Editing Van Buren County, Tennessee (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|275|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|273|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|1.1|sqmi}} (0.4%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_47.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 14, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}</ref> The county straddles the western edge of the [[Cumberland Plateau]], with the eastern portion of the county lying atop the Plateau, and the western portion lying on the lower [[Highland Rim]].<ref name=tehc />  The [[Caney Fork]], the county's primary drainage, forms part of its northern border with White County. The [[Rocky River (Tennessee)|Rocky River]], a tributary of the Caney Fork, forms part of the county's western border with Warren. Cane Creek, another tributary of the Caney Fork, drains the Fall Creek Falls area.

[[File:Fall Creek Falls.jpg|right|210px|thumb|Fall Creek Falls]]
[[File:Van-Buren-from-Gravel-Hill-tn2.jpg|right|210px|thumb|Hills near Spencer]]

[[Big Bone Cave]] is located in the northwest corner of Van Buren County. It is one of the best-known and most historic caverns in Tennessee. It was mined by prehistoric Indians for [[gypsum]] and salts and was the site of the largest [[Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]] mine in Tennessee during the [[War of 1812]] and again during the [[American Civil War]]. The cave is named for the discovery of the skeleton of a [[Giant Ground Sloth]] (''Megalonyx jeffersoni'') by saltpeter miners in 1811. Many of the wooden saltpeter mining artifacts in the cave remain in a remarkable state of preservation, due to the extreme dryness of the cave.<ref>Thomas C. Barr, Jr., ''Caves of Tennessee'', Tennessee Division of Geology, Bulletin 64, 1961.</ref><ref>Larry E. Matthews, ''Big Bone Cave'', National Speleological Society, 220 pp, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-879961-24-1}}</ref>

Van Buren County boasts over 850 documented caves (over 3.09 caves per square mile), making it one of the most cave dense regions in the world (nearby White County has over 3.17 caves per square mile).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.subworks.com/tcs/|title=Tennessee Cave Survey|website=www.subworks.com|access-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
*[[White County, Tennessee|White County]] (north)
*[[Cumberland County, Tennessee|Cumberland County]] (northeast)
*[[Bledsoe County, Tennessee|Bledsoe County]] (east)
*[[Sequatchie County, Tennessee|Sequatchie County]] (south)
*[[Warren County, Tennessee|Warren County]] (west)

===State protected areas===

*[[Big Bone Cave|Big Bone Cave State Natural Area]]
*[[Bledsoe State Forest]] (part)
*Fall Creek Falls State Natural Area (part)
*[[Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park]] (part)