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Regions of New York |
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The North Country of Upstate New York is the northernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered by Lake Champlain to the east and further east to the adjacent state of Vermont and the New England region; the Adirondack Mountains / Adirondack Park and the Upper Capital District with the state capital of Albany to the south; the Mohawk Valley region of New York to the southwest; the Canadian-American international border (with the Province of Ontario in the Dominion of Canada) to the north; and Lake Ontario, (the eastern-most of the Great Lakes) and the Saint Lawrence River / Saint Lawrence Seaway, and beyond the waters again to Ontario / Canada to the west. [1] A mostly rural forested area, the North Country includes seven counties (or 14, according to another group) of the 62 in New York state. Fort Drum, a United States Army base, is also located in the North Country region in Jefferson County, near Watertown, as is the adjacent Adirondack Park of 6.1 million acres, established 1892 as the oldest state park in the nation, and preserved / operated by the Adirondack Park Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. As of 2024, the population of the region was 420,311 (revised figure from the last 2020 United States census). [2]
The term "North Country" was first widely popularized within New York by the 1900 novel Eben Holden by Irving Bacheller. [3]
According to the Empire State Development Corporation in the state capital of Albany, New York, the North Country encompasses the following seven counties: [2]
However, according to another interest group of the Adirondack North Country Association, the North Country consists of a larger designated area of 14 counties; with those listed above and also the following further south and west:
These are all counties in which part of Adirondack State Park resides. [4]
Herb Hallas summarizes both views: [5]
The state-sanctioned North Country extends from the eastern shore of Lake Ontario eastward across the top tier of the state to the western edge of Lake Champlain. and from the Canadian-American international border on the north to the southern boundary of Hamilton County. As such, it is much larger and more stable than either of the traditionalist North Countries. The state-sanctioned North Country consists of 7 counties of northern New York state: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis Counties. The New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Regional Development Council, and the Empire State Development Agency serve people who live in the state-sanctioned and designated North Country. The contemporary North Country takes in the largest area of all the North Countries. It extends from the Canadian-American border on the north to the Erie Canal on the south, and from the shores of Lake Ontario in the west to the edge of Lake Champlain to the east. The contemporary North Country includes all of the famous Adirondack Park, with 14 surrounding counties, 14 cities, 255 towns and almost 40 percent of the state’s geographic area. The Adirondack North Country Association, an economic development organization that also promotes tourism, serves people living in the contemporary North Country, as does North Country Public Radio local network of stations (part of the National Public Radio (NPR) system).
Lake Champlain is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec.
Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. The county is part of the Capital District region of the state.
Clinton County is the northeastern most county in the northeastern corner of the state of New York, in the United States and bordered by the Canadian province of Quebec. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 79,843. Its county seat is the city of Plattsburgh. The county lies just south of the border with the Canadian province of Quebec and to the west of the State of Vermont. The county is named for George Clinton, the first Governor of New York, who later was elected as Vice President. He had been a Founding Father who represented New York in the Continental Congress. Clinton County comprises the Plattsburgh, New York Micropolitan statistical area. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.
Essex County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,381. Its county seat is the hamlet of Elizabethtown. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Essex is one of two counties that are entirely within the Adirondack Park, the other being Hamilton County. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.
Franklin County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. To the north across the Canada–United States border are the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, from east to west. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 47,555. Its county seat is Malone. The county is named in honor of United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.
Hamilton County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,107, making it the least populous county of New York, and the only county with fewer than 10,000 residents. With a land area nearly the size of Delaware, it is the least densely populated county east of the Mississippi River. Its county seat is Lake Pleasant. The county was created in 1816 and organized in 1847. The county is part of the North Country region of the state.
The Adirondack Mountains are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately 160 miles (260 km) wide and covering about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in New York at 5,344 feet (1,629 m). The Adirondack High Peaks, a traditional list of 46 peaks over 4,000 feet (1,200 m), are popular hiking destinations. There are over 200 named lakes with the number of smaller lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water reaching over 3,000. Among the named lakes around the mountains are Lake George, Lake Placid, and Lake Tear of the Clouds. The region has over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of river.
The Thousand Islands constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 50 miles (80 km) downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands in the state of New York.
Malone is a village in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, New York, United States. Its population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. The village is in the town of Malone. It is home to a campus of North Country Community College.
Ellisburg is an incorporated town in Jefferson County, New York. The population was 3,352 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is in the southwestern corner of the county and is south of Watertown. Ellisburg is named after early European-American landowners. Among the villages in the town is Ellisburg.
Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western New York, and the North Country. Major cities across upstate New York from east to west include the state capital of Albany, Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.
The Great North Woods, also known as the Northern Forest, are spread across four northeastern U.S. states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York in the New England area. The area spans from the Down East lakes of Maine to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, generally bordering the Canadian province of Quebec. Collectively, the Great North Woods make up a 26 million acre (105,000 km2) forestland.
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York extending north slightly into Quebec, Canada. It is part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin, drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St. Lawrence at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. The Richelieu valley is not generally referred to as part of the Champlain Valley.
The Appalachian Highlands is one of eight government-defined physiographic divisions of the contiguous United States. It links with the Appalachian Uplands in Canada to make up the Appalachian Mountains. The Highlands includes seven physiographic provinces, which is the second level in the physiographic classification system in the United States. At the next level of physiographic classification, called section/subsection, there are 20 unique land areas with one of the provinces having no sections.
The geography of New York varies widely across the state. Most of New York is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is larger than any U.S. National Park in the contiguous United States. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction. The Hudson River begins near Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu River and then the St. Lawrence. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on the three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island.
The Lakes to Locks Passage in the United States and the corresponding Route du Richelieu in Canada form a scenic byway network located in northeastern New York and southern Quebec. This byway connects a series of water routes including the upper Hudson River, Champlain Canal, Lake George, and Lake Champlain. This network is part of a historically significant transportation route linking upstate New York with the Canadian province of Quebec.
Esther Mountain is a mountain located in Essex County, New York. The mountain is the northernmost of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains and its 28th highest peak. It was the only High Peak named for a woman until 2014, having been named in honor of Esther McComb, who made the first recorded climb to the summit in 1839, at age 15; at the time she was attempting to climb Whiteface Mountain from the north.
Black Mountain is a mountain located in Washington County, New York, of which its peak is the highest point. Isolated from the rest of the Adirondack Mountains by Lake George, Black Mtn. has the seventh highest topographic prominence of all the mountains in New York. Black Mountain also has the highest elevation of any of the peaks which surround Lake George and offers unobstructed views of the lake from its summit.
The Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands region extends along the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain, and south down the Hudson River. It is primarily within the state of New York, with smaller portions in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In the north it meets the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone of Canada in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. It is mostly temperate deciduous forest and agricultural land.