Roughly a half of the NCA lies within the Shropshire Hills AONB. In addition, the region contains two Special Areas of Conservation (The Stiperstones & The Hollies SAC; Downton Gorge SAC) and a national nature reserve (The Stiperstones NNR) as well as 73 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the latter totalling . Its major watercourses are the rivers Corve, Onny, Severn and Teme and the Ledwyche and Rea Brooks. The average elevation is ; the highest point is Brown Clee Hill at .