Generally, the soils are highly leached, low in ertility, and strongly acid. Most are well drained or moderately well drained, but tracts of poorly drained soils are common on the bottoms, terraces, and depressional areas in the uplands. Good quality cropland is mainly on the bottoms and terraces which are intensively cultivated for soybeans, corn, cotton, and hay. In the uplands, suitable cropland is in small tracts on hilltops and upland flats. Control of erosion is a major concern.
Deep gullies are common on some of the hillsides.
The Highland Rim is the largest soil region in Tennessee. It is predominantly undulating to hilly in the eastern, northern, and southern parts. The western part is more dissected and ranges form hilly to steep except for a few isolated gently rolling plains near the towns of Lawrenceburg, Hohenwald, and Dickson. In some places especially in the eastern and northern parts, there are many limestone sinks. Limestone, much of it cherty, underlies all of the Highland Rim.