Mount Magazine, officially named Magazine Mountain, is the highest point of the U.S. Interior Highlands and the U.S. state of Arkansas, and is the site of Mount Magazine State Park.[3] It is a flat-topped mountain or mesa capped by hard rock and rimmed by precipitous cliffs. There are two summits atop the mountain: Signal Hill, which reaches 2,753 feet (839 m), and Mossback Ridge, which reaches 2,700 ft (823 m).
| Mount Magazine | |
|---|---|
 Looking west from Mount Magazine's Cameron Bluff (October 2013) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,753 ft (839 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 2,143 ft (653 m)[2] |
| Listing | |
| Coordinates | 35°10′01″N 93°38′41″W / 35.167016203°N 93.644725919°W[1] |
| Geography | |
  Mount Magazine | |
| Location | Logan County, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Parent range | Ouachita Mountains, U.S. Interior Highlands |
| Topo map | USGS Blue Mountain |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Paved road |
Mount Magazine is often called "the highest point between the Alleghenies and the Rockies" (there are mountains located in the Trans-Pecos region of far-west Texas which exceed Mount Magazine in elevation and prominence, although the Trans-Pecos region lies so far south of the Rockies, that region arguably lies not "between" the Allegheny Mountains and the Rocky Mountains).
Etymology
editAccording to English botanist Thomas Nuttall, writing in 1819, French hunters named the mountain "Magazine" or "Barn" (French magasin) because of its "peculiar form".[4][5] However, today some scholars believe Nuttall may have been writing about nearby Mount Nebo, and what is today called Mount Magazine was labeled "Castete Mt" on Nuttall's maps.[6]
Location
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Mount Magazine is located due north of Blue Mountain Lake in Logan County, Arkansas, approximately 45 mi (72 km) east of the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. The most scenic route to the top is a 10 mi (16 km) drive along Highway 309 (also known as the Mount Magazine Scenic Byway) from Havana.
Physiographically, Mount Magazine is part of the Frontal Ouachita Mountains, and is part of the Arkansas River Valley ecoregion.[7] It lies within a southern extension of the Ozark National Forest close to the Ouachita National Forest.
Climate
editThe climate is very different from the typical climate of Arkansas state as temperatures remain 10 degrees cooler than normal temperatures in the valleys. The annual average temperature is 56 °F. The park gets 54 inches of rainfall every year, and due to the low clouds, there is fog and limited visibility all year for eight days each month.[8]
Summer
editThe summer temperature very rarely reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit on the mountaintop and the hottest average temperature during the summer in the park is 90 degrees Fahrenheit.[8]
Winter
editThe mountain has limited forest due to the harsh weather during the wintertime. Normal conditions like frost, sleet, hail, snow, and freezing rain can cause the limbs of trees to snap. Higher up on the mountain, frost flowers, ice crystals, hoarfrost, rime ice, and freezing fog can occur.
| Climate data for Mount Magazine, 1948–1966 normals and extremes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 76 (24) |
71 (22) |
80 (27) |
89 (32) |
94 (34) |
100 (38) |
104 (40) |
105 (41) |
98 (37) |
92 (33) |
78 (26) |
76 (24) |
105 (41) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 44.8 (7.1) |
48.6 (9.2) |
54.1 (12.3) |
66.6 (19.2) |
74.1 (23.4) |
82.3 (27.9) |
85.3 (29.6) |
84.9 (29.4) |
78.9 (26.1) |
68.8 (20.4) |
55.2 (12.9) |
47.5 (8.6) |
65.9 (18.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 27.3 (−2.6) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
34.7 (1.5) |
46.7 (8.2) |
56.7 (13.7) |
63.9 (17.7) |
66.9 (19.4) |
66.4 (19.1) |
59.8 (15.4) |
50.5 (10.3) |
37.5 (3.1) |
30.8 (−0.7) |
47.6 (8.7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −9 (−23) |
−7 (−22) |
2 (−17) |
21 (−6) |
28 (−2) |
43 (6) |
53 (12) |
51 (11) |
39 (4) |
21 (−6) |
0 (−18) |
−5 (−21) |
−9 (−23) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.94 (100) |
4.06 (103) |
5.38 (137) |
5.74 (146) |
6.24 (158) |
4.53 (115) |
6.25 (159) |
4.41 (112) |
3.85 (98) |
3.49 (89) |
3.47 (88) |
2.56 (65) |
53.92 (1,370) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 2.2 (5.6) |
2.5 (6.4) |
0.7 (1.8) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.7 (1.8) |
0.7 (1.8) |
6.8 (17.4) |
| Source: Western Regional Climate Center[9] | |||||||||||||
Geology
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As the South American plate collided with the North American plate during the late Paleozoic, a major foreland basin, the Arkoma Basin, developed north of the Ouachita Mountains.[10] Small grains of sediment that had filled the Arkoma Basin were compacted and cemented into sedimentary rock.[10] As the land rose above sea level, small streams developed that eventually merged into the Arkansas River.[11] After millions of years of erosion, synclines like Mount Magazine have become the most positive topographic features; this phenomenon is the result of the rapid weathering of shales once sandstones were breached on the flanks of surrounding anticlines.[12]
Mount Magazine is a broad mesa composed of Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks deposited in various shallow-water environments.[13] Like many mountains in the western Arkansas River Valley, Mount Magazine is capped by the Savanna Formation, a sequence of shale, siltstone, and sandstone; the upper portion of this sequence is missing throughout most of Arkansas.[13] The Savanna Formation is conformable with the underlying McAlester Formation, a sequence of shale, siltstone, sandstone, and several coal beds.[13] The McAlester Formation is conformable with the underlying Hartshorne Sandstone, a prominent ledge-former under favorable structural conditions.[13] The Hartshorne Sandstone is unconformable with the underlying Atoka Formation. This unit has the largest areal extent of any of the Paleozoic formations in Arkansas, extending as far north as the Boston Mountains, and is divided into upper, middle, and lower members.[13][7]
Nature & Attractions
editMount Magazine promotes environmental conservation through an Eco-friendly nature attraction that allows visitors to explore nature.[14] It also consists of 18 campsites for nature-lovers.[15] An annual butterfly festival is hosted each June in the Paris town square.[16]
Animals
editThe park is home to many species including the shagreen snail, black bear, white-tailed deer, rufous-crowned sparrows (rare), and 94 of the 134 butterfly species of Arkansas. The rarest butterfly species is the Diana Fritillary.[17]
Activities
editActivities include the following: hiking, biking, bird watching, horseback riding, hang gliding, rappelling, rock climbing, sightseeing, and photography.[14] ATV riding is also allowed as there is a guide to the activity.[15]
See also
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References
edit- ^ a b "MAG". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ "Magazine Mountain, Arkansas". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
- ^ "Mount Magazine State Park". Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- ^ Nuttall, Thomas (1821). A Journal of Travels Into the Arkansas Territory: During the Year 1819. With Occasional Observations on the Manners of the Aborigines. Illustrated by a Map and Other Engravings. Philadelphia: Thos. H. Palmer. p. 123.
- ^ Branner, John C. (Feb 1899). "Some Old French Place Names in the State of Arkansas". Modern Language Notes. 14 (2): 33–40. doi:10.2307/2917686. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t7zk5pr7p. JSTOR 2917686. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 6 Nov 2021.
- ^ Cody Lynn, Berry (26 Feb 2020). "Mount Magazine". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 6 Nov 2021.
- ^ a b "Geologic Map of Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Geological Survey. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
- ^ a b "Mount Magazine Weather | Arkansas State Parks". www.arkansasstateparks.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "MT MAGAZINE, ARKANSAS (035010)". Western Regional Climate Center. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- ^ a b Morris, R.C. (1974). "Sedimentary and Tectonic History of the Ouachita Mountains". The Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publications. 22.
- ^ "The Geologic History of Mount Magazine" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- ^ "Stratigraphic Summary of the Arkansas River Valley and Ouachita Mountains". Arkansas Geological Survey. Archived from the original (website) on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
- ^ a b c d e "Geologic Map of Mount Magazine State Park and Vicinity" (PDF). Arkansas Geological Survey. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
- ^ a b "Mount Magazine Birding & Wildlife | Arkansas State Parks". www.arkansasstateparks.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
- ^ a b "Mt Magazine State Park of Arkansas | Explore the Ozarks". www.exploretheozarksonline.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
External links
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Media related to Mount Magazine at Wikimedia Commons