Glade Top Southwest (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149

Total Miles
5.7

Elevation

434.77 ft

Duration

0.5 Hours

Technical Rating

1

Easy

Best Time

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Trail Overview

This trail is the southwest branch of the Glade Top National Forest Scenic Byway, also known as Sky Line Drive FSR 149 within the USDA Forestry Service. It is a scenic 5.8 miles long gravel byway that snakes its way over the White River Hills in this region of the Mark Twain National Forest. It enters the Glade Top Trail System from the southwesternmost corner, which is the closest to Branson, Missouri. It also has access to most of the most popular trails in the area, which are to the south of this road, including the FSR 507, 509, and 510. The road features breathtaking views and wide open skies while being surrounded by vast forests going down the grades it walks on top of.

Photos of Glade Top Southwest (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149

Glade Top Southwest (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149
Glade Top Southwest (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149
Glade Top Southwest (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149

Difficulty

Just a simple gravel road with access to many great sights and thrills in the area.

History

The Glade Top Trail is a Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC] built road which was designated a Scenic Byway in 1989. Portions of Forest Roads 147, 149, and 150 comprise the trail. The trail follows a series of ridgetops through the central glade area of the White River Hills. The Glade Top Trail is little changed from the original road constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. For twenty-three miles, the two-lane, all-weather gravel road follows narrow ridge tops rising approximately 500 feet above the surrounding rolling countryside and overlooks and passes through many limestone/dolomite glades interspersed with open and closed woodlands. Sourced from the USDA website.

Technical Rating

1

Status Reports

Chris Menz
Nov 26, 2023
1999 Jeep Cherokee
Open
Normal
After returning to the area, I now realize that this is not the true Skyline Drive, which is actually the 150 which parallels this road to the north about 5-7 miles. I named it based on the incorrect info in the interactive MVUM, so I will be contacting Ava Unit USFS to get this fix and for the correct name of this road. Updates coming to the names within OnX in the next few months. Great road to see the natural scenic beauty of Glade Top.
William Robert
Sep 02, 2023
4x4
Open
Normal
Dusty
Tim Sipes
Jun 10, 2023
4x4
Open
Normal

Access Description

From the roundabout outside of Branson Landing, at 36.63487, -93.21338, head north on Missouri-76 for 12 miles, turn right at the roundabout onto US Route-160 going east for 3 miles, then make a hard right to stay on US-160 continuing east for 15.3 miles, at the triangle intersection stay left and get onto Missouri-125 headed north for 4.4 miles to the entrance of the Glade Top (Sky Line Drive) FSR 149, at 36.66013, -92.85181.

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