The landscape of the vale is agricultural and consists of narrow lanes winding between farms that lie amongst small fields, old hedgerows, copses and ancient semi-natural woods. The vale is almost wholly surrounded by hills, including Lewesdon Hill (279 m), Dorset's county top, Pilsdon Pen (277 m), Dorset's second highest point and site of an Iron Age hill fort, Lambert's Castle Hill (258 m), also with an Iron Age hill fort and views across the vale, and Hardown Hill (207 m). The vale has escaped wholesale ploughing and large-scale agricultural intensification, leading to a landscape that still contains a wealth of wildlife.