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 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times.
The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains. Their highest peak, with an elevation of 4,223 feet (1,287 m) above mean sea level, is High Knob, which is located near Norton, Virginia.
The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, 55.6 miles (89.5 km) long with two forks approximately 100 miles (160 km) long each, in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The river and its tributaries drain the central and lower Shenandoah Valley and the Page Valley in the Appalachians on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in northwestern Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. There is a hydroelectric plant along the Shenandoah river constructed in 2014 by Dominion.
Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, forms the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range. The ridge runs northeast–southwest for about 50 miles (80 km) departing from South Mountain near Emmitsburg, Maryland, and running south past Leesburg, Virginia, where it disappears into the Piedmont in a series of low-lying hills near New Baltimore, Virginia. The ridge forms the eastern rampart of the Loudoun and Middletown valleys.
The Cacapon River, located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an 81.0-mile-long (130.4 km) shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the Potomac River watershed, it is an American Heritage River.
West Virginia Route 259 is a state highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The state highway runs 45.6 miles (73.4 km) from the Virginia state line near Mathias north to the Virginia state line at High View. At both termini, the road continues as Virginia State Route 259. WV 259 passes through Hardy and Hampshire counties and runs concurrently with WV 55 on Corridor H between Baker and Wardensville.
Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, United States, through Afton Mountain, which is frequently used to refer to the gap.
State Route 259 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs a total of 26.80 miles (43.13 km) in two sections. The southern section, in northern Rockingham County, has a length of 21.81 miles (35.10 km) from Interstate 81 (I-81) and U.S. Route 11 at Mauzy through Broadway to the West Virginia state line into Mathias. The northern section, in western Frederick County, covers 4.99 miles (8.03 km) from the West Virginia state line north to US 50 at Gore. The two sections of SR 259 are joined by West Virginia Route 259.
Sleepy Creek is a 44.0-mile-long (70.8 km) tributary of the Potomac River in the United States, belonging to the Chesapeake Bay's watershed. The stream rises in Frederick County, Virginia, and flows through Morgan County, West Virginia before joining the Potomac near the community of Sleepy Creek.
Spring Gap Mountain runs southwest northeast through Morgan and Hampshire counties in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, rising to its greatest elevation of 2,237 ft (682 m) north of "Spring Gap", from which the mountain takes its name. The gap is the source for Dug Hill Run, a tributary stream of the Little Cacapon River.
Ashby Gap, more commonly known as Ashby's Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border of Clarke County, Loudoun County and Fauquier County in Virginia. The gap is traversed by U.S. Route 50. The Appalachian trail also passes across the gap.
The North River is a 55.3-mile-long (89.0 km) river in the mountains and Shenandoah Valley of northern Virginia, the United States. It joins the South River at Port Republic to form the South Fork Shenandoah River.
North River Mountain is a mountain ridge that runs southwest to northeast in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. Named for the North River that parallels its western flanks for its entire length, North River Mountain reaches its highest elevation of 2,149 feet (655 m) near the community of Delray. North River Mountain extends from Staack's Gap at Rio to the Hiett Run gap at North River Mills. Geologically, Ice Mountain is the same mountain ridge, with the Hiett Run gap acting as the physical divide.
Brock Gap is a natural pass across Shades Mountain in Hoover, Alabama, most notable as being the location used by the South & North Railroad (S&N) to reach the Birmingham area in the late 19th century from the mineral deposits to the south, spurring economic development in the area.
Moccasin Gap, also known as Big Moccasin Gap, is a pass in Clinch Mountain, a long ridge within the Appalachian Mountains, at Gate City, Virginia. This gap has a long history as a passageway through the mountain. It was used by the Cherokee and Shawnee, and was the first gap through which the Daniel Boone Wilderness Road passed on its way to the better-known Cumberland Gap and Kentucky. Today it serves as a primary commercial route for industry, retail, and tourism businesses.
Cootes Store is an unincorporated community in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. Located in the Shenandoah Valley, it is situated north of Harrisonburg, south of Bergton, and west of Timberville. The border with West Virginia is nearby, as is the edge of George Washington National Forest. Cootes Store is within a gorge where the North Fork Shenandoah River breaks, at the crossroads of Route 613 and Route 259.
Fulks Run is an unincorporated community located in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. It is located north of Harrisonburg and south of Bergton just to the west of Broadway on route 259, near the border of West Virginia and the edge of George Washington National Forest. The North Fork Shenandoah River flows past the community. It includes Fulks Run Elementary School. The Fulks Run Ruritan Park is a popular get together spot with a baseball field.
Judy Gap is an unincorporated community in Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. Judy Gap is located at the junction of U.S. Route 33 and West Virginia Route 28, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) west-northwest of Franklin, just west of the mountain gap also called Judy Gap. The Judy Rocks geological formation is just to the south. North Fork Mountain is to the east, and the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River is to the west, with Spruce Mountain and Spruce Knob beyond the river. Most of the surrounding land is within the Monongahela National Forest.
The Lost River is a 31.1-mile-long (50.1 km) river in the Appalachian Mountains of Hardy County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region. The Lost River is geologically the same river as the Cacapon River: It flows into an underground channel northeast of McCauley along West Virginia Route 259 at "the Sinks" and reappears near Wardensville as the Cacapon. The source of the Lost River lies south of Mathias near the West Virginia/Virginia border. Along with the Cacapon and North rivers, the Lost River serves as one of the three main segments of the Cacapon River and its watershed.
Brocks Gap Dam was a never-built proposal for a water storage dam on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River at Brocks Gap in northwest Virginia. The proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers encountered opposition from local residents and was withdrawn in 1967.
