Interior Highlands

Proposed National ParkArkansas and Oklahoma
Clouds drifting through the wooded ridges of the Ouachitas, with a road along the crest
All proposed National ParksInterior Highlands (Ouachita Mountains)No active campaign
Location
Arkansas/Oklahoma
Current protection
Petit Jean State Park, Talimena Scenic Drive, Mount Magazine State Park
Status
No active campaign
Tier
Tier 1 · National Park
Undiscovered America
Featured in the film and the book

Why should it be a National Park?

"Interior Highlands" is the name collectively given to the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains, which extend from eastern Oklahoma through northern Arkansas to southern Missouri. Although the nearly 4-million-square-mile region is referred to as mountains, it's actually a dissected plateau–an elevated plain whose mountainous features were carved by erosion and waterways. The resulting terrain is made up of hills that roll on for hundreds of miles. The area's unique natural history is characterized by countless rock overhangs and cliffs overlooking rivers, but almost all of these sites are known only to locals. The Ozarks indeed carry some name recognition with most Americans. Still, few know where to find the mountains on a map, and even fewer have considered vacationing in the region.

The Ouachita Mountains remain a hidden gem. The mountains straddle the border of Oklahoma and Arkansas, making up the southernmost section of the highlands. The most stunning portion of this range is the Talimena Scenic Drive, which extends 54 miles over an impressive series of peaks, providing expansive vistas of both states. Talimena is the biggest missed opportunity in National Park history as legislation establishing the area as a National Park was passed by Congress in the 1920s, only to be pocket vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge. This unfortunate action kept the highlands from becoming one of the iconic natural regions in America.

The history of National Park Campaigns

The Ouachita National Park bill is the closest any place on this list came: introduced by Rep. Otis Wingo on December 5, 1927, backed by Sen. Joseph T. Robinson and Republican state Rep. Osro Cobb, opposed by the Park Service (two inspections — Cammerer's, then Roger Toll's 88-page report complaining of snakes and chiggers), reported favorably by the House Public Lands Committee on February 7, 1929, passed by both chambers, and pocket-vetoed by Calvin Coolidge on his last day in office. Elsewhere in the Highlands, the park impulse produced national rivers rather than parks: the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (1964) and the Buffalo National River (1972).

Distinct National Park attempts
1 (Ouachita, 1927–29) + 1 (Buffalo River, 2023, informal) + Ozark (Taum Sauk) proposals in 1933 and 1947 and the 1949 Mount Magazine request
Other designation attempts
Ozark Rivers NM proposal 1959; ONSR 1964; Buffalo NR 1972

Sources

  • House Report 70-2421 (Serial Set 8980)
  • Congressional Record Feb.–Mar. 1929
  • Roger Toll's Ouachita report (NPS/NARA, 1928)
  • Harold Coogan (Mena) collection incl. the 1928 portfolio
  • Osro Cobb, Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs (1989)
  • Encyclopedia of Arkansas entries on the Ouachita NF, Buffalo National River
  • NPS ONSR administrative history
  • National Park Service, Suggested Areas Resumes (1957)
Know of a campaign? Tell us
  1. 1921

    Hot Springs Reservation redesignated Hot Springs National Park — the region's one National Park, and a reason the NPS resisted a second.

  2. April 29, 1926

    Coolidge renames the Arkansas National Forest the Ouachita National Forest and proposes extending it into Oklahoma. (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)

  3. December 5, 1927

    H.R. 5729 (70th Cong.), Rep. Otis Wingo (D-AR), "to establish the Ouachita National Park" — ~160,000–165,000 acres (250 sq mi) between Mena and Glenwood, taking in the headwaters of the Caddo, Cossatot, and Little Missouri; Sen. Robinson's companion (S. 675). Mena, Fort Smith, and Little Rock boosters; a 1928 promotional portfolio. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Tom Dillard, Apr. 26, 2020; AY Magazine)

  4. 1928

    NPS Deputy Director Arno B. Cammerer inspects by train from Mena and reports the park "unacceptable"; NPS then sends Roger Toll, whose 88-page report finds the country "attractive and pretty" but lacking "superlative qualities," and notes "anti-recreational" snakes and chiggers. USDA also opposes. (AY Magazine)

  5. February 7, 1929

    House Report No. 2421 (Mr. Hill of Washington, Committee on the Public Lands) recommends passage of H.R. 5729 with an amendment making the park effective "only when the title to all of the lands within such area and now privately owned shall have been vested in the United States"; the report calls the Ouachitas "the highest range of mountains between the Rocky and Appalachian systems" and says the proposal "is not a local one." (govinfo Serial Set 8980)

  6. February–March 1929

    Congress passes the bill (Senate without a dissenting vote); presented to Coolidge March 1; Osro Cobb meets Coolidge for over an hour; on the morning of March 4, 1929, his last day, Coolidge signs other bills and pocket-vetoes the park. (Senate veto list; Wikipedia, Osro Cobb; Dillard)

  7. December 3, 1930

    Hoover extends the Ouachita National Forest into Le Flore County, Oklahoma — Coolidge's preferred alternative.

  8. 1933

    Proposals begin for an Ozark National Park at Taum Sauk and the Black River valley in Missouri; the Park Service considers them.

  9. 1947

    L. L. Richardson's "Taum Sauk for a National Park" in the Missouri Conservationist revives the idea.

  10. February 1949

    Paris, Arkansas, asks through Sen. J. William Fulbright to move Mount Magazine to the Park Service; the Service replies that it does not qualify.

  11. 1959–1964

    NPS proposes an "Ozark Rivers National Monument" (Current, Jacks Fork, Eleven Point), which Congress converts into the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (P.L. 88-492, Aug. 27, 1964), the first national river.

  12. 1960s–1972

    Corps dams proposed on the Buffalo (Lost Valley/Gilbert); Ozark Society (Neil Compton) fights them; March 1, 1972 — Buffalo National River (P.L. 92-237; Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt, Sens. Fulbright and McClellan).

  13. 2023

    Walton-linked Runway Group explores a "Buffalo River National Park and Preserve"; withdrawn after fierce local opposition (Jasper town hall, Oct. 26, 2023). (2026 inventory)