Our Family Trip to Big Cedar Lodge

My family took our first trip to Big Cedar Lodge the first week of August just before school started.  We went with my Brother and his family and my Mom and her boyfriend.  We all rented our own cabins for our stay and we booked and scheduled a week of fun.

Big Cedar Lodge is owned by Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shop.  He purchased it in 1987 and began to build this wilderness resort.  It is now spread over 4,600 acres and overlooks the beautiful Table Rock Lake. Johnny Morris and his family own this giant resort and you could tell that every employee that worked on this property loved and respected Johnny Morris which I just loved. He sounds like one of the most humble and down-to-earth guys that you may just run into walking around property and you would have no idea it was him.   I loved that about the property and that it was a family-run business close to their heart.

So I think my SIL had come across this resort a couple of years ago and just put it on our radar for a potential family trip one year.  I remember looking at it one year and we just decided it wasn’t easy to get to, so we would hold off.  But this resort is a kids dream and an outdoorsman’s paradise, so we kept it in the running to book and I am glad we did.

I am going to share all about our trip and will share all the fun and positive things we experienced here as well as a few of the negative things we found.

How To Get There

For us living in Florida, Missouri is not the easiest place to get to.  The drive is about 12-13 hours and there is no direct flights for us. You can choose to fly into either the Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF) or the Branson Airport (BKG). There are no direct flights from where we live.  SGF is about 62 miles north of Big Cedar Lodge but offers more flight options. BKG is only about 13 miles away, but it’s a much smaller airport so flights are limited.  You can call Big Cedar Lodge to set up transportation from the airport to the resort.   So all in all, it does take a bit to get there; but I’m glad we did it!

Where We Stayed

We rented a two bedroom cabin at Big Cedar Lodge.  They have several different options for you to choose from.  The two bedroom fit our family of 5 perfectly because we had a kitchen, dining and family room when you walked in the front door as well as two king bedrooms with baths that flanked each side.  Our oldest son slept on the pull out couch in the family room and the two girls shared the other bedroom.  We were greeted with complimentary beverages in our refrigerator and a basket of delicious snack mixes and some candy for the kids.  I thought all of that was a very nice touch.  The cabin was very comfortable and we had a porch on the back that looked out mostly to trees but you could see a little bit of Table Rock Lake as well.

The cabins are all lined up throughout the property.  Since we rented 3 separate cabins for each family we were traveling with, we had requested to be next or close to each other.   They do the best they can based on what type of cabin every one rents.  So my Mom and Brothers cabin were actually right next to each other and then our cabin was about 10 or 12 cabins away.  It wasn’t far, but it also wasn’t super close and easy to get from ours to theirs.  The cousins couldn’t really just run back and forth to each others cabins.

How We Got Around

So the main recommendation I will make for your stay at Big Cedar Lodge is to make sure you have a car.  We did not know this and my brothers family and my family did not have our own cars.  The resort does have a shuttle service that they use throughout the property and you can book and reserve on their app.  The problem is, the place is big and busy and sometimes the shuttle can be a 30-40 min wait and sometimes you’re lucky and its 5 minutes.  You truly just don’t EVER know!  It was probably the most frustrating part of the trip and I truly believe they were trying to do the best they could with the shuttles but it just made it difficult.

The thing with the cabins is that you are not really walking distance to anything other than more cabins.  At least that was the case for our cabins.   We really couldn’t get to the coffee shop each morning or breakfast without having to wait for a shuttle.  Again, meal time was when shuttles seemed to be at their highest wait time. So it would be showing me a 40 min wait just to get picked up to go grab some coffee at the coffee shop.  And then I have to wait for one once I get my coffee to get home. You get my point.  So the resort does not have any golf carts ( that feels like that would solve everything, but I guess there is just too much steep terrain)  and you also really don’t see anyone riding bikes.  So to get around, you need a car.  I’ll just end with that :). And then feel free to use the shuttle service at your leisure throughout the rest of your trip.

Where We Ate

There are quite a few restaurants on property and nearby.  Remember, the property is huge!  They have casual dining options, more up-scale and also room service.  The only time we used room service was for breakfast and that was actually really convenient.  We would place our order online the night before and schedule the delivery for the next morning and it usually always came in the 15 minute window that we booked.  The portions were huge, just FYI.

We also went to Truman’s Cafe several of the mornings and grabbed coffee and easy breakfast options.  They had a few grab-and-go options and then a few things you could order.  Food was okay, nothing incredible, but the coffee was pretty good.

Osage – This was probably my favorite meal of the whole trip, but Woman’s house comes right up there too.  I loved both of these meals.  The views were beautiful, as were the sunsets.  You absolutely have to go take a tour through the most amazing caves and wine cellars and cave bars under the restaurant.  It was so cool.  We brought our kids to this dinner, but this and Worman house are definitely the nicest restaurants on property.

Arnie’s Barn – This is a fun Mexican style restaurant just next to Osage that is open for lunch and dinner and very kid friendly.  Food was good and atmosphere nice.

Uncle Bucks – The most casual spot right at Fun Mountain.  You can grab a table while your kids play and run around fun mountain.  Pretzels, pizza, burgers, bar food.

Top of the Mountain Grill – This is about a 30 min drive from the main part of Big Cedar Lodge.  The shuttles will take you here.  This restaurant is located at the Paynes Valley Golf Course (Tiger Wood’s golf course) and it is absolutely worth seeing.  It was beautiful views and sunset again, but the food was average.  So just keep that in mind, but it was worth going to see.

Devil’s Pool & Buzzard Grill – This is a fairly casual spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they also serve food out to the pool area.  Again, more like bar food and for breakfast they put out a nice buffet.

Worman’s House – This is a French style restaurant that was absolutely delicious.  It is one of the original buildings on the property when Johnny Morris bought back in 1983 and its really a pretty ambiance.  They had a one man band playing when we were there and they have a quaint little bar area to have a cocktail.

Lady Liberty Lake Cruise – This looked like a really fun fine dining experience and I wish we had booked it (it does book up pretty fast, so book ahead of time)!  We weren’t sure how great it would be with 6 young kids, so we didn’t end up booking; but our friends were there right after us and went on it with kids and they said it was great.  They also offer a brunch cruise if you don’t want to do dinner.

What We Did

I always like to type up a schedule for our trip and feel like it never hurts to share and hopefully help someone planning their next trip.  So here it is…

Our Schedule

 July 29 

2pm Arrival
5:45 pm dinner at Osage

July 30

9am-1pm Boat Rental
Lunch at devils pool 
430 Fun Mountain
6:30pm dinner at Uncle Buck’s
830 private sunset s’mores 

July 31

10am Top of the rock lost canyon tour – golf cart tour
Went to Arnie’s barn and walked museum
1pm Top of Rock golf (9 holes, 2 adults and 2 kids)
7pm Top of the Mountain 🏔️ Grill for dinner

August 1

630am -1030am- Guided Bass Fishing Trip (4 Hour)
9am-1pm molly and Madelyn kids camp
10am pickle ball
6:30pm dinner at Arnie’s Barn

August 2

8:30am Payne’s Valley golf (18 holes, 3 adults) (confirmed)
6:00pm dinner Worman House (confirmed) *bday noted on the reservation

August 3

10am Sign up Kids fishing tournament?
2pm depart 

BIG CEDAR LODGE ACTIVITIES + EXPERIENCES

Fun Mountain This is absolutely the kids dream zone with everything including a bowling alley, arcade, laser tag, outdoor ropes course, seasonal outdoor go-carts, Flip Zone (a 360 degree rotating bumper car ride!), indoor climbing wall, indoor slides and small kids rope course, Nature Discovery Center, and billiards too!

Bent Hook Marina Your entrance to Table Rock Lake.  They have everything from boat rentals (which include a tube for the kids), to kayaks, to pedal boats, fishing excursions, paddle boards, and wakeboard school to a small beach with lily pads and a small swim zone. It’s a must-do to get out on the lake in my opinion. They do have a store at the marina where you can buy snacks, cups, hats, drinks, etc.

Swimming Pools  There are four swimming pools around the property plus a lazy river with an indoor pool.  I think we hit every pool except for the one at Camp Long Creek.  They were all nice, but I would say the Lakeside pool was the prettiest that overlooked Table Rock Lake.  The downside was that they did not have a bar/restaurant at the pool but they did have a phone and menu that you could call in and order from….but you just had to wait a bit longer.  Devil’s Pool and hot tub and The Swimming Hole pool both had bar and food service at the pool.

Kids’ Adventure Club Sign your kids up for 4 hours of fun at the Kids Club.  They have a morning session and an evening session and they do fill up pretty fast.  My girls did a morning session one morning and had a blast.  They keep them busy with fun activities.

Bonfires Big Cedar offers private and public bonfires and s’mores and is great at cultivating cozy evenings around a campfire. They have lawn games, movie nights and glow sticks to keep the kids entertained.

Cedar Creek Spa The spa is gorgeous at Big Cedar and I was so sad not to be able to get an appointment.  Be sure to book ahead of time and experience the luxury grotto pool and serene spa rooms.  I did get to go peek at it, but never had a service there.

Ridge Top Pickleball One brand-new Pickle Ball court is open for Big Cedar (and please note that there is no tennis courts on property. We absolutely just assumed there was!) guests and they have a small playground right next door to help keep the smaller kids entertained!  Or the bigger kids can grab a putter and go play a little putt-putt right next door. Guests can check out equipment at the Guest Services desk within the Registration building.  They only let you reserve the pickle ball court the day of and you do have to go to registration to sign up.

Top of the Rock at Heritage Reserve This is really a must-do while there.  You can take the shuttle to be dropped off here, but it is open to the public.  I recommend getting here early before the crowds and also buying your tickets online ahead of time.  They are open all day and you just show up and stand in line and wait for the next available golf cart.  They are constantly coming in and you just take the next one out.  It is about a 40 minute adventure (give or take) and its just beautiful scenery, waterfalls, cave bar, etc that you tour via golf cart.

Golf Courses They have some absolutely beautiful golf courses on property.  If you are a golfer, this is the spot for you.  As I mentioned, be sure to book ahead of time if possible.  They even have a 9 hole course option and a 13 hole course option to choose from.

Some of the other resort activities include walking trails, BINGO, playing yard games by Truman Cafe, geocaching, playing mini-golf (brand new course!), the morning fishing derby, kayaking, sand volleyball, shuffleboard and more!

Day Trips Dogwood Canyon and the Bass Pro Shop Granddaddy store are all options for day trips that are supposed to be totally worth it.  We didn’t make it to either of these but I heard the Granddaddy bass pro shop had an amazing aquarium.

A Few Thoughts and Tips

• The resort as a whole I think books up pretty fast, so if you are interested, I would book in advance.
• A lot of the cabins are named after celebrities, we were in the Dale Earnhardt, Sr. cabin 552.  Tiger Woods cabin is 555 (in case you want to request it!).
• I don’t know a lot about them, but I thought the houses or accommodations over by the Lakeview pool looked really neat (plus you are right there to walk to the pool). So you may look into those if you are checking out the resort.
• Book as many of your dining reservations as you can in advance in my opinion.  Especially if you are looking at eating at Osage or Worman house.
• There is lots of parking all around the resort and every where you need to go around property, so that makes bringing your car that much easier.  I will say that our cabins really only looked to have one parking spot, so keep it to one car per cabin!
• It was HOT there in August.  Just a reminder that you should not expect cooler temperatures!!
• Book kids club ahead of time if you plan to use it.
• If you are staying in a cabin with a kitchen, I would say to stop at the store on your way in and grab some easy breakfast items and your own coffee, etc.  They had your standard coffee pots in the room.
• Book golf way ahead of time too.  I am sure in some cases you can hop on the golf courses at the last minute, but a course like Payne Valley, you need to plan ahead of time.

Final Thoughts and Review

This is absolutely a fun, family friendly resort in the mid-west that has tons to do and lots of adventures for both kids and adults!  They spared no expense for this resort in regards to construction and providing entertainment for their guests.  As I mentioned above, my main complaint would be the transportation issue if you do not have a car and the other thing I will mention is that the food on property is just average if you are a foodie.  Now, I will say that the two restaurants I stressed about, Osage and Worman House, they did have fantastic food.  We really loved them.  But the other restaurants all feel like they have pretty similar menus and it feels a lot like “bar food”, if you will.  But the service was delightful and I really do feel like they are there to provide you and your family the best experience possible.  And that goes a long way.  The other big thing I will mention is that as a Floridian, I think we had the idea that we were headed to a little bit cooler weather in August, but it was hotter than hot! haha! I think they were having a major heat wave like the rest of the country and it was really hot!  Being in the “mountains”, we thought we would have a little cooler weather.  I think this would be an absolutely gorgeous place to visit in Fall and Spring.

I hear they do an absolutely incredible job for the upcoming holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  They say they have some insane number of Christmas lights that they put out each holiday season and while we were there in August, they were starting construction on a Haunted House that they build and take down every year for the Halloween season.  So I imagine the holidays are a beautiful time to visit.

What I Packed for Big Cedar Lodge

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