Shepherd of the Hills Branson Jeep-Tram Historic Tour

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/14

Duration1h

GroupUp to 22

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Ride through a log cabin frozen 130 years in time, then climb to the ridge where a writer found his story.

The Shepherd of the Hills Historic Tour is a one-hour guided journey through a 160-acre homestead in Branson, Missouri, aboard an open-air Jeep-drawn tram led by a local guide. You visit Old Matt's Cabin—a National Register log structure where three main characters in Harold Bell Wright's novel actually lived—and Morgan Church at Inspiration Point, the highest point in Southwest Missouri where Wright camped while writing the book. The tour includes all taxes and fees; call the local supplier after booking to confirm your departure time.

Step-by-step itinerary

Jeep tram tour of historic homestead

Ride open-air Jeep-drawn tram
Visit Old Matt's Cabin
Stop at Morgan Church
View Inspiration Point scenery

The Experience

Old Matt's Cabin sits exactly as it did 130 years ago, its logs weathered and its rooms arranged as they were when the novel's characters moved through them. The Jeep-drawn tram carries you through the wooded 160-acre property, stopping at this cabin and then climbing to Inspiration Point—the highest elevation in Southwest Missouri. The view from the ridge is what gave the hill its name: it was spectacular enough to hold a writer's attention while he worked.

Your guide is an Ozark native, someone who knows the landscape and the book's place in it. The Shepherd of the Hills triggered the Branson phenomenon: readers came to meet the characters and see the terrain Wright described so vividly. Now you stand where that writing happened, moving through the actual homestead instead of imagining it from the page. Morgan Church marks the spot where Wright camped, and the cabin holds the domestic spaces the novel centers on.

The tour runs one hour and the tram is open-air, so you feel the wooded terrain as you move through it. Pickup happens at the homestead itself; after you book, call the local supplier to lock in your departure time. The experience suits families and works for all fitness levels, and there's no separate food or drinks to arrange—the focus stays on the sites and the story they hold.

What’s included

Guided tour led by an Ozark native.
open-air Jeep-drawn tram through the 160-acre homestead.
entry to Old Matt's Cabin and Morgan Church at Inspiration Point.
all taxes, fees and handling charges.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessible

Operated by The Shepherd of the Hills

Is this one for you?The tram departs from the homestead itself, so if you're staying in Branson without a car, you arrange your own transport to the property—but once you arrive, the guide and the tram handle the rest of the route through the sites. The one-hour loop works as a daytime break from other attractions and suits families moving at an easy pace.