This plateau, however, is not a plain, but contains many buttes and mesas and isolated mountain ranges rising from 1000 to 8000 ft.
The open plains, "mesas," and plateaus of the north support large herds of cattle, and several cattle ranches have been established on the Meta and its tributaries.
Finally, Pinar del Rio is dominated by a prominent mountain range and by outlying piedmont hills and mesas.
In its lowest portions just behind the front ranges are the natural "parks" - great plateaus basined by superb enclosing ranges; and to the west of these, and between them, and covering the remainder of the state east of the plateau region, is an entanglement of mountains, tier above tier, running from north to south, buttressed laterally with splendid spurs, dominated by scores of magnificent peaks, cut by river valleys, and divided by mesas and plateaus.
Its surface consists of a thick sheet of pumiceous sand and dust, from which arise occasional buttes and mesas.
