The drier soils of this subsection result in greater fire frequency and more oak dominance than in the other subsections. No natural lakes. The Chippewa, Black, and Baraboo Rivers flow through the subsection.
Soils are silt loams and sandy loams over sandstone on a rolling to steep landscape.
The brushlands were more common in this subsection than anywhere else in Wisconsin. Hemlock, rare this far south in Wisconsin, also occurred on north and east sandstone exposures in the southeast. Fire was important in maintaining oak forest and still more important for maintaining the oak savanna. The brushlands were lands that had recently burnt. Heavy agricultural land use on the ridge tops and in the alluvial valleys.