Construction Begins On New Hiking & Biking Trail At Lake Of The Ozarks

“We have finally started construction,” said Stacy Pyrtle, with a blend of relief and enthusiasm.

Pyrtle, the President of the Community Foundation of the Lake (CFL), is helping spearhead an ambitious project to construct approximately 70 miles of trails at the Lake of the Ozarks, called Magic Dragon Trails. And as crews and equipment begin clearing a path for the trail that begins on Three Seasons Road, she said it finally feels like significant progress for a project that’s taken a while to get off the ground.

“It is progress!” she said. “Slower than what we originally thought it was going to be.”

The Three Seasons Road trailhead will be a one-mile natural surface trail, and Pyrtle says since it cuts through a heavily residential area, CFL organizers think it will be well-used as soon as it’s opened. Eventually they plan to connect that trail with the one that will begin at Nichols Road, near Osage Beach Elementary School (some property issues have created a few hurdles there). In the end, that will result in 2.5 miles of trail.

A solid start.

In a soon-to-be-released interview for LakeExpo’s new podcast Take on the Lake, Pyrtle also revealed the CFL has a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Osage Beach to build a couple more miles of trail connecting the Osage Beach City Park to the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. They plan to break ground on that project this fall.

“I think with the new dog park that's out there, people are really going to take advantage of that quite a bit,” she added.

In the end, Pyrtle says she hopes the Lake of the Ozarks area trail system will connect with the slowly progressing Rock Island Trail — an ambitious 200+ mile trail project that aims to create a loop that links up with the popular Katy Trail and dips all the way south through Eldon, just northeast of the Lake.

Pyrtle says a trail system at the Lake will be a major boon to the community in a variety of ways.

“We've seen with the Katy Trail how it has revitalized some of those smaller towns… Brought in additional jobs and tourist impact,” she said. “I love to boat and swim and everything here at the Lake too, but I also like in the off-season to be able to do something outdoors. And this is a perfect opportunity for the Lake of the Ozarks.

The CFL needs donations to help make the trail a reality.

To donate, visit https://www.communityfoundationofthelake.org/

Stay tuned for the Take on the Lake interview with Pyrtle...

Here’s where to find Take On The Lake: