The Cumberland Plateau physiographic section is the most
southerly part of the Appalachian Plateaus province of the
Appalachian Highlands Region. Hereafter called the Cumberland
Plateau, the section is identified by its pattern of relief
features and landforms, which differ significantly from those of
adjacent sections. It occupies about 15 percent of the state and
occurs as a roughly northeast-oriented rectangular area in
central and northeastern Alabama, encompassing mainly Jackson,
DeKalb, Marshall, Blount, Cullman, Winston and Walker counties
and runs into northeastern Georgia and Tennessee. The Cumberland
Plateau borders the Highland Rim section to the north, the
Valley and Ridge province to the southeast, and the Cumberland
Plateau to the southwest [see Figure 1 in Related Links]. The
landscape consists of flat-topped high-elevation plateaus
separated by deep, steep-sided valleys. The plateaus slope
gently from the northeast to the southwest. The highest
elevations are above 1,500 feet in DeKalb and eas