Arkansas is home to beautiful mountain ranges like the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains. These ancient uplifts contain rich mysteries and stories in their peaks and valleys. Riddles allow us to think creatively about our surroundings. They reveal hidden facets of reality through metaphor and analogy.
In this article, we have collected 46 riddles about the mountains of Arkansas, along with their answers. Some touch on geology and ecology, while others focus on the history and culture of the region. Each one provides a unique perspective on the Natural State’s iconic highlands.
Solving these riddles requires logic, imagination, and knowledge about the local terrain. It’s a fun way to sharpen your wits while appreciating the wonder of mountains!
1. What has fingers but still can’t braid hair?
Mountain streams rushing over rocks. The white water flows resemble hands with outstretched fingers, but of course it can’t actually braid hair or anything like that.
2. When is a hill most lively and quick?
When it’s being mined for resources. The mining process brings energy and activity to what was previously a quiet, uninhabited area.
3. What runs but never walks, murmurs but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, and has a mouth but never eats?
A river. Rivers flow swiftly, bubble and murmur as they go over rocks and rapids, have a riverbed, and are often referred to as feeding into something or having a river mouth, but they don’t literally eat or sleep. Many rivers run through the valleys and gulches between Arkansas’s mountains.
4. What natural wonder in Arkansas looks like a grand castle entrance?
Whitaker Point in the Ozark Mountains is often called the “Gateway to the Ozarks” because its dramatic cliffs and views make it look like the huge doorway into a giant mountain castle.
5. I’m sturdy and might reach to the heavens, but I’m not alive. Wind and water shape me forever. What am I?
A mountain. Mountains have peaks that seem to touch the sky, are made of hard bedrock that withstands erosion, but are not living beings. Wind, rain, ice and rivers constantly mold and reshape them over eons.
6. What has a bottom at the top?
A valley between two mountain peaks. From down in the valley, you see the surrounding mountaintops high above, so the “bottom” of the mountains appears to be at the top from that vantage point.
7. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name. Your name belongs to you but others use it more frequently than you do when they call you, talk about you, etc. This references the many mountains, valleys and other places in Arkansas named after early settlers or towns, rather than any inherent qualities of the location itself.
8. What gets broken every time it’s spoken?
Silence. The quiet tranquility of the mountains gets disturbed whenever someone starts talking loudly.
9. If you have me, you’ll want to share me. If you share me, you’ll no longer have me. What am I?
A secret. The solitude and remoteness of places like the Ouachita Mountains often inspires people to confide their secrets in friends. But they’re no longer secrets once shared.
10. David’s father has three sons: Snap, Crackle and _____?
David. Since David is one of the sons, his name fills in the blank to the classic riddle. There are no Crunch-brand mountains in Arkansas as far as I know!
11. What famous Ozark Mountain landmark occasionally puts on rainbow-colored displays?
Whitaker Point. On days with plentiful moisture and sun, you can sometimes glimpse miniature rainbows arcing through the mist kicked up by the wind blowing across this dramatic clifftop overlook.
12. What has to be broken before it can be used?
Stone from the mountain itself. Quarries in the Ozarks and Ouachitas must blast, crush and break down rock before it can used for building, roads or other construction projects.
13. What adequate Ozark peak sounds like an affirmation?
Magazine Mountain. The name of Arkansas’s highest point does seem to suggest a positive vote, similar to saying “aye!”
14. What famous mountaineer pioneered rock climbing in the 1960s at Magazine Mountain and other peaks in Arkansas?
Jim Smith AKA “Handhold Smith” perfected his unique grip-focused climbing technique and established many new free climb routes still popular today.
15. What cry can you hear among the remote Ouachita ridges that signifies bad weather coming?
A panther’s screeching cry. These big cats live in the densely forested Ouachitas and their haunting calls supposedly predict storms a brewing.
16. If you drop me from the mountains, I’ll crack into many pieces. But you can’t break me with just your hands. What am I?
Stone. Rocks tumbling down the mountainside will fracture apart, but usually you can’t break solid stone using just your bare grip.
17. What precious Ouachita crystals can only be found inside dark, hidden pockets beneath the earth?
Quartz crystals. Arkansas quartz formed underground in small geodes long ago and is still uncovered by miners today.
18. I’m sometimes white, sometimes black. I’m surrounded by craggy walls. What am I?
A valley. Encircled by peaks and ridgelines, the open area of a valley can look drastically different depending on the weather and seasons – bright when snow covers the ground, or dark when rain soaks the valley floor.
19. Where in the Ozarks can you stand and split a river with your hands?
At the exact watershed boundary between two drainages along a mountain ridge. If you straddle the subtle divide you can theoretically make water flow two opposite ways with a wave of your hands.
20. When challenged by the steep and rocky bluffs, what trailblazing 19th century pioneer said “I cannot go any further without drinking water.”?
Teresa Bagwell, who led the Bagwell Wagon Train west across Arkansas in the 1840s. Where wagons struggled, modern hikers now follow parts of her trail.
21. What precious material allegedly causes compasses and clocks to fail atop certain Rich Mountain peaks?
Fool’s Gold. Legends say pockets of iron pyrite, also known as fool’s gold, interfere with navigational devices on parts of Rich Mountain.
22. Which long-abandoned 1800’s settlement deep in the Ouachita forest did some settlers believe was cursed, leading to its downfall?
The lost Boles Silver Mining Colony fell on hard times after only a few years when several children died mysteriously. Some families fled the region, convinced evil spirits haunted the remote woods.
23. If you hike due east from Sitting Bull Falls at dawn, what is the first sign of civilization you’ll encounter?
Arkansas Highway 72 winding through the Ouachita slopes. Native American namesake Sitting Bull Falls remains wonderfully secluded, but following the sun and terrain leads to this winding road after several miles.
24. How can you locate a secret mountain moonshiner’s stash hidden long ago in Pecan Hollow?
Follow the old turkey trails on the south slope. Folklore says illegal whiskey from the 1920s Prohibition era waits where wild turkeys, pecans, and drinkers converge! But no proof exists of this elusive hideaway.
25. Which Mount Magazine overlook hosts an annual New Year’s eve festival to watch the sunrise?
Cameron Bluff hosts the annual Mount Magazine Midnight Starlight Celebration. Partygoers ring in the new year watching fireworks and the first Ozark sunrise from this scenic perch.
26. What eerie natural formation resembles an impossibly balanced boulder in Devil’s Den State Park?
Balanced Rock is a precariously perched 55-foot tall pedestal rock left behind after erosion swept the surrounding material away. It seems like the slightest touch could knock it over, but the immense rock has stood for ages against the odds.
27. Where can you visit the grave of a notorious 1800’s outlaw known for stealing horses and hiding out in remote mountain caves?
A bare plot in Old Jenny Lind cemetery bears Frank James’ name, though rumors persist the famous James gang member faked his death and truly lies elsewhere in the rugged Ozark hills.
28. Which Arkansas mountains harbor natural springs believed to contain water purified by a gemstone deep underground?
Mount Ida’s tiny city park contains the Healing Springs, flowing crystal clear from the Ouachita Mountains. Some believe trace amounts of quartz imbue the refreshing water with special properties.
29. What mountain valley namesake has two someday sweethearts patiently waiting for a chance date?
Romance Valley tucked behind Gaither Mountain got its lover’s moniker when two separate early homesteads were named His Place and Her Place by hopeful singles whose courtship was not meant to be.
30. Why do they say at dusk you can still hear the engines of long-gone settler wagon trains circling the bases of Rich and Black Fork Mountains?
Whip-poor-wills! Their haunting cries resembling sputtering ghost engines echo through the valleys as these nocturnal birds take flight at twilight.
31. Which twin mountain summits protecting the abandoned settlement of Rush offered westward pioneers a familiar miner’s welcome?
Twin Knobs rise above the ghost town named for the nearby Buffalo River. As covered wagons arrived, this area’s valuable zinc deposits had just been tapped much like during the 1849 Gold Rush.
32. What rare occasion allegedly awakens the spirits haunting Rich Mountain’s Rush Historic District each year?
On August 14th, Rush’s date of foundation in 1880, eerie lights appear low amongst the abandoned buildings while faint music echoes through the valley according to legend.
33. Which route did Civil War bushwhackers use to sneak through the Ozarks and raid Union sympathizers near Fayetteville in the 1860s?
Locals say “Gunter’s Trail” ran from Pelsor Hollow out to Woolsey Valley over ridges and the White River named after Paul Gunter, leader of these pro-Confederacy guerrillas.
34. In fall, Meeting Place Spring situated west of Pelsor Bluff reliably indicates winter’s severity by the density of what natural construction?
By observing thickness of active local beaver dams, trappers can predict challenge of the coming season. Generations have passed down this trick for anticipating Ozark weather based on wildlife ingenuity.
35. Where would an eccentric collector find Arkansas’ highest waterfall that only flows intermittently after heavy snow melt?
Clark Creek’s 200-foot tall Clark Falls appears occasionally in the Ozark National Forest south of Booneville. Melted snow cascades over the bluff line in spring to create this transient cataract.
36. When doomed Confederate soldiers crossed the namesake pass through Rich Mountain, pursuing Union cavalry heard only silence due to what acoustic anomaly?
The unusual bend of Blackfork Hollow prevents echoes from carrying its length. Thus Union listeners noticed no sounds of their quarry’s movement through the valley’s muted acoustics.
37. Which valley crossing the Ouachitas westward could enable one to follow a single stream from mountain crest down to crystal blue springs?
From high on Irons Fork Mountain, tiny Caney Creek winds down the wooded valley, growing as tributaries join until merging waters form secluded Ripshin Springs.
38. Spaniards set out from today’s Midway up the Fourche valley in 1543 chasing rumors of what, finding silver instead?
Seeking the Fountain of Youth, explorer Hernando de Soto discovered America’s first silver deposits in the Ouachitas. But his expedition met tragedy, and the precious metal lay long undiscovered by others.
39. Why were Ozark hills along the historic Trail of Tears named Six Dead Indians, and what was the actual fate of those Cherokee?
Though no bodies were found, the Six Bulls clan vanished without a trace from their camp along the forced migration route. Some claim their spirits still wander the area mourning injustice.
40. Which seasonally flooded Ozark hollow swarmed by mosquitos gave settlers malaria, inspiring folk remedies using what aromatic herb?
Fever Hollow’s summer “skeeters” bred disease until mountain folk found milder chills folled ingesting nativeRosemary leaves and their fragrant oil.
41. What tragedy occurred at Spadra Bluff on January 9, 1861 involving a famous Arkansan that some claim sparked the Civil War?
Senator Solon Borland’s confrontation with abolitionist publisher James S. Bouldin ended violently with Borland’s pistol firing the possibly unintended first casualty shot of the impending conflict.
42. When temperatures drop below zero atop Magazine Mountain, what phenomenon appears around the radio towers?
Ghostly circles of light dance eerily through the darkness, giving the peak an alien atmosphere in winter’s depths. These luminous halos actually form due to diffraction of radio waves in the frozen mountain air.
43. Prospectors at Gold Mountain just west of Mena temporarily struck it rich mining what in 1897 before reserves petered out?
Originally promising precious metal lured miners to the Ouachita hills. But gleaming iron pyrite “fool’s gold” only yielded short term prosperity before claims were abandoned.
44. Spaniard Hernando de Soto reached the Ouachitas in 1541 chasing legends of what, instead finding only brief glory and sickness?
Seeking gold and the Fountain of Youth, his expedition met hardship. But before dying of fever, de Soto became first European to glimpse the Mississippi River. His ambition changed continent’s fate while costing his life.
45. Why do some say Old Mike based at Rich Mountain battled Unionists not for Confederacy, but to defend what personally?
Local legend claims this Rebel guerilla put politics aside, fighting invaders not over succession but because his family’s mountaintop still hid secret, untouched silver lode discovered circa 1800.
46. What Ozark county’s Boat Mountain reportedly hiding Civil War bandit treasure has the state’s second highest fatality rate despite modern safety precautions?
Notorious for deadly incidents given modern gear, Boating Accident Mountain hosts many rescue attempts still seeking its phantom rebel gold stash near summit cliffs today.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading these 46 riddles about Arkansas’s mountains. They provide some creative clues into the region’s ecology, history and culture with metaphorical hints designed to make you think from different angles. Solving riddles is useful mental exercise, while learning these tiny snippets of local folklore expands your perspective. Most importantly, may the mysteries and stories hidden within Arkansas’s highlands inspire you to keep exploring our world with an inquisitive spirit!
