Geography

The Metroplex overlooks mostly prairie land with a few rolling hills dotted by man-made lakes cut by streams, creeks and rivers surrounded by forest land. The Metroplex is situated in the Texas blackland prairies region named for the fertile black soil suitable for growing cotton and other crops especially the rural areas of Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.

Many areas of Denton, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties are located in the Fort Worth Prairie region of North Texas which has a different soil type from that of the Texas blackland prairie making it less fertile and more rocky. Consequently, most of the rural land on the Fort Worth Prairie is used as ranch land. A large onshore natural gas field, the Barnett Shale, lies underneath this area causing many to construct natural gas wells on their land especially in Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties. While new development is replacing crop fields, it is still common to see crop fields surrounded by developed residential or commercial land.

South of Dallas and Fort Worth is a line of rugged hills that goes north to south about 15 miles (24 km) that looks similar to the Texas Hill Country 200 miles (320 km) to the south.