One of the coolest secrets of the Ozarks is that they aren't mountains made by crashing continents. Instead, imagine a giant, flat cake that was slowly and gently pushed up from below over millions of years. This created a high, flat area called a plateau.

Then, for millions of years, rivers and streams acted like knives, carving deep valleys (called "hollers") into the plateau. So when you drive through the tall, rolling hills, you're actually seeing the beautiful leftovers of an ancient, uplifted world sculpted by water!

Watch the animation above to see how it happened!

The Land of Caves and Springs

Much of the rock here is limestone, which dissolves in rainwater like a giant sugar cube. Over ages, this has created a hidden underground world! This is called karst topography, and it's why the Ozarks are famous for having thousands of amazing caves, sparkling springs, and sinkholes.