While the name's usage can be traced to the early part of the 20th century,[1] it was popularized in the 1960s by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as one of six travel destination regions within the state.
Said tourism designation is an 18-county region including Pawnee, Osage, Washington, Nowata, Craig, Ottawa, Delaware, Mayes, Rogers, Creek, Tulsa, Wagoner, Cherokee, Adair, Sequoyah, Muskogee, Okmulgee, and McIntosh counties.
[3] The heavily wooded Ozark Mountains and their foothills dominate most of northeast Oklahoma from the immediate Tulsa vicinity south and eastward towards the Arkansas state line, containing both evergreen pine and deciduous forests.
In its western counties, the far eastern extent of the Great Plains transition to woodlands through the Cross Timbers region.
[citation needed] Northeast Oklahoma has a land area of 13,247 square miles (34,310 km2), comprising 18 entire counties.
[citation needed] Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent micropolitan area of Bartlesville, is grouped together in the (CSA).