high country

noun

1. a mountainous area below the timberline; a forested mountain area.

high country

noun

1. the high country
   sheep pastures in the foothills of the Southern Alps, New Zealand

Other Words From

• high-coun·try [hahy, -kuhn-tree], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of high country¹

First recorded in 1450–1500

Example Sentences

I now find myself routinely leaving for five- to ten-day hunts, chasing everything from high country elk to desert mule deer, and even javelina and turkey.

From Outside Online

In the forested valley where I live, it’s too wet to mountain bike and there’s not yet enough snow in the high country to ski.

From Outside Online

Furthermore, it’s a welcome reminder that the slide from winter to spring to summer in the high country is nutso, totally dynamic and exciting and suspenseful.

From Outside Online

While I avoid the Valley during such madness, it’s the perfect time to escape to the high country near Tuolumne Meadows, where lower temperatures and thinner crowds prevail.

From Outside Online

Now snow blew to twenty-foot drifts in high country, and still the law had no luck.

From The Daily Beast

Stay: Book your stay at the High Sierra Camps, a series of chalets and hiking trails in the high country of the park.

From The Daily Beast

A normal river—in fact, all the greater streams of the earth—originates in high country, generally in a region of mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

We worked down slowly from the high country, takin' it easy an' gatherin' in spoils as we went.

From Project Gutenberg

The faint roll of thunder came down a wind, damp and cool, sucked from the high country.

From Project Gutenberg

After the heat and dust and brown of the lower hills, this high country was inexpressibly grateful.

From Project Gutenberg

Empty levels lay opposite, narrowing up into the high country.

From Project Gutenberg