Ouachita National Forest
Arkansas
Few people realize that much of the Little Missouri River and the surrounding land nearly became a national park back in the early 1930s. Only a last-minute veto by President Calvin Coolidge stopped the creation of 165,000-acre Ouachita National Park.
Stream in the Ouachita Mountains
The Ouchitas are a sister range to the better known Ozarks to the north. Unlike the flat-topped Ozarks, steep ridges — many of them"hogbacks" — are the rule in the Ouachitas. Visitors willing to travel these rugged areas by foot or horseback will find plenty of solitude and scenic beauty, especially in the wilderness areas. The Caney Creek Wilderness is a steep area of old-growth forest surrounding isolated creek bottomlands. The Flatside Wilderness is named after the Flatside Pinnacle, a soaring 1,550-foot-high rock outcrop. Look up and you'll probably see White Oak Mountain and Forked Mountain. Look around and you'll see a lush pine and hardwood forest that changes seasonally.
This is the land of True Grit, the novel by Charles Portis later made into a movie starring John Wayne. Wild outlaws and hard-working hill country people are a real part of the history and traditions of these mountains, as much as craggy forests and plentiful wildlife.
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