Cumberland Plateau

Cumberland Plateau or Cumberland Mountains, southwestern division of the Appalachian Mt. system, extending northeast to southwest through parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee into N Alabama. Black Mt., Ky., is the highest point (4,145 ft/1,263 m). On the east the plateau rises sharply from the Great Valley of E Tennessee; on the west the slope is rough and broken. The plateau is the source of the Cumberland River and several tributaries of the Tennessee. The surrounding region, which is sparsely populated, yields various minerals, such as coal, limestone, and sandstones. The region is also laden with trees, and the forests make for an important resource. There are some agricultural subsistence settlements in the area. Cumberland Gap provides a natural passage through the Cumberland Mts., a ridge of the plateau.

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Cumberland Plateau

Tableland in the U.S. that forms the western section of the Appalachian Mountains and a part of the Allegheny Plateau. It extends southwest for 450 mi (725 km) from southern West Virginia to northeastern Alabama, averages 50 mi (80 km) in width, and is 2,000–4,145 ft (600–1,263 m) high. The roughest and highest portion is a narrow ridge about 140 mi (225 km) long that forms its eastern margin in eastern Kentucky and northeastern Tennessee; the name Cumberland Mountains is generally applied to this area, which includes the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The plateau has large deposits of coal, limestone, and sandstone.