Terrace Parkway Associates

Although it was popularized for its starring role in several episodes of the 1960s hit show The Beverly Hillbillies, Branson boasts a longstanding history with the performing arts. Today, a cappella ensembles, celebrity impersonators, and veteran Broadway singers stage dozens of shows every night along the Strip. Even the town itself toys with theatrics, with The Fountains at Branson Landing surging skyward amid fire cannons during frequent spectacles. Cradling Branson, the encircling plateau of the Ozarks sets a precedent for spectacle. Rolling slopes recede into misty abstractions, transforming into a russet-and-gold patchwork quilt each fall. Beneath the earth, monumental caverns boast summits and crannies of their own. Tours of Talking Rocks Cavern weave through fantastical stalactites, and Marvel Cave, one of the Ozarks' oldest attractions, ensconces visitors in a sinkhole-carved entrance room large enough to have once hosted hot air balloon flights and stegosaur birthday parties.