Dogpatch USA, the shuttered Ozark theme park that has sat crumbling since 1993, is getting a second life. The 400-acre site at Marble Falls, Arkansas, was bought in 2020 for $1.12 million by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, who plans to reopen it to the public as Marble Falls Nature Park. There's no opening date yet, and the site remains closed for now.

The story behind the place is a curious slice of Americana. In 1968, Marble Falls was transformed into Dogpatch, the fictional Appalachian town from Al Capp's wildly popular Li'l Abner comic strip. In its heyday, the park pulled in thousands of visitors with a miniature railway, a roller coaster, boat rides, a trout pond and historic log cabins, all set among forests, valleys, limestone bluffs and natural springs. But as Li'l Abner faded from popular memory, and competition loomed from Silver Dollar City in nearby Missouri, the park wound down. It closed for good in 1993 and has been slowly decaying ever since.

Morris, a conservationist whose Johnny Morris Conservation Foundation has previously created Dogwood Canyon Nature Park and the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Missouri, has hinted at what's coming. Speaking to KY3 in 2021, he praised the site's limestone bluffs and large spring, and outlined plans for a restaurant, nature trails and the revival of the park's old trout hatchery as an early priority.

If you can't wait for the gates to open, there's a preview about 53 miles north. Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in Lampe, Missouri, a 10,000-acre reserve on former campground land, is the model for the new Arkansas project. It offers hiking, biking, horseback riding and wildlife watching in similar Ozark terrain, opens daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and charges adults from $16 for general admission. The Mill & Canyon Grill restaurant serves meals with views of Indian Cliff Falls tumbling over limestone bluffs.

For travellers, this is one to bookmark rather than book: the Dogpatch site itself is off-limits until Morris's team announces plans, though the stretch of Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway between Harrison and Jasper where it sits is a scenic drive in its own right. Pair a future visit with the Victorian-era town of Eureka Springs nearby, a walkable, underrated base for exploring the Arkansas Ozarks.