Ouachita Mountains - Subdivisions

Subdivisions

The Ouachitas are divided loosely into several sub-ranges which do not always have clearly defined boundaries.

Athens Piedmont- This division contains a series of low peaks and ridges, none more than 1000 feet tall, located to the south of the main Ouachita range. The Athens Piedmont extends from Arkadelphia in the east to approximately the Oklahoma border in the west, and contains the northern half of Clark and Howard counties, and almost all of Pike and Sevier counties in Arkansas, and a small portion of east-central McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

Zigzag Range- This division is found in northern Garland County, Arkansas, near Hot Springs National Park. It is so named because of the jagged appearance of the peaks from a distance. Most of the peaks in this range are not exceptionally tall, ranging from approximately 1000 to 1600 feet.

Crystal Range- This division is located to the west-southwest of the Zigzag Range, in Montgomery County, Arkansas. It was so named because of the presence of quartz crystals of high quality, which are found here. The mountains of the Crystal Range are generally somewhat taller than the Zigzags.

Caddo, Missouri, and Cossatot Mountains - These three ranges form a single unified massif which is difficult to divide into sections. The names generally refer to the portion of the mountains in which the headwaters of these three rivers are located. The Caddo Mountains are located on the east, bordering the Crystal Range. The Missouri Mountains are in the center of the range, and the Cossatot Mountains are to the west, bordering the Cross Range. The topography is extremely rugged, and these three ranges contain the highest peaks in the southern Ouachitas, including several that rise well over 2300 feet, with the tallest being Raspberry Mountain at 2367 feet. Several major rivers of southwest Arkansas rise in this range, including the Cossatot, Saline, Little Missouri, Caddo, Rolling Fork, and also several short headwater streams of the Ouachita River. The area contains several National Forest recreation sites and other amenities because of its extremely scenic nature, and Congress at one time voted to approve it as part of the National Park system, if not for a veto by President Truman.

Cross Range- This division is located in Polk and Sevier counties, Arkansas, and extreme eastern McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The tallest peak is Whiskey Peak, at approximately 1600 feet.

Fourche Mountains - This division includes the main backbone of the Ouachita system, and extends in a long, almost unbroken ridge from northwestern Saline County just west of Little Rock, Arkansas, all the way into eastern Oklahoma. This continuous ridge often has local names for particularly high spots, including Rich Mountain, the second-highest peak in the Ouachitas after Mount Magazine. The ridge is analogous to the Blue Ridge of the Appalachians. The ridge reaches its highest elevations just east of the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. This ridge also forms a watershed divide between the Arkansas River basin to the north and the Red River basin to the south. The ridge is tall enough to affect climate in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma; the land north of the ridge is drier than it would otherwise be, and the land to the south is wetter, due to a rain shadow effect.

Northern Ouachitas - This division includes several disconnected peaks between the Fourche Mountains to the south and the Arkansas River to the north, including Mount Magazine, the highest peak in the Ouachitas. Other notable peaks in this region include Mount Nebo, Cavanal Mountain and the Sans Bois Mountains (Oklahoma), and Sugarloaf Knob (Arkansas and Oklahoma).