Shepherd of the Hills Adventure Park

The homestead that started Branson — now its best view and biggest zip

⏱ 2 hours to half day👤 All ages$$

The Shepherd of the Hills is where Branson's story begins. Wright's novel — a colossal bestseller in its day — romanticized these specific hills and the homestead family of "Old Matt," and readers started arriving by wagon before there was a town to receive them. The property, including the original Old Matt's Cabin (on the National Register), has hosted visitors continuously since; the outdoor drama adapting the novel has run since 1960 in a purpose-built amphitheater on the land itself, with a cast of dozens, live horses, period vehicles, gunfights, and a cabin that burns nightly — one of America's longest-running outdoor plays, staged summer into fall.

The modern park layers adventure onto the heritage. Inspiration Tower — 230 feet, glass elevators, enclosed observation deck — commands the definitive panorama of the Ozark ridges (on clear days, far into Arkansas), and doubles as the launch for the Vigilante Extreme ZipRider: a seated zipline that leaves from 170 feet up the tower and runs a half mile down across the valley at highway speed, the single biggest adrenaline hit in Branson. The stables run guided horseback rides through the hollows; guided ATV and off-road tours cover the back country; and a ropes course and smaller attractions fill out a family half-day. Everything is a-la-carte, so you build the visit you want.

From early November the property becomes the Trail of Lights — a drive-through of several miles of illuminated hollows ending at the tower, a fixture of Ozark Mountain Christmas since the 1980s. The park sits on West 76 at the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, ten minutes from the strip's center and five from Silver Dollar City, which makes tower-at-sunset an easy add to a park day.