The term Palo Pinto Mountains properly refers to a specific

cuesta A cuesta () is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology, the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer, the whole being tilted somew ...

-like range of hills in western

Palo Pinto County Palo Pinto County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 28,409. The county seat is Palo Pinto, Texas, Palo Pinto. The county was created in 1 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The name ''Palo Pinto'' roughly translates to "painted stick" in reference to the

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

trees of the area. Isolated, rugged, and scenic, the ridge extends some 15 miles, from near the intersection of

Texas State Highway 16 State Highway 16 (SH 16) is a south–north state highway in Texas, United States. that runs from Zapata on the boundary with Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the norther ...

and

Farm to Market Road 207 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

in the southwest, to Crawford Mountain just south of the Fortune Bend on the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

in the northeast. The Palo Pinto Mountains are located in, and form part of, the Carbonate Cross Timbers, a level IV

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

defined by the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

. However, the term "Palo Pinto Mountains" is also used colloquially to refer to a much larger area, essentially the entire portion of the much more extensive Western Cross Timbers located north of

I-20 I20, I 20 or I-20 may refer to: * Interstate 20, a highway in the southeastern United States * I-20 (form), a United States government document that provides supporting information for the issuance of a student visa or change of status * I-20 (rap ...

. The mountains have been called a northern extension of the

Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

, and indeed they are both

dissected plateau A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded, and the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of fold (geology), ...

s featuring

karst topography Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

with similar vegetation, including post oak (''

Quercus stellata ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistan ...

''), blueberry juniper (''

Juniperus ashei ''Juniperus ashei'' (Ashe juniper, mountain cedar, blueberry juniper, post cedar, or just cedar) is a drought-tolerant evergreen tree, native from northeastern Mexico and the south-central United States to southern Missouri. The largest areas are ...

''), and

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

. The smaller Carbonate Cross Timbers also has a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

, as does the Hill Country, although the surrounding Western Cross Timbers area is underlain by

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, instead. The high point of the range depends on which definition used; if referring to the specific line of hills, the high point is Crawford Mountain at the north end, with an elevation of and about of

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

. If referring to the broader hilly region, however, the highest point is the unnamed high point of Stephens County, at .

Human habitation and access

Using the broader colloquial definition of the Palo Pinto Mountains, they cover all of

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

and Palo Pinto Counties, most of Stephens County, large parts of Parker, Montague, and Wise Counties, and smaller portions of

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

Cooke Cooke is a surname of English and Irish origin derived from the occupation of cook and anglicisation of various Gaelic names. Variants include Cook and McCook. Irish surname origin Cooke (rather than Cook) is the usual spelling of the surnam ...

, and

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

Counties. This area includes the towns of Bowie (on the northwestern fringe), Graham, Jacksboro,

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

, Decatur (on the eastern edge), Breckenridge, Mineral Wells, and Springtown. It also includes

Possum Kingdom Lake Possum Kingdom Lake (popularly known as P.K.), is a reservoir on the Brazos River located primarily in Palo Pinto County, TX, Palo Pinto County Texas. It was the first water supply reservoir constructed in the Brazos River basin. The lake has ...

and its

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

as well as a new state park, not yet open to the public, acquired by the state in 2011. Using the strict definition of the Palo Pinto Mountains, the only road that crosses the range is

US 180 U.S. Route 180 is an east–west United States highway. Like many three-digit routes, US 180 no longer meets its "parent", US 80. US 80 was decommissioned west of Mesquite, Texas, and was replaced in Texas by Interstate 20 and Interstate 1 ...

, which enters from the east at a

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *El Paso, Texas, a city which translates to "The Pass" * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see Li ...

known as Metcalf Gap, although State Highway 16 south of US 180 runs adjacent to the eastern

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

of the cuesta. Speaking of the broader region, however,

US 380 U.S. Route 380 (US 380) is an east–west United States highway. The highway's eastern terminus is in Greenville, Texas at an intersection with Interstate 30, of which the easternmost 3–4 miles are concurrent with US 69 in a loop around ...

and State Highway 114 traverse the area's northern fringes, and

US 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, ...

runs north-south through the region; State Highway 59 also runs through the northeastern portion. Numerous farm-to-market (FM) roads, most notably FM 4, also cross the area.

References

{{Mountains of Texas Mountain ranges of Texas Landforms of Palo Pinto County, Texas