Forget Netflix, Lake of the Ozarks a beautiful place

If you’re like me, you just finished or in the process of bingeing the second season of “Ozark,” a Netflix series that concerns an American family forced to work for a Mexican cartel. The Byrds move from Chicago to the shores of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and experience a wide variety of culture shocks, with every stereotype imaginable, not to mention danger every step of the way.

The show is actually shot in Georgia, so don’t write off this idealic lake just because you think the Snells or Bad Dad Cade are going to get you. Here’s one reason why. Recently, Conde Nast Traveler named the Lake of the Ozarks’ Ha Ha Tonka State Park as the most beautiful spot in Missouri in its article of the most scenic places of each state. They weren’t alone. A few years ago, the park was also voted the fourth best state park in America by readers of USA Today.

The park's name, Ha Ha Tonka, derives from the local Osage Native American phrase thought to mean "laughing waters," in reference to the park’s large natural spring that pumps out more than 48 million gallons of water per day. In addition to the spring that’s the 12th largest in the state, there are 14 hiking trails and a natural bridge. Because it rests on the Niangua arm of the lake, the park offers plenty of opportunities to fish, swim and boat.  

The park's main attraction, however, is the fascinating ruins of the 20th century "castle" perched high on a bluff overlooking Ha Ha Tonka Spring and the Lake of the Ozarks. The structure was constructed as a country escape for Robert M. Snyder, a wealthy Kansas City businessman who died in one of Missouri's first automobile accidents (or was it the cartel, hmmm). Snyder never lived to see his dream realized but the home was completed by his sons and later operated as a hotel before being gutted by a fire in 1942. In addition to the outer walls of the estate, a stone water tower also remains.

Ha Ha Tonka is open year-round from 7 a.m. until dark and admission is free.

But back to the cartel, rednecks and hillbillies who make up “Ozark” and that bleak image of the lake on the show. The Lake of the Ozarks offers attractions and events as well as more than 200 restaurants and nightspots and more than 50 marinas. The lake sits in the center of the state with 1,150 miles of shoreline — and yes, that is more than the state of California.

But then again, Ha Ha Tonka State Park also contains a steep sinkhole named "The Colosseum," a 150-foot deep sink basin with two bluff shelters that were used as hide-outs by bandits in the 1830s. Hmmm again.

To learn more about Ha Ha Tonka State Park, visit mostateparks.com/park/lake-ozarks-state-park.

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by food and travel writer Chere Dastugue Coen, who loves binge-watching a great Netflix series. They better bring "Ozark" back for season three!