Geologists from all over the world come to explore Pinnacle Mountain State Park’s unique geological formations, and many have described the park as “pure geographical chaos.”
Pinnacle Mountain, and Little Rock itself, marks the point where various geographic regions in the state collide, including the Arkansas River Valley, Mississippi Alluvial Plains, Gulf Coastal Plains, and the Ouachita Mountains. This creates an extremely diverse landscape.
The mountain also marks the very end of the Ouachita Mountain range, which, unlike most other mountain ranges in the United States, runs east to west rather than north to south.
Pinnacle Mountain was formed when Arkansas was entirely covered by ocean. Upward pressure and the collision of tectonic plates caused the sandstone to thrust up. Its unique appearance is a result of thrust faulting, which often thrusts older rocks in place above younger ones.
Many have commented that Pinnacle Mountain looks like a volcano, but it never was, has been, or will be.