Dogwood Canyon Nature Park — Attraction in Berryville

Absolutely beautiful. The park is a combination of natural habitats, man made habitats, unpaved hiking trails, historical museums, and a paved main trail. You can do everything in one day, but it's not easy.

The weirs (sort of short man-made waterfall that ensures oxygen gets into the water) are beautiful along the creek. The hiking trails go out into sections of the park that are otherwise inaccessible. There is a tram tour that goes into an area housing some semi-domestic bison, elk, long horns and white tail deer. And many acres of the park are not accessible being solely reserved for the animals in the wild.

We got there for the earliest tram tour we could reserve (8:45 AM). The 2 hour tour takes you around the park, including areas bikes and foot traffic are not allowed in. Our tour guide Larry needs special recognition not for explaining the historical and natural sights, but for offering his coat to my wife when she gave her sweatshirt to my daughter. Larry was exceptionally knowledgeable in answering any questions our group had. The tram is the only way to see the bison and elk.

After the tram, we took a short hike up the first trail: Hickory Ridge. It's uphill but ends with a beautiful lookout over a waterfall (which you can't exactly see because getting too close is dangerous).

Then we went down and found out about the scavenger hunt. Luckily the tram tour preps your knowledge to know exactly where each item is (although the park map would be more than enough to deduce it). It was fun and my daughter earned a special badge for completing it.

Next up was Pine Ridge Pass a "moderate" trail that climbs ~300ft up over half a mile before coming back down. It was exhilarating. Unfortunately there is no nice view or other payoff for this hike.

We circled back to the trail right next to that one later. Box Canyon Trail is a short hike up to a small canyon. It's a good payoff for the effort.

The main trail is paved and can be biked or walked. It passes various historical sites and several beautiful waterfalls and springs. The caves were closed due to cave-ins unfortunately.

The main trail ends at a nice waterfall with golden rainbow trout in a reservoir. It's 3.2 miles for an awesome end. Along the way are many beautiful bridges and a chance to walk behind one of the waterfalls. They said you can bring a blanket and eat lunch anywhere, and I'd say behind the waterfall is probably the best spot there.

We cannot wait to come back and view the treehouse that was closed on our visit or even to the restaurant...

Please do NOT take a tram tour for your sanity and health. Maybe my personal experience was just bad, but the tram tour was a complete waste of 3 hours, waste of $80, and not significant. When I bought tickets, I was never informed the tour could take up to 4 hours. When I got on the tram the tour guide, Angela, then informed us it could be a 4 hour tour. For one, your business should inform people that the “tour” could potentially take up to 4 hours of their time. When I got on the tram and sat down, the tour guide, Angela, proceeded to spend 15 minutes talking to our group (really just the older couple sitting in the front row) outside the restaurant and shop area. Once she was finally finished talking she informed us of the security protocols. In total, the amount of time we spent sitting, doing nothing, outside the restaurant was about 32 minutes; absolute waste of time. Once we finally started driving, Angela made VERY frequent stops throughout the drive to continue to chat with the older couple sitting in the front. The older couple, especially the older man, had many many questions. Every time the couple would ask a question, Angela had to stop the tram tour properly hear the couple. It was a huge inconvenience yes. All the questions were extremely google-able questions; “What’s the water level here?” “Do bison grow their horns back?” “Can I drink the spring water?” “How big is that cave?” “What’s the water temperature?”. The questions he was asking were not only a huge inconvenience to everyone on that tram, they were questions that made everyone let out a sigh. I was not the only one fed up. Everyone was. My purpose of writing this review is not to sound rude or arrogant, but to hopefully let Angela and all the other tour guides know that it is a huge inconvenience to everyone on the tram when you make frequent stops and take up 3 hours of your guests’ time. Because or these frequent stops I not only missed my reservations but wasted 3 hours of my life I could’ve spent doing literally anything else. Please, if your thinking about taking the tram but don’t really want to waste your whole day, don’t buy the $40 per person tickets. Please just walk the trails yourself, I promise you it’s more beneficial to walk the trail yourself without having to hear the numerous questions being asked and having to sit stopped in the middle of the road while your tour guide answers said questions. Thank you, please save you money...

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park - This is 10,000 acre nature paradise designed with conservation education in mind. In a time when most people do not get outside their iPhone, not to mention outside of a municipality, it is a very beautiful reconstruction of places, wondrous views, and nature. It includes venues for weddings, other celebrations. I did not investigate the cost of a wedding etc. as the cost of just a couple spending a days entrance, trolley tour, and a very light lunch exceeded $200.00. There was an additional $90 for two shirts and a ball cap. For this, you will get an abundance of exercise, a very nice trailer load with seats for about 30 people, pulled Toyota Sequoia with a very personable and funny guide that will drive, educate, and joke your way through the entire park. In Addition you will have ample time to hike through the park on your own, taking as many pictures of the sights and delights along the way. The round trip hike is about 5-6 miles and does not include the upper pastures where trolleys go. The upper pasture is where you can see the larger livestock (bison, elk, longhorn cattle and possibly some deer) and some other wildlife, such as turtles. There are seven water falls, a chapel, fishing at a fee both guided areas and unguided, as well as sights of natures beauty. Is it pricey? Yes. Is it worth it? For the most part yes. There are a massive assortment of guided tours on horseback and side by side. There are unguided rental bicycles or you are encouraged to bring your own. It all depends on how far ahead and how much you are willing to spend. I fully enjoyed the time I had, got well over the Apple advised 10k steps, learned a lot, the salad and two beers were very nice, took a ton of pics, helped several other get a nice group or couples pics, and am completely satisfied with my expenditure. I recommend you take the trolly and spend some time hiking the trail. You will not only get educated and enjoy your day, but you will sleep well that evening. my rating: 7.5 #rendellsreviews #dogwoodcanyon #dogwoodcanyonnaturepark #dogwoodcanyonmissouri...