Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough, including a chain of valley lowlands, and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trough stretches about from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times. Geography The Great Valley marks the eastern edge of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province. There are many regional names of the Great Valley, such as the Shenandoah Valley. From a large perspective the Great Valley can be divided into a northern section and a southern section. Northern section In its northern section, the Great Valley includes the Champlain Valley around Lake Champlain and the upper Richelieu River that drains it into the Saint Lawrence, the Hudson River Valley, Newburgh Valley, and Wallkill Valley, and the Kittatinny Valley, Upper Delaware River Valley, Lebanon Valley, and Cumberland Valley. A series of mountains bounds the northern half of the Great Valley on both sides. To the east or coastward side, these include, from north to south, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the