Lake of the Ozarks

Lake of the Ozarks sits at the geographic center of Missouri, a serpentine reservoir formed by damming the Osage River in 1931. The lake covers about 54,000 acres with more than 1,100 miles of shoreline — more than the California coastline — winding through wooded hills and limestone bluffs. Camden, Miller, Morgan, and Benton counties wrap around the lake, with anchor towns like Osage Beach, Lake Ozark, Camdenton, Versailles, and Warsaw handling most of the visitor traffic. Lake of the Ozarks State Park, on the southeast shore, is the largest state park in Missouri and offers a network of trails, cave tours, and quieter coves away from the main commercial stretches. Most visits here are water-driven — boating, fishing for crappie and bass, lakeside lodging — with an evolving food and shopping scene along the Bagnell Dam Strip and the Horseshoe Bend area. Spring and fall offer easier driving and clearer water; summer brings the busiest weekends and the longest days on the water.