Shepherd of the Hills Inspiration Tower — Attraction in Branson

My friends and I only went to do the Inspiration Tower. When you enter the tower, the base of the tower serves as a gift shop and where you purchase tickets for the tower view and zip line and whatever other things they offer. We walked right in, we were not greeted, and we walked around the bottom floor through the gift shop and to the bathrooms. I saw the elevator doors that take you up to the top of the tower. They have a sign saying "Ticket required". We browsed the shop and made our way back over to the line for tickets. Apparently, everyone else in line was just purchasing tickets for the zip line. I heard the cashier give them all the same speech and instructions. We finally were able to pay for our tickets, which were over $8.00 each, and we weren't told anything. So, we made our way to the elevator doors, entered the elevator and went up to the top of the tower. The "glass elevator " was fully covered up. When we reached the top, I expected someone to be there to take our tickets or something. Nope. There was a lady waiting for the zip liners, but otherwise we were on our own. The tower top itself was pretty plain. Now yes, the view is beautiful, but I really felt it was not worth the price to see it. We had just stopped at a scenic overlook right down the road, and seen the same view, for FREE. I had thought there would be more to do or see at the tower. Nothing was offered or explained. Apparently, they do offer other activities, but once we'd paid $8 for a view, I wasn't paying anything more. So, overall I felt like I'd wasted my time and money. If you want to go for the zip line, beware, it looks like a very short, simple ride from the tower to a point maybe a football field length away. We watched a couple launch and it took about 15 seconds for them to reach the bottom, which for me also did not...

If there is an observation tower, I'm probably going to check it out. Went to the Shepherd of the Hills Inspiration Tower. The tower is a separate admission fee from all the other surrounding activities and the park.

As someone not from the area, it was nice to be able to read a little history about the area. Apparently the first novel to sell more than a million copies was written about this place and it was turned into a stage play about 100 years ago. That's what started the lshowbusiness in the area - people were coming to see performances of Shepherd of the Hills. Now, Branson is the live entertainment capital of the world (which is crazy as someone who lives in Las Vegas.)

It was neat getting that insight into the history of Branson.

It's a little cramped at the top with a big checker board game, benches, some old-time arcade machines and some squished penny machines. While trying to go around to get some video clips, I ran into a bench that I didn't even notice because it blended into the wall in the shadow. Embarrassing.

If you're going to come up here, I'd suggest coming when the hills are green. We came in December and it was kind of a meh view.

Visited...

I have a mixed review. I felt that they did take safety seriously but they were lacking in some customer service fields. We did the vigilante xtreme zip ride and really enjoyed it. The price was not bad, the views from the tower and ride were beautiful. But downside was the lack of staffing. There was one person running the tower side of the zip ride. She was trying to get people in the ride and running the check-in booth. So there would be twenty or 30 minutes of waiting with no idea what is going on, then she would take 4-5 groups down at one time. This was aggravating as we had 25 minutes when we got up there with no idea what was going on. Add that to the fact that they stopped rides for a bit for "high-heat?" and there were riders who had waited for over 2 hours to ride. My kiddos, 5 & 2, did the sky tykes course and loved it. The young lady at the bottom of the zip ride did take some awesome photos though. My 2 cents are if they are not busy. Its definitely worth it. My advise for Shepherd of the Hills would be to hire a few extra people and add some benches both outside on the ground and in the...