To the west of Pykara river and the Kundah range which bounds the western edge of Nilgiris plateau, there is a lower, thickly forested broad step and then the final steep descent to the plains of Malabar. Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri lie in the upper plateau of the Nilgiris and Gudalur lies in the lower plateau. The Ooty to Calicut road and Ooty to Mysore road meet at Gudalur Town. Most of the Gudalur area is green carpeted. It is 51 km from Ooty. The Nilgiri langur is a rare type of monkey found in the Nilgiris. In the forest plateau, deer and bison can be spotted. The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is close to the Regional Center of TRF.

The planting history of this district started in the year 1847, when Gen. James Ouchterlony leased 20,000 acres of jungle from the Raja of Malabar to open up coffee estates. Most of the tea estates in this district were opened up by individuals as small units and later they where acquired by companies and amalgamated into larger units.

This district had the distinction of housing the Tea Experimental Station at Daverashola from 1926 to 1966 where important problems such as potash deficiency, principles of manuring and blister blight disease control were studied. After shifting the experimental station to Anamallais, communication between the Scientific Department and the planting community was effectively bridged by establishing a Regional Centre in the district in 1972. This centre advises the estates located in and around Gudalur region on all aspects with particular reference to cultivation, plant protection, crop production and processing of tea. The centre also advises the large number of small growers in Gudalur.

The laboratory is equipped to carry out soil and tea analysis. Several experiments relating to agronomy, pest and disease control and production aspects are being conducted here besides area specific aspects such as "pacha taint" in made tea. The centre has a miniature tea manufacturing unit for conducting experiments on tea manufacture.