Missouri Vacation Guide

If you are thinking about planning your next family vacation and are also looking for a way to save a little money at the same time you should take a look at the different vacation options available in Missouri.  Instead of taking that trip down to Florida, or to the Caribbean, taking a trip to one of the state of Missouri’s great lake destinations might be a great affordable option for you and your family.  Overall the State of Missouri has many lakes that can each offer you some great activities.  If you are looking to take a vacation to a luxurious resort than the Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake are two options that would be very well suited for you.  These two destinations have accommodations that are very comparable to destinations on the Ocean and Mexico.  There are countless resorts at both of these lakes that will offer you and your family great luxurious accommodations, for far less money that what you would pay for a place on the ocean or the coast.  You can expect to pay around $1500 for a nice cabin that will sleep 4-7 people FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK.  Compare that with the typical cost of taking an exotic vacation, plain flights, extra travel to and from the airport, sleeping arrangements once you get there and you can really see that the savings of staying close to home are very good.

If you are looking for a weekend getaway or for a fishing trip than there are a couple different lakes that you will want to check out.  Depending upon where you live weekend some lakes you should check out for a weekend getaway are Truman Lake, Mark Twain Lake and Stockton Lake.  If you live in Northern Missouri than Mark Twain Lake will be your best bet as it is located in North Eastern Missouri and will be a much shorter drive for you.  Mark Twain is a very nice lake, that offers visitors a great opportunity to get away from the daily grind and really enjoy a lake that is for the most part free of commercial development and the large crowds that come with it.  If you live in southern or central Missouri than the two lakes that you want to check out are Stockton Lake and Truman Lake.  Truman Lake has the added benefit of being close to Lake of the Ozarks so you are not very far away from “big cities” such as Osage Beach if that type of atmosphere is your thing.  Stockton lake is really famous locally and nationally for one thing, sailing!  Stockton is notorious for the its great sailing conditions, and anyone who is looking to take out their sailboat will really enjoy a visit to Stockton.

Now for the fishermen Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake, or Lake Pomme De terre are all great options.  Bull Shoals Lake is similar to Mark Twain in that it really has stayed free from commercial development and offers visitors an unique ability to soak up the natural beauty of the Missouri Ozarks.  There are many great resorts on Bull Shoals Lake, and the lake is a very good lake for Bass and Crappie.  Another interesting Lake is Lake Taneycomo, what makes this lake such a great fishing destination is that the water is a breathtaking 48 degrees year round (that’s cold!).  This is due to the fact that Taneycomo gets is water from the upstream Tablerock Lake, and this water is drawn form the bottom of the lake up through the dam.  What this “cold water lake” offers visitors is a very unique opportunity to catch Trouth.  The lake is actually rated as one of the best lakes to catch Trout at in the entire Nation.  Another unique aspect of the lake is its close proximity to Tablerock and Branson Missouri.  This allows visitors to Taneycomo to be within a short drive of all the shows and entertainment that comes with a large city while at the same time still enjoying a lake that is not very built up and offers great fishing opportunities.

Some additional lakes that you might want to consider in Missouri are Lake Wappapello and Clearwater Lake.  Both of these lakes are smaller in size, as well as limited in their development.  If you are looking to “get off the beaten path” than checking out Wappapello or Clearwater would be right up your alley.  Since these lakes are somewhat limited in their resort listings try checking out our pages for each lake that list resorts on wappapello and resorts on Clearwater.