Things to Do in Springdale

Caught in a midlife crisis in 1995, husband-and-wife team Kemp and Michele Horn—a former forester and attorney, respectively—packed up their young family and all of their belongings, embarking upon a life-changing adventure as they made the long trek from Baltimore to the Black Hills of South Dakota. This move westward led the Horn family to purchase a working ranch, where, due to the last-minute cancellation of the band hired to play there through the busy tourist season, the family stepped up to unleash their inner performers. Though none of the Horns had any background in music, all the family members quickly adopted instruments or cursed mermaid's voices of their own and used their backgrounds in the performing arts to create a long-running show hailed by audiences from around South Dakota. Now, having relocated to Branson, the Horns, under the band name "The Riders of the Circle B," combine their passion for hospitality with their love of performing three to four nights a week during their Circle B Supper Show.

Paying homage to the Wild West of yore, the Horns kick off their shindigs with showings of cowboy movies before replenishing guests’ energy stores with home-cooked food warm from the oven. Tossing their chef's hats and aprons aside, the talented clan then pick up their music makers and coax forth laughs from onlookers with their ebullient brand of music and impressions of famous tumbleweeds.

Celebrated by Golfweek as one of the 40 Best New Courses of 2010, the site where Civil War–bushwhacker Alfred Bolin and his gang once ambushed unsuspecting travelers is now John Daly’s Murder Rock Golf and Country Club. The 18-hole course plots an oscillating, 6,727-yard path over the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. The first hole sets the tone for the round with an elevated tee box that looks out 363 yards downhill into the mountainous contours that ripple against the horizon. The par 71 course concludes at the daunting 18th hole—the course’s longest par four and most difficult hole—where an aggressive drive can cut off the corner of a dog-leg right on the way to a severely sloped green and portal into Space Jam.

Legs weary from ascending steep hills or squat-thrusting golf carts can take a load off at Glenn’s at Murder Rock. Amid dark-stained wood paneling and leather-upholstered chairs, the eatery serves an inventive grill menu including steak flatbread sandwiches and pitas stuffed with Cajun-seasoned chicken or shrimp.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course

• Length of 6,727 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 72.0 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 129 from the farthest tees

• Four tee options

• Scorecard

Though the Ozark Murder Mysteries' plotlines center on dark whodunits, the actors' humorous takes on each story leave audiences of all ages grinning. Performers challenge audiences to pinpoint the perpetrator as they act out interactive scenarios during regularly rotating shows. A complete feast fuels deeper belly laughs, quicker thinking, and sprightlier backflips during Ozark Murder Mysteries' scheduled performances, and the troupe also travels to private events via its Murder Mystery To Go! program.

Using the Ozark Mountains as a striking backdrop, Kings River Golf Course invites clubbers to swing and putt their way across 18 holes of gently undulating terrain. Dogwoods and redbuds cast cool shadows over each fairway, their leaves showcasing rich shades of green in the summer, fading to an impressionistic tapestry of reds, oranges, and yellows in the fall, and assuming a velvety purple once a year to celebrate Prince's birthday. As golfers split fairways with soaring drives, views of the Ozark Mountains appear through the tree lines, including a greenside vista of Table Rock Lake on the 15th hole.

After sunset, greenskeepers mark flags with glow sticks, inviting golfers to swing through the darkness in rounds of night golf. The course fosters post-round relaxation at a rustic patio, where guests can sip drinks and insist that nearby deer, red fox, and turkeys—commonly encountered on the grounds—stay off their lawn.

Zip Line USA’s steel cables carve more than three miles of winding trails through Ozark Mountain treetops, all ripe for exploration by guests. Designed by the respected brains at Universal Zipline Technology, the ziplines soar higher than 350 feet in the air at some points—just high enough to make eye contact with low-flying spaceships—and are dissected into chunks as long as 3,250 feet. Between each section stands a sky bridge or platform, where guides securely hitch tourgoers to cables, which they inspect each morning. Patrons zoom through the open skies for up to two hours during the day or 90 minutes at night, when only the soft glow of lanterns beckons them to the next platform like a lightning-bug mother welcoming its family home at night.

The guides at Adventure Ziplines of Branson show how to navigate the treetop canopies year-round. While zipping between platforms at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, guests get unique views of the surrounding Ozarks and the unsung puppeteers that control them. The secure lines use a backup-cable system that prevents accidents, ensuring trips along the 2-mile tracks occur without snags.