Pulaski County Tourism Bureau

The bureau's main visitor service is free printed materials covering all aspects of Pulaski County tourism. The Pulaski County Route 66 driving guide — a substantial fold-out map and guide produced by the bureau — covers the full 30-mile Route 66 corridor through the county with detailed driving directions, attraction descriptions, photograph suggestions, and recommended stops. The official county tourism map shows all major attractions, lodging options, restaurants, gas stations, and emergency services in a single comprehensive document. Various smaller brochures cover specific topics — Fort Leonard Wood visiting information, military family resources, outdoor recreation, seasonal events, agritourism options, and antiquing.

Route guidance from bureau staff is generally more useful than printed materials alone because the volunteers have firsthand knowledge of current conditions. For Route 66 travelers, the bureau can recommend specific itinerary sequences based on available time (half-day, full-day, two-day), traveler interests (history, photography, food, outdoor recreation), and seasonal conditions (peak fall foliage timing in the Ozarks, summer heat avoidance strategies, winter access issues at certain sites). The bureau's recommendations are generally more practical than generic online itineraries.

For Fort Leonard Wood-affiliated visitors, the bureau provides specialized information including on-post visitor access procedures, military family resources, recommended off-post lodging with military discount programs, family-friendly attractions for short weekend visits during training milestone events, and information on the on-post museums (the U.S. Army Engineer Museum and the U.S. Army Military Police Museum) which are free and open to the public.

The bureau's Route 66 coverage extends across the full 30-mile Pulaski County corridor from the Phelps County line in the east through Devil's Elbow, Waynesville, St. Robert, and out to the Laclede County line in the west. Major Route 66 attractions covered include the Devil's Elbow bridge and surrounding community, Frog Rock on Highway 17, the Route 66 Pulaski County Museum and Old Stagecoach Stop on the Waynesville square, the surviving Route 66 commercial buildings along Historic Route 66 through Waynesville and St. Robert, and various smaller motor courts, filling stations, and Route 66 alignments scattered through the corridor.

Less-obvious Route 66 stops that the bureau staff can direct visitors to include the Hooker Cut on the original Route 66 alignment east of Devil's Elbow (one of the deepest highway cuts on the original Mother Road), various surviving 1920s-1940s commercial structures along the old highway, the original Route 66 alignment through Crocker and the smaller north-county communities, and remnants of various Route 66-era businesses that have been documented in the bureau's archive but require local guidance to find. For Route 66 enthusiasts wanting to drive less-traveled alignments and find less-photographed sites, the bureau's staff is the right starting point.

Beyond Route 66, the bureau's coverage extends to the broader Pulaski County tourism offerings — Fort Leonard Wood, the Ozark outdoor recreation opportunities (Roubidoux Spring, Roubidoux Creek, the Big Piney River, and various smaller streams and natural areas), agritourism options, the county's small wine country, and seasonal events including the annual Pulaski County Fair and various smaller community festivals throughout the year.

The Pulaski County Tourism Bureau operates an extensive website at pulaskicountyusa.com that supplements the in-person visitor services. The website includes detailed itinerary suggestions covering half-day, full-day, and multi-day Pulaski County trips, an updated event calendar with current and upcoming community events, comprehensive lodging listings (chain hotels and historic accommodations both), restaurant listings with cuisine and price information, and current information on seasonal access issues, attraction hours, and recent changes to specific sites.

The website's most-used resource for Route 66 travelers is the printable Route 66 driving guide — the same fold-out map and guide available in printed form at the bureau office. The PDF version can be downloaded and printed before a trip, allowing travelers to arrive with the guide already in hand without needing to stop at the bureau office. The website also includes downloadable PDFs of the various smaller brochures, a media gallery with photographs of major attractions, and contact information for direct staff communication on specific itinerary questions.

For travelers planning visits during the bureau's closed hours, the website is the natural alternative information source. Most of the practical information that bureau staff would provide — route guidance, itinerary suggestions, attraction details, lodging and restaurant recommendations — is available online. Direct email or phone contact with bureau staff is also available for visitors who need specific information not covered on the website.

The bureau operates in partnership with the Route 66 Pulaski County Museum in downtown Waynesville, providing the museum's visitor information desk and printed materials. Visitors who arrive in Waynesville without first stopping at the St. Robert bureau office can typically find equivalent printed materials and visitor information services at the museum's information desk during the museum's regular Wednesday-through-Saturday open hours. The museum-and-bureau partnership effectively provides two visitor information access points covering the main Pulaski County tourist corridor.

The Old Stagecoach Stop on the Waynesville courthouse square — the historic 1854 stagecoach inn building described in its own listing — is a separate organization (the Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation) but coordinates closely with the bureau and the Route 66 museum. Coordinated programming during peak Route 66 tourism months sometimes includes joint events, shared visitor materials, and aligned messaging about Pulaski County's combined Route 66 and pre-Route 66 historical offerings.

For visitors wanting comprehensive Pulaski County orientation, the natural sequence is the St. Robert bureau office for initial materials and route guidance, the Route 66 Pulaski County Museum in Waynesville for deeper Route 66 historical context, and the Old Stagecoach Stop for pre-Route 66 historical context. The three stops together provide essentially complete orientation to Pulaski County's tourism offerings.

The bureau is generally open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm with seasonal Saturday hours from 10am to 2pm during peak Route 66 tourism months (typically April through October). Hours can vary based on staff availability and seasonal demand; calling ahead during November through March is recommended. The office is closed Sundays and major federal holidays.

Admission is free. The bureau is publicly funded through Pulaski County tourism tax revenues and does not collect admission fees, donation requests, or other visitor charges. Printed materials are provided free in any reasonable quantity for traveler use. The bureau's staff is salaried public employees rather than volunteer-based, which provides more consistent hours and service availability than purely volunteer-staffed visitor centers.

Best timing for a bureau visit is the morning of the first day of any Pulaski County trip. Arriving at the bureau at 8am or 9am, collecting printed materials and route guidance for the day, and proceeding to the first planned attraction by mid-morning provides the most efficient itinerary structure. Visitors arriving in Waynesville or St. Robert without a clear itinerary plan benefit substantially from a brief bureau stop before committing to a specific day plan.