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Go back in time to the last ice age. That would be more than 25,000 years ago.
A huge ice sheet covered almost all of New York state. In some places, it was nearly two miles thick. Then the climate warmed. The ice melted. Under the ice was sedimentary rock. There were mountains and highlands. There were also lowlands.
▲ Look at the topographic map of New York State. The lowlands form a huge T lying on its side. This helps to divide the state into different geographic areas. Each is more interesting than the next.
This is New York by the numbers: The area of the state is about 54,555 square miles. It is smaller than Iowa. It is bigger than North Carolina. About 20,201,000 people live in New York. That includes about 8,804,000 squeezed into the 300 square miles called New York City. This is the largest city by population in the United States.
▲ Adirondack Mountains
Do you want to experience a part of planet Earth that’s largely untouched by humans? If so, you’ll want to spend time in the Adirondack Mountains. Only a few small communities are here. One of them is Lake Placid. This village was home to the 1980 Winter Olympics. Mt. Marcy is more than 5,300 feet high. This is the highest peak in the state. It is among the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks. If you climb all 46, you may be invited to join the Adirondack 46ers. This is a volunteer organization. Its members help take care of the mountain’s trails.
◀ Catskill Mountains
Fishers enjoy the streams and rivers in the Catskills. The older, rounded peaks of these mountains give way to valleys that wind and wind. The original name is Kaaterskill. It may have come from the Dutch. It means “wildcat creek.” Perhaps because of the bobcats in the area. The original name still identifies Kaaterskill Falls (left). These are among the highest waterfalls in the state.
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▲ Niagara Frontier
You may not have visited Niagara Falls. But you – or someone you know – may have heard of it. The falls are part of the Niagara River. The river connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It forms the border between Canada and western New York State. The falls are the place where the Niagara River drops by up to 188 feet. All at once. (One hundred eighty-eight feet is almost as high as a 20-story building.) In summer, more than 45 million gallons of water spill over the falls. Every minute. That’s enough to fill about a million bathtubs every 60 seconds! Niagara Falls is part of Niagara Falls State Park. This is New York’s oldest state park. The waters of the falls create hydroelectric power. The falls provide power for 3.8 million homes. Both the United States and Canada use the power.
Tug Hill Plateau
This is one of the most remote parts of the Northeast. It lies east of Lake Ontario and west of the Adirondacks. Lake-effect snow here can produce up to three inches of snow per hour. The heavy snowfall is created by winds blowing across Lake Ontario. The winds pick up warmth and moisture over the lake. Yearly snowfalls of more than 16 feet are common. How did Tug Hill get its name? The story dates back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It says that the name comes from oxen tugging wagons up a long road to get to the top of the hill. ▶
◀ Appalachian Highlands
Suppose you find yourself in southeast New York. If so, you may well be surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. These rounded landforms, valleys, and plateaus go south from eastern Canada to central Alabama. The Appalachians are about 480 million years old. That makes them among the oldest mountains on Earth. They separate the Atlantic Coastal Plain from the lowlands of New York’s interior. Time and erosion have taken a toll on the Appalachians. Scientists believe they once were as tall as the Rocky Mountains! A hiking trail runs the 2,000-mile length of the system. The trail passes mostly through wilderness.
▲ Atlantic Coastal Plain
Do you like the beach? If so, you may like the Atlantic Coastal Plain. It was created, in part, by millions of years of sediment. The sediment came from the erosion of the Appalachian Highlands. (Sediment is rock and other material that has been broken down and moved by erosion.) The coastal plain stretches from New York City and Long Island all the way to Florida. Here, the land is flat. The northern section is mainly gravel, rocks, and beaches. Jones Beach on Long Island (above) is one of those beaches. The beach is more than six miles of white sand. It is one of the most popular beaches around.
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▲ Hudson River and Valley
The phrase “go with the flow” has a special meaning when it comes to the Hudson River. The river is named for the explorer Henry Hudson. It goes from Mt. Marcy in the Adirondacks to the Atlantic Ocean. Its flow is anything but ordinary. The Hudson is actually a tidal estuary. This means it changes directions according to the ocean tides. During high tide, saltwater from the ocean flows inland. This causes the lower part of the river to flow from south to north. At low tide, the saltwater returns to the ocean. The river then flows from north to south. During winter, ice forms on the river. That’s when you can really see this change in direction. East and west of the Hudson River is a valley. The valley has rolling hills, orchards, and farms. Moving south, the landscape changes to a city skyline. This is New York City.
