. In the wave periods, you get deep swells and a few low breakers. The park rents single ($6) and double ($8) tubes, but truthfully we found good old-fashioned body surfing more fun—and easier on the stomach.

In this area of the park, music plays through loudspeakers, but unlike most pools and water parks, it’s kept to a good volume, loud enough to hear but not loud enough to have to shout over.

For little ones

For the little ones, Big Surf has two play areas. The first, with zero entry ranging up to about 18 inches deep, is aimed at little ones, with teeter totters and ride-on animals that squirt water, plus short open slides and even a bouncy swing for babies. The other, which reaches 4 feet deep, is aimed at the preschool/young elementary crowd, with short tunnel slides and a lily pad jungle gym.

For the more adventurous set

For the older crowd, the park offers five adventure rides. Several of these require riders to be 48 inches tall. The least intense involves riding an inner tube down a twisty slide and then bouncing through a series of short rapids separated by pools. The two most intense are the Space Bowl (think of a spiral wishing well, where you insert a coin and it rolls around on centrifugal force until it falls down the center) and Zambezi Falls, which involves a near-vertical drop. Where tubes are required, they are provided by Big Surf, and they are color coded for use in different areas of the park.

Lazy river

Threading between the adventure rides and the kiddie area is the Lazy River, which, along with the wave pool, was the favorite for our set of preschool- and elementary-age kids.

Other considerations:

The water in the park is crystal clear, and the grounds and walkways are exceptionally clean and well maintained. One especially nice feature is the large (free!) supply of infant, child, and youth sized life jackets. Amusement parks can be chaotic, and having the extra layer of security added a lot to our peace of mind. The park is well-staffed with lifeguards, too, although signage is quick to emphasize that you still bear primary responsibility for your kids’ safety.

Three-sided tents are available for rent around the edges of the park, and there are many tables with umbrellas and lounge chairs lining the wave pool and the kids’ areas. You can also rent lockers in which to keep wallets, keys, and phones.

If everybody gets tired of water play, there’s also a small basketball court, playground, and sandbox on an upper level.

Food/Shopping:

Outside food and drink are not allowed inside the park, but re-entry is permitted, so you can bring lunch and leave it in the car. A concession stand serves hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken fingers, and pizza as well as ice cream, pretzels, and funnel cakes. Meal combos are available. A gift shop sells branded merchandise at the entrance.

Hours/Admission:

Big Surf is open daily all summer and Saturday and Sunday until mid-September. Inclement weather closures are announced on the website header, Facebook and Twitter.

Single day tickets run $29.95 for ages 11-59 and $24.95 for kids 4-10, with discounted rates for non-swimmers, after-3 admission, and more. If you’re in town for a few days, hang onto your full-priced ticket. It’s worth a 50% discount for a return trip on another day. Also follow their Facebook page for specials and discounts.

Location/Parking:

Big Surf is located next to Highway 54 at Linn Creek, MO, a few miles south of the Lake of the Ozarks. Parking is free.

Our family enjoyed Big Surf Waterpark as guests of the Tri-County Lodging Association’s Lake of the Ozark’s Hospitality Bank, in exchange for an honest review.