Glade Top Trail

Welcome to Glade Top Trail, a National Forest Scenic Byway in Missouri!

This 23-mile Scenic Byway is named for the beautiful glades that surround the ridge tops where the Scenic Byway traverses.

Along the trail are seven overlook “pull-outs” that provide panoramic views that reach to the Springfield Plateau twenty miles to the northwest and forty miles south to the Boston Mountains in Arkansas. Visit the detail stop links below for more about each of the views.

The Glade Top Trail is little changed from the original road constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930’s. 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.

People have been using the word glade since the 1500s. The term was often used, not just to indicate a clearing in the woods, but one filled with sunlight.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary the word Glade is defined as “an open space surrounded by woods”. It is thought to come from the adjective glad, which also meant “shining”.

Hence, glades in Missouri are sunshine filled openings in a vast forested area.

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