Ouachita Mountains
| Ouachita Mountains | |
|---|---|
The Ouachita Mountains near Caney Creek, Arkansas | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mount Magazine |
| Elevation | 2,753 ft (839 m) |
| Coordinates | 35°10′01″N 93°38′41″W / 35.167016203°N 93.644725919°W |
| Naming | |
| Etymology | Choctaw for "large bison" or "big hunt", or Caddo |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Arkansas and Oklahoma |
| Parent range | U.S. Interior Highlands |
| Borders on | Arkansas Valley (37), Mississippi Alluvial Plain (73), South Central Plains (35) |
The Ouachita Mountains (/ˈwɒʃɪtɔː/), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thrust Belt, one of the important orogenic belts of North America. The Ouachitas continue in the subsurface to the northeast, where they make a poorly understood connection with the Appalachians and to the southwest, where they join with the Marathon uplift area of West Texas. Together with the Ozark Plateaus, the Ouachitas form the U.S. Interior Highlands. The highest natural point is Mount Magazine at 2,753 feet (839 m).
The Ouachita Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The region has been subdivided into six Level IV ecoregions.