The Cumberland Mountains, or The Cumberlands, follow the general trend of the Appalachian Mountains southwest-to-northeast across the eastern U.S. travelling through adjoining parts of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.
To the south, the Cumberlands extend toward the Smokies; to the north, they adjoin the Alleghenies in eastern West Virginia extend northwestward to the Poconos in Pennsylvania.
The range may best be known as a forest. Its mountains are not high but are many. The region is part of a larger Appalachian highland area dissected by innumerable small streams and deep valleys. The land is largely in a forest.
The Alleghenies as a defining mountain range
In West Virginia, most of the highest reaches in the range are located in southwestern West Virginia
The highest summits in the range in West Virginia are found along the adjoining upland drainages of the Coal and Guyandotte river in southern West Virginia
