The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portion of northern Arkansas and most of the southern half of Missouri, extending from Interstate 40 in central Arkansas to Interstate 70 in central Missouri.
The St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri are a mountain range of Precambrian igneous mountains rising over the Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The name of the range is spelled out as Saint Francois Mountains in official GNIS sources, but it is sometimes misspelled in use as St. Francis Mountains to match the anglicized pronunciation of both the range and St. Francois County.
The St. Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about 426 miles (686 km) long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. The river drains a mostly rural area and forms part of the Missouri-Arkansas state line along the western side of the Missouri Bootheel.
The Ozark Trail is a hiking, backpacking, and, in many places, biking and equestrian trail under construction in the Missouri Ozarks in the United States. It is intended to reach from St. Louis to Arkansas. Over 350 miles (563 km) of the trail have been completed as of 2008, and the estimated length when finished will be at least 500 miles (805 km). When joined to the Ozark Highlands Trail in Arkansas, the full hiking distance from end to end will be at least 700 miles (1,127 km), not including a large loop through the St. Francois Mountains in Missouri.
The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant is a power station in the St. Francois mountain region of Missouri, United States about 90 miles (140 km) south of St. Louis near Lesterville, Missouri, in Reynolds County. It is operated by Ameren Missouri.
Taum Sauk Mountain in the Saint Francois Mountains is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Missouri at 1,772 feet . The topography of Taum Sauk is that of an elongated ridge with a NNW-SSE orientation rather than a peak.
Route 49 is a highway in eastern Missouri. Its northern terminus is at Route 19 in Cherryville, and its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 67 five miles (8 km) east of Williamsville.
Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) is a U.S. National Forest located in the southern half of Missouri, composed of nine disconnected parcels. MTNF was established on September 11, 1939. It is named for author Mark Twain, a Missouri native. The MTNF covers 3,068,800 acres (12,419 km2) of which 1,506,100 acres (6,095 km2) is public owned, 78,000 acres (320 km2) of which are Wilderness, and National Scenic River area. MTNF spans 29 counties and represents 11% of all forested land in Missouri. MTNF's nine tracts are divided into six distinct ranger districts: Ava-Cassville-Willow Springs, Eleven Point, Houston-Rolla, Cedar Creek, Poplar Bluff, Potosi-Fredericktown, and the Salem. Its headquarters are in Rolla, Missouri.
A shut-in is a type of rock formation found in streams in the Ozarks, comprising pools, rivulets, rapids and plunge pools. The term has an origin in Appalachia.
Ameren Corporation is an American power company created December 31, 1997, by the merger of Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company of Springfield, Illinois. It is now a holding company for several power companies and energy companies. The company is based in St. Louis, with 2.4 million electric, and 900,000 natural gas customers across 64,000 square miles in central and eastern Missouri and the southern four-fifths of Illinois by area.
Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park is a public recreation area covering 9,432 acres (3,817 ha) on the East Fork Black River in Reynolds County, Missouri. The state park is jointly administered with adjoining Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, and together the two parks cover more than sixteen thousand acres in the St. Francois Mountains region of the Missouri Ozarks.
The United States Congress designated the Bell Mountain Wilderness in 1980. The wilderness area now has a total of 9,027 acres (36.53 km2). Bell Mountain is located within the Potosi-Fredericktown Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest, south of Potosi, Missouri in the United States. The wilderness lies in the Saint Francois Mountains and it was named after its highest point, Bell Mountain. The namesake Bell Mountain has the name of Henry Bell, a pioneer settler. The Bell Mountain Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas protected and preserved in Missouri. The area is popular for hiking as there are 12 miles (19 km) of trail, including a section of the Ozark Trail.
Sam A. Baker State Park is a public recreation area encompassing 5,323 acres (2,154 ha) in the Saint Francois Mountains region of the Missouri Ozarks. The state park offers fishing, canoeing, swimming, camping, and trails for hiking and horseback riding. The visitor and nature center is housed in a historic building that was originally constructed as a stable in 1934. Twenty-five buildings and five structures comprise the Sam A. Baker State Park Historic District, a national historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
St. Joe State Park is a public recreation area consisting of 8,243 acres (3,336 ha) on the south side of Park Hills, Missouri, along the flanks of the Saint Francois Mountains. The state park includes the Missouri Mines State Historic Site with its former St. Joe Minerals mill buildings and museum of geology and mining. The park features a 2,000-acre (810 ha) off-road vehicle (ORV) riding area located on the old lead mine tailings dumps, camping facilities, and trails for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding.
Arcadia Valley is a valley in the St. Francois Mountains of the Ozark Plateau in Iron County, Missouri, United States. Located about 80 miles south of St. Louis, the valley includes the towns of Arcadia, Ironton and Pilot Knob, all founded in the 19th century.
The U.S. Interior Highlands is a mountainous region in the Central United States spanning northern and western Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Illinois. The name is designated by the United States Geological Survey to refer to the combined subregions of the Ouachita Mountains south of the Arkansas River and the Ozark Plateaus north of the Arkansas. The U.S. Interior Highlands is one of few mountainous regions between the Appalachians and Rockies.
The Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry is a 60,000-acre (243 km2) area of private land that is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for hiking and backpacking by the public. The land is part of the largest private forest in the state, the Pioneer Forest, owned by the L-A-D Foundation, an endowment of the late Missouri timber magnate, conservationist, and philanthropist Leo Drey (1917–2015).
Taum Sauk Creek is a stream in Iron and Reynolds Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri.
Jay Nixon Backcountry is an undeveloped state park primarily located in Reynolds County, Missouri, with a 100-acre segment in Iron County. The property lies adjacent to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park and borders Ketcherside Conservation Area. The property is not open to the public. The park is named for governor Jay Nixon under whom several new Missouri state parks were added.
