Great river valleys and coastal lowlands dominate much of Nigeria, but the massive country -- the most populous in Africa -- also encompasses rolling highlands and scattered, weathered-down mountains. Some of these heights, swathed in grasslands or rich forests, feel worlds away from the thronged cities and towns of the lowlands. They also represent refuges for imperiled ecosystems and wildlife.

Upland plains and highland plateaus constitute the western, northern and eastern portions of Nigeria, rising from the valleys of the Niger and Benue rivers and the coastal plain, which includes the huge Niger Delta. Much of this topographic pattern reflects the ancientness of many of the rock layers -- parts of the old crystalline core of the African continent -- and the long period of erosion and weathering to which they’ve been exposed. The highest terrain lies on the Jos Plateau and the belt of highlands along the Cameroon border.

The Jos Plateau is an isolated highland near the center of Nigeria, and consists of a platform of Precambrian rock strung with younger igneous layers, including basalt flows. The Shere Hills east of the city of Jos crown the plateau, with some peaks rising over 5,400 feet. The plateau’s rimming escarpments, isolated domes and small cinder cones also provide notable relief. Northward the plateau tilts down to the Hausaland plains. The Jos is an important topographic divide, with northward-flowing streams draining to Lake Chad and others part of the Niger-Benue system. Visitors can appreciate the scenery of the plateau at the Wildlife Safari Park a little outside Jos and at Assop Falls, a scenic cataract on the southwestern escarpment.

East of the Jos Plateau across lower plains rises the Bui Plateau, made up of inverted-valley basalt formations. Further east, astraddle Nigeria’s northeastern border with Cameroon, the Mandara Mountains loom to elevations of nearly 5,000 feet. The Mandaras feature striking, semiarid scenery along the international line in the form of volcanic buttes and spires, among the most well-known of which is Rhumsiki Peak.

Some of Nigeria’s highest and most rugged terrain lies on its southeastern and eastern borders with Cameroon, and basically represents extensions of the Cameroon Highlands. Looming from the Gotel Mountains of the Mambilla Plateau is far-flung Chappal Waddi or Gangirwal, which, at about 7,900 feet high, is Nigeria’s loftiest peak. Chappal Waddi lies in the southeastern portion of one of Nigeria’s great ecotourism destinations, Gashaka-Gumti National Park, known for harboring some of the country’s exceedingly rare Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, a unique subspecies. Other portions include the Obudu Plateau and the Oban Hills that edge into the Cross River’s swampy bottom lands.

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