Unfortunately, these two groups of brands seem to be mutually exclusive at the moment. You’re either looking for a premium cooler or you’re looking for an affordable cooler. Isn’t that just a little sad?

It’s threaded too, which means you can screw it on tight and it’s also attached to a chain, which means you don’t have to worry about losing it. What is the terrain of your hike? Will you have to cross rivers or streams? Is your footwear adequate to handle the trail?

Ozark Highlands Trail Stewards

There are cooler brands that focus on coming up with premium features for their customers, and there are cooler brands that focus on coming up with affordable coolers for the average Joe.

Susie Nichols Cabin Trail: 0.6 miles round trip. This easy walk leads from the gate at the parking area up the old "home place" road to the farmstead of Susie Nichols, who up until her death in 1959 chose to keep "the old ways". Living without electricity and relying on her horse "ol' Don" she remained independent and self-sufficient. The park maintains her board & batten cabin and several outbuildings---the Nichols homestead being a cultural landscape typical of Ozark lifeways. We’d like to think the good people behind Ozark Trail thought this was sad indeed. However, rather than bemoan the situation, they decided to do something about it. The only group that isn’t served here is the group of people looking for coolers over 100 quarts in capacity. These are the best coolers when you want to store items for the entire family, like when you have a large family event coming up, or when you’re going to be gone on an excursion for like a week. Now we’re starting to go deeper into the features that actually make this cooler convenient to use. The drain is oversized, which means you don’t have to wait extra-long to drain out that melted ice. At mile 15 in the Trace Creek section, you will find scenic Council Bluff Lake, which has a 12-mile loop to explore the beautiful landscape of southeast Missouri.

Round Spring Trails: Round Spring Trail - A short walk (0.1 mile) from the Round Spring Picnic area takes visitors to an overlook where visitors can view the deep blue-green waters of Round Spring which lies at the base of a moss/fern covered limestone bluff. Interpretive exhibits provide information on geology and an overview of prehistoric peoples who once lived in the area.

Looks like they seem to be focused on the medium to lower price range when it comes to their customers and certainly seem to be doing a great job of it. So let’s jump right into the review and see what’s to love about this brand! The way the Ozark Trail hard coolers are designed, they are supposed to compete with the very best cooler brands in the market at the moment. That pretty much means they have a lot of hype to live up to. The million dollar question is: can they? Instead, they decided to go for the kind of features you see in brands like Engel, RTIC, and the king of them all: Yeti. They also tried to do that while charging you a fraction of the prices these cooler brands charge you. Jerktail Loop Trail: This 5.2 mile loop trail is classified as moderate to difficult. There are two designated fords where the trail crosses the Current River. Several scenic overlooks offer expansive views of the Current River from atop high bluffs. Slough Trail:1.2 miles round trip. Wheelchair accessible. An easy stroll that begins just north of the ' Big Spring'. The route traverses a stand of cane and riparian forest along the slough with impoundments constructed by the CCC. Interpretive exhibits explain history, pre-history, and natural habitat of the immediate area.Hikers can cross Peavine Road and continue north along the Current River by taking the River's Edge Trail which leads to the Big Spring Campground.So you have a strong gasket, but you need it to squeeze very tight if it’s going to be useful. That’s where a pair of strong latches come in. In this case, the most popular latch design among premium coolers is the T-Rex Latch design. That’s exactly what you find on the Ozark Trail coolers. For the smaller 26-quart hard cooler, there is an overhead handle. For the larger ones, you have side handles for a more comfortable haul. We still think they would do even better if they put wheels on the very largest cooler. The hard coolers from this brand are built to be on par with the most premium brands. The soft coolers are a little more down to earth. There are both premium and low-cost models. If getting a great cooler at a great price means making some sacrifices, like not having it made locally, we know there are people who are willing to pay that price.