The Morrumbala Plateau reaches over 400 meters elevation, descending gently to the north, more sharply to the south and east, and steeply towards the valley of the Shire River to the west.

[1] The Morrumbala escarpment separates the plateau from the Shire and Zambezi lowlands to the west and south.

Moist oceanic air masses moving in from the southeast rise up the mountain slopes and cool, and the moisture in the air condenses and falls as rain, or forms low clouds and morning mists.

The cooler, wetter climate of the mountain sustains several communities of plants and animals, including moist evergreen forests, distinct from the surrounding lowlands.

The Zambezian and mopane woodlands ecoregion lies to the west in the valley of the Shire and Zambezi rivers.