The Ozark Mountains

The Ozark Mountains straddle northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, and offer visitors to the area myriad recreational activities. Learn more about this rugged and beautiful region at Ozark Mountain Region.com.

Click here for a MapQuest^TM map of the area.

About the Ozarks

The Ozarks is an upland region of Arkansas that extends into Missouri. It is an eroded plateau that contains limestone and sandstone structures greatly affected by surface water that has created numerous "living caves." Additionally, man has altered nature with man-made lakes and dams, changing the area both socially and economically.

The Ozark domal mountain structure, an uplifted and eroded plateau, is composed of three successive plateaus: The Boston Mountains, the Springfield plateau and the Salem plateau. Tectonic forces uplifted this area approximately 350 million years ago. Major rivers include: The White which runs north into Missouri and re-enters the state on the northeastern side, the Buffalo which was the nation's first national historic river, the Little Red, Cache, and Black.

Rivers have worn through the soft rocks creating steep-sided valleys. Caves are common in limestone that is easily eroded.  Calcite dissolved from the limestone forms stalactites and stalagmites over long periods of time resulting in beautiful formations. Blanchard Springs Caverns is an example of this process.

The Boston Mountains are the most rugged of the plateaus and have a slight tilt, which makes the southern margin higher than the northern edge. This area is prolifically fossileferous, and many marine invertabrate fossils and some well-preserved plant fossils are found here.  There is more woodland than farmland in the Ozarks, but some livestock production is done with beef, hogs and chickens being the more common commercial products.

The Springfield plateau contains broad interfluves which are similar in elevation, and weathered slabs of St.Joe limestone are found here.  The Boone formation contains common invertebrate fossils such as brachiopods, gastropods, cephalopods, and corals. More cropland than woodland exists in this region and farms focus on poultry, dairy cattle and beef cattle, and grow fruits such as grapes and apples, and vegetables such as tomatoes and greenbeans.

The Salem plateau extends into Missouri and is slightly lower than the Springfield. The oldest formations in the Ozark region are here.  They are Pre-Cambrian intrusive. The Cotter formation around Bull Shoals Lake has some of the oldest cephaopod faunas in North America. The area agriculturally produces poultry, dairy cattle and beef cattle, pasture, vegetables, strawberries and a little cotton.

The temperatures  average the same as most areas of the state but the northwestern corner of the state does average 34 degrees in the months of December, January and February. This puts killing frosts later than other parts of the state, around April 20th and October 20th.

		Vegetation varies and is the result of genetic and climatic change. This is the upland hardwood region though patches do occur throughout the state. They contain broadleaf deciduous trees with an occasional evergreen species such as cedar and pine. Some species include: post oak, blackjack oak, black hickory, southern red oak, white oak, northern red oak, shaggy bark hickory, sugar maple, beech and pine in sandy soil.  In the lower regions of this area are: box elder, green ash, American elm, silverleaf maple with black walnut, butternut hickory and hackberry transitional types.   There are rare areas of parry that remain in this area but most have been obliterated by agriculture or settlement.
Click the image for a larger picture. Many wildflowers abound and vary according to the time of year.

This area hosted mostly nomadic Indian tribes, including the Osage who used this area as hunting grounds, and lived in bluffs and caves while hunting for small game.  They were very warlike and fought neighboring tribes over matters of revengeful nature, such as the death of a tribesman.  The Cherokee migrated to the north central part of Arkansas and established the Cherokee Nation West where they farmed and raised livestock.  Dwight Mission was the site of their principal village.  Sequoyah, the famed leader of the Cherokee, resided for a time in Arkansas.  These indians were later moved to the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma and their Arkansas nation dissolved.  All lands were ceded by the Cherokee and Choctaw by 1828 in this region and these treaties established the western and northern boundries that affected this area of the state.

Few whites made their way into this region prior to the first major American expedition that went through the Ozarks was made by Major Steven Long in 1817.  In 1818 to 1819, Henry R. Schoolcraft explored Arkansas and spent the winter in the northwestern part of this region.  He encountered a few indians and white settlers who lived much in isolation.  The Ozark region became part of Lawrence County when the first two counties were established in the state in 1815.  By 1883 all of Arkansas counties had been established and the Ozark region contains most of at least 24 counties.  This region of the state remained isolated and even 1829 only one postal service extended into the region at Izard Courthouse.  From about 1830 to 1860 most white migration came from neighboring eastern states such as Tennessee and from the northern neighbor, Missouri.  The Ozark region remained less populated than the south and east.  By the time of the civil war, this area was the only part of the state to basically reject secession.  Even though this area rejected secession, the state's two largest and most important civil war battles were fought here at Pea Ridge an Prairie Grove.

The Ozark region attracted two European ethnic groups that established notable communities.  One was an Italian community known as Tontitown that became known for it's vineyards and a German community in Germansburg, both located in Washington county.

Because of relative isolation, this area has become known for it's "hillbilly" culture.  This area has used this characteristic to attract tourists to unique music and backwoods jargan.  The rugged beauty of this area makes it a nature lovers paradise, with trails and streams to fill the needs of the ardent outdoorsman.

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