ROCKY MOUNTAINS
The Arkansas River arises in the shadow of Colorado’s Mt Elbert, highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. We then see the Arkansas glide SSE along the base of the Sawatch Range, turn left at the Sangre de Cristo Mtns, and exit the Rockies by way of Royal Gorge, just above Cañon City.
GREAT PLAINS
From Royal Gorge, Colorado to Muskogee, Oklahoma, the Arkansas crosses the Great Plains, and drops nearly one mile in elevation.
From Wichita to Tulsa, watch the river thread its way around the Flint Hills (Osage Hills in Oklahoma).
MOUNTAINS AND BOTTOMLAND
Below Muskogee, the Arkansas River slips between the Boston Mtns, highest region of the Ozarks, and the Ouachita Mtns, parent range of Arkansas state highpoint, Magazine Mtn. Below Littlerock, the Arkansas meanders across flat, mostly non-forested bottomland, and ends its four-state journey at the Mississippi.
