Mountains   This land is mostly mountainous consisting of low ridges averaging 3000 feet. They include the extensive shoreline thrusts out into the Atlantic and meet the ocean's waves with a heavily indented coast that mixes dramatic headlands with many small coves bordered by rocky beaches. Large empty areas, almost totally lacking in settlement, are only hours away from some of the largest cities on the continent. A large upland plateau covers most of New England. This upland is old geologically and has also been heavily eroded by moving water and ice. One result is that elevations throughout the region seldom top 1,500 meters. The two major mountain areas of northern New England are the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Lowlands & Valleys   Although, most of the region is hilly but human activities are centered on the lowlands and valleys. The largest such areas are the Connecticut River Valley between New Hampshire and Vermont, the Lake Champlain Lowland along the northern Vermont-New York border, and the Aroostook Valley in northern Maine. A number of smaller lowlands border the seacoast, and innumerable streams have sliced the plateau throughout the area.

Lakes & Rivers   Connecting the mineral-rich Canadian Shield and the fuel-rich interior plains, the five Great Lakes--Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario--represent an internal waterway unlike any other in the world. Within the interior core, flowing westward from deep within the coal-rich Appalachian region, the Ohio River crosses the interior plains for hundreds of kilometers before joining the Mississippi River. Dozens of tributaries supply the Ohio with its water and provide further accessibility, either directly because they are navigable, too, or less directly because they offer easier routes of land movement through their valleys. Along the western margin of the core region, the Mississippi River and its tributaries provide access from the south and west.

Grasslands and Plains   The topography and vegetation of the grasslands is among the least varied to be found anywhere in the United States. The region lies entirely within the interior lowlands physiographic province. The underlying sedimentary beds dip gently. Elevation increases gradually, almost imperceptibly, from east to west. Along the eastern margin, the elevation is only 500 meters, whereas in the west, Denver, Colorado, claims an altitude of more than 1,500 meters. Physiographically, the largest portion of the Great Plains is the High Plains stretching along the western margin of the region from south Texas northward to southern Nebraska. Covered by a thick mantle of sediments that are often quite sandy and extremely porous, this section is generally flat.

Plateau   Not all portions of the region are so unvarying topographically. The most obvious exception is the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. A large, dome-shaped area of eroded igneous rock, the Black Hills are associated both geologically and topographically with the Rocky Mountains to the west. In southern Texas, the Edwards Plateau is heavily eroded into a canyon lands landscape along its southeastern margin where it is adjacent to the coastal plain. In central and northwestern Nebraska, the Sand Hills offer a dense, intricate pattern of grass-covered sand dunes, many of which are well over 30 meters high.

Canyons & Deserts   The area known generally as the Southwest is one of the most widely recognized yet one of the most transitionary regions of America. It has an apparent physical uniformity that can be attributed primarily to its clear, dry climate, but, in fact, the region includes the broad flatlands of the lower Rio Grande Valley along Texas; the plateaus of New Mexico; the dramatic mesas, buttes, and deserts of Arizona; and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. It also includes the canyon lands of Utah and Arizona that includes the Grand Canyon.

The Pacific Coast   It is mostly a rugged, unused coastline which consists of the highlands of Cascades. Mount Rainier in this region has an elevation of 4,390 meters, and many peaks are between 2,750 and 3,650 meters high. The Klamath Mountains of northern California and southern Oregon offer a jumbled topography. Little pattern is apparent in the terrain. This is a wild, rugged, empty area. The lowlands of Oregon are part of a structural trough that was created when that area sank at the same time that the Cascades to the east were elevated. Except for the drier lowlands, where the normal vegetation of the Willamette Valley is prairie grass and that of the land east of the Cascades a mix of grass and desert shrub, and except for the tundra above the tree line, all of the Pacific Northwest is, or was, covered by forest. This is a land not just of forest, but of beautiful expanses of tall trees reaching straight for the sky.

Beaches & Plantations   The South Eastern United States is largely dominated by low lying shallow coastal areas and large swamp lands. Because of the humid, subtropical environment provided by the warm waters of Gulf of Mexico, there are various plantations which are best suited to produce high quality fruits and vegetables. The long growing season, mild winter temperatures, and warm, humid summers contribute to the human development along the white sandy beaches along the coast and inland farmlands.

PLATEAU

MOUNTAINS

WATERFALLS