Big Cedar Lodge’s most memorable stay combines the thrill of camping with the amenities of a boutique hotel.
Take a short drive south of Branson, Missouri, just twenty minutes past the touristy souvenir shops and dinner theaters that draw millions each year, and the landscape immediately shifts. As the traffic thins and the billboards hit the rearview mirror, the Ozark Mountains rise and fall to let you know your destination — the quiet bend of Ridgedale, MO — is close.
Big Cedar Lodge, a century-old wilderness resort reimagined four decades ago by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, is designed to pull visitors away from Branson’s manufactured kitsch and toward the great outdoors. Morris’s lifelong devotion to conservation is evident throughout the sprawling property overlooking Table Rock Lake. The luxury resort celebrates the land it sits on — a 4,600-acre ode to the natural world, stitched from log cabins, cliffside trails, quiet coves, and overwhelming views. Today, Big Cedar feels less like a resort and more like a curated journey into the Ozarks themselves.
Camp Long Creek the resort’s “glamping” village, is perched on a peninsula on Table Rock Lake just five miles from the main lodge. If Big Cedar is a full-scale frontier dream, Camp Long Creek is its cozier summer-camp cousin, offering canvas tents, polished huts, and charming cottages that blend bucolic style with modern comfort from early spring through late autumn. The décor plays with a Wes Andersonian nostalgia: oars resting above headboards, lanterns glowing amber on nightstands, vintage canteens perched on shelves.
But the “camp” in Camp Long Creek comes with an asterisk. Every accommodation is furnished like a boutique hotel: crisp linens, HVAC systems, and enough privacy to make you forget you’ve got neighbors. Dogs are welcome, too — the camp’s dedicated dog park sees as many wagging tails as its campfires see marshmallows.
A stay here doesn’t require you to move too far. Long Creek Marina sits next door, offering boat rentals, fishing gear, and even a mini Bass Pro outpost for forgotten lures and sunscreen. A sandy lakeside beach curls along the shoreline, and during the summer months, a heated infinity pool and hot tub invite guests to float between sunshine and the shimmer of Table Rock Lake. After dark, string lights blink across the bocce courts and communal firepits.
The real purpose of any visit to Camp Long Creek is the chance to explore the property’s many attractions and amenities. Have kids in tow who are searching for adrenaline? Fun Mountain waits with rope courses, arcades, and the Kids’ Nature Discovery Center. Want serenity? The 18,000-square-foot Cedar Creek Spa offers a quiet sanctuary crafted from stone and wood.
Home to six separate golf courses, it’s no wonder why Big Cedar was named America’s Best Golf Resort by USA Today this year. The Tiger Woods-designed Payne’s Valley, along with Ozarks National and Buffalo Ridge, will test golfers of all abilities. Big Cedar is also home to three par-3 courses, including the Jack Nicklaus-designed 9-hole Top of the Rock, the Gary Player-designed 13-hole Mountain Top, and the recently opened 18-hole Cliffhangers.
But Big Cedar’s crown jewel sits high above it all: Top of the Rock, a clifftop complex where the Ozarks appear in full panorama. It’s the kind of view that hushes conversations. Standing on the observation deck at sunset, the sky folds itself into orange and violet layers, and Table Rock Lake mirrors the glow.
Within Top of the Rock, several standout stops help round out the experience: Osage Restaurant offers an authentic yet approachable steakhouse vibe, with a menu that mixes classics with Ozarks-inspired touches. A short walk away, Mountain Top Grill sits at a scenic overlook and doesn’t require reservations, making it ideal for spontaneous travelers or hungry hikers who want to “pop in” without planning ahead. Next door, Arnie’s Barn adds a dose of history with a splash of whimsy. This barn was originally dismantled in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (home of golf legend Arnold Palmer), and reconstructed timber by timber on Top of the Rock.
Far below the clifftop sits one of Johnny Morris’s most ambitious creations, the Cathedral of Nature. What began as a sinkhole discovered beneath a golf course morphed into a massive restoration project once Morris realized the collapse revealed ancient cave formations. Instead of patching it, he opened it to the sky and preserved the newly exposed geologic wonders, turning an accident of nature into a fascinating open-air landmark.
For those who want a more playful and immersive outdoor adventure, the Top of the Rock Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail winds through waterfalls, stone canyons, and lush forest in an open-air golf cart. Midway through the trail, you’ll roll right into a cavern where a bar hides beneath hanging stalactites, offering cocktails, beers, seltzers, sodas, and snacks. During the holiday season, the self-guided tour features awe-inspiring light exhibits throughout the trail — including familiar Ozark scenes projected onto the sides of cliffs and some impressively large animal displays — as part of Big Cedar’s “Nature at Night” event.
After the golf cart tour, check out the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, home of one of the largest collections of Osage artifacts in existence, along with dioramas featuring mammoths, giant sloths, and saber-toothed cats. It’s a stirring look at the land before roads, marinas, or neon signs, and it reminds visitors that the Ozarks have always been dramatic, wild, and worth protecting.
All of these experiences and amenities make Big Cedar Lodge a rare kind of vacation spot. It’s close enough to Branson that you can duck in for a show or a slice of fudge, but far enough that you return to quiet coves and night skies dotted with constellations. The resort reorients the pace of travel. You trade crowds for cliffs, gift shops for trails, bustle for stillness.
At Camp Long Creek, that shift becomes even more pronounced. Mornings start with fog drifting across Table Rock Lake. Nights settle gently, defined by campfires, crickets, and travel companions. For those looking to unplug without roughing it, Big Cedar Lodge and Camp Long Creek deliver something rare: a wilderness escape that feels both adventurous and deeply comfortable. The comforts of home are right there, but the distractions of home are left behind.