Open
Year Round 9AM to 5PM (may be subject to change) - Inspiration Tower
is Branson’s “landmark on the horizon”- a
massive 230-foot tall structure constructed in 1989. The Tower’s
opening celebrated the 100th anniversary of Harold Bell Wright’s
first visit to the area. It weighs 3 million pounds, cost approximately
$1.5 million to build, contains over 92,000 pounds of structural steel,
and can withstand a constant wind of 172 mph or gusts of up to 224 mph!
A convoy of 43 concrete trucks filled the Tower foundation, which contains
five miles’ worth of rebar weighing 34.5 tons. The Tower also
contains over 4,400 square feet of glass enough to cover a third of
a football field!
Shepherd Inspiration Tower (a.k.a. The Shepherd
of the Hills Inspiration Tower) is an astounding vision to admire and
the two RV Gypsies actually traveled up to the top via a glass elevator
leading up to a spacious, enclosed observation deck. There is also an
open-air deck from which Lee and Karen Duquette experienced panoramic
views of the area. On clear days the view is over 90 miles away! There
is a charge, but Lee Duquette had received free tickets for this when
he booked their seats for the "Acrobats of Shanghai" show.
There is also a specialty gift shop, snack bar and restrooms
on the ground level. During November and December, Inspiration Tower
is transformed into the Ozarks’ largest Christmas tree for the
Trail of Lights! The Tower is open year-round. |
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 Lee
and Karen Duquette at Inspiration Tower
in Branson, Missouri
May 12, 2006
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Before Lee and Karen Duquette became "The
Two RV Gypsies", they visited Inspiration Tower in Branson,
Missouri.
They also visited in 2016 and both sets of photos are shown here, beginning
with the 2006 photos. |
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Below: Lee and Karen Duquette
enjoyed views from the tower to May 12, 2006. |
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Below: In 2016, Lee and Karen
Duquette, who are also known as The Two RV Gypsies, returned to Branson,
Missouri, and of course re-visited Inspiration Tower. This time they
got much prettier views and better photographs. |
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Below: The ZipRider sign which was NOT here when Lee
and Karen Duquette were here in 2006.
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The Tower became
the launch for the Vigilante Extreme ZipRider. Below are a few photos
that Karen Duquette took of the empty seats in 2016. Four people ride
side by side. It is a Sit-Down zipline that only goes 1/2 mile
at speeds up to 50 mph and has an automatic braking system. Riders are
launched from the open-air deck of this Tower. A jeep-drawn tram returns
riders back to the tower to purchase their photos.
Lee and Karen Duquette did NOT ride this on this date because it
is a very short length ride, and Lee Duquette was just NOT interested,
even though Karen WAS interested. But, they have ridden zip lines with
several lines much longer. (To see photos of the two RV Gypsies on other
zip lines, you use TOC button at the bottom of this page and choose
the letter Z. |
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Below: Later,
as Lee and Karen Duquette wandered just down the street from Inspiration
Tower, they stopped at a scenic Overlook, but all they saw were trees,
so Karen did not take a photo. There was a hiking trail, but Lee and
Karen did not hike on this date. |
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