Metropolitan Region

The Metropolitan Region covers the central industrial belt of Alabama, the broad band of counties from the Mississippi line east to the Georgia border. Birmingham anchors the region — the state’s largest city, built where the Appalachian foothills give way to the coastal plain and where iron ore, coal, and limestone supported a steel industry for decades. The terrain runs rolling and hilly along the northern edge, flatter as you move south. Jefferson County holds Birmingham, Hoover, and Bessemer; Tuscaloosa County holds Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama; Calhoun holds Anniston; Etowah holds Gadsden. Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge sits in Bibb County; Talladega National Forest stretches through Bibb, Clay, and Cleburne counties; Talladega Superspeedway draws motorsports traffic. Most visits center on Birmingham. The Civil Rights District, Vulcan Park, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the food scene around Avondale and Lakeview anchor longer stays; day trips reach Tuscaloosa for college football, Anniston for natural history museums, and the Talladega National Forest for hiking and overlook driving.