The highest point in the metropolitan area is Cannon County's Short Mountain, a monadnock that is an outlier of the Cumberland Plateau.

The region is characterized by a combination of uneven rolling hills and relatively level plains, and is underlain with porous sedimentary bedrock such as limestone, sandstone, and shale, which form karst.

[6] A small portion of the southern part of the metropolitan area, including most of Maury County, is within the drainage basin of the Tennessee River.

[8] The Nashville metropolitan area is one of the most biodiverse inland regions in the United States, and is home to extremely rare ecosystems known as cedar glades, which are found in areas with shallow limestone bedrock that is largely barren of overlying soil, and are also one of the most endangered ecosystems in the nation, due to the rapid growth of the region.

Within the metro area, I-40 serves a suburban corridor that consists of the eastern neighborhoods of Nashville, including Donelson and Hermitage, and the cities of Mount Juliet and Lebanon.

I-24 serves the suburban areas of Antioch, La Vergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro to the southeast, which is both the most populated and, in general, is the most congested corridor in the region.

State Route 155 (SR 155, Briley Parkway) is a freeway that bypasses downtown Nashville to the north and provides access to a number of tourist attractions including the Grand Ole Opry.