Ozark Mountains

Also called Ozark Plateau, is a heavily forested group of highlands in the south-central United States, extending southwestward from St. Louis, Mo., to the Arkansas River. The mountains occupy an area of about 50,000 square miles of which 33,000 square miles are in Missouri, 13,000 square miles in northern Arkansas, and the remainder in southern Illinois and southeastern Kansas. The Ozarks and the adjacent Ouachita Mountains represent the only large area of rugged topography between the Appalachians and the Rockies.