Table Rock Lake from the Branson side

We enjoyed our stay at Eagle Rock Campground on Table Rock Lake, but we have to say that we had to drive some terribly winding and hilly roads to make that possible. Our drive to depart this area was just as bad, as we wound up and over the Ozark mountains of southwest Missouri. Table Rock Lake is also a long and winding lake, and we would cross it a second time in our drive today.

Our destination today is Branson, Missouri, where we visited the Corp of Engineer Visitor Center beside the dam that was built in 1958 to form Table Rock Lake. 

A map of this long and winding lake is inlaid in the floor of the visitor center. On the map, Mark is standing at Eagle Rock (where we camped last night), and Denisa is taking the picture from the dam where we are standing now. There are many miles of snake-like shoreline between the two.

We are camped on the north side of Branson, and Table Rock State Park is on the south side. So it was an 6-mile drive to visit the state park situated on the lake.

We wanted to bike the lake trail that winds along the lake. We were glad for the trees and shade, as high temperatures were in the 80s this day.

We got a glimpse of the lake occasionally, and the water is getting warm enough for some swimmers and skiers now.

The trails winds right past the Branson Belle paddle boat's dock. Visitors can book a two-hour cruise that includes a meal and entertainment and views of Table Rock Lake.

We rode our bikes the entire 2.5 miles on the paved trail that ends at the state park's boat marina. We would have put our kayak on the lake, but it was a little windy today.

Instead, we are checking out the other free facilities along the lake. This is the Dewey Short Corp of Engineer Visitor Center, where we learned how and why the dam was built. The White River had a bad habit of flooding, damaging the property and towns along its course. This dam can control the height of the water in the river, protecting that property and controlling erosion. We also practiced controlling erosion in this "augmented reality sandbox" at the visitor center. We could move the sand around, and watch as the flow of the river changed. This was an eagle scout project several years ago, and we can testify that playing in the sand is fun.

Usually, water is only released at the bottom of the tall dam, and that forms Lake Taneycomo. Because the water at the bottom of the deep Table Rock Lake stays cold, this makes Lake Taneycomo the right temperature for trout. So we are visiting our third fish hatchery this week at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery today.

The cold water coming out the bottom of the dam also turns turbines that produce electricity. But today we got a rare shot of water coming over the top of the dam. Because of the large amount of rain in the area, they are releasing water out of Table Rock Lake over the top to prevent further flooding. We have already seen that Table Rock Lake's water was high and was flooding the picnic area at our last campground.

So the waters of Lake Taneycomo are also swollen with the extra water. This lake feels more like a river, and we had hoped to do some kayaking here. But the swift current and the swollen boundaries made us decide to see this lake from the shore.

The fishermen love this stretch of Lake Taneycomo that is restocked with trout on a regular basis from the Shepherd of the Hills hatchery just upstream. This is also where the trout we saw loaded a few days ago at Neosho's hatchery were headed. 

They stock both brown and rainbow trout, and we got to see both in the glass observation tanks at the visitor's center. We learned that the brown trout (on the top) has bigger spots, and few spots on the tail. The rainbow trout (on the bottom) will have a colored side, with spots all the way to the tip of its more-forked tail.

Fishermen come from all over to try to catch the big ones out of this lake. In fact, the world record brown trout was caught here in 1998. It is mounted at the visitor center, to display its record-breaking size--25.35 pounds and 39 inches. The fisherman was lucky to bring him in on a two-pound test line.

Other displays at the visitor's center show the turtles and salamanders and snakes common to this area. This two-headed snake was an interesting sight.

So we can end the blog with a prettier sight, Denisa also took pictures of the butterfly gardens at the visitor center. This unusual iris was blooming outside as we finished our tour of Table Rock Lake--from the Branson side.