Shaped roughly like a downward-facing letter "F," the state of Maryland encompasses distinct geographic portions. The Chesapeake Bay separates Maryland's Eastern Shore, situated on the Delmarva Peninsula, from the Western Shore on the mainland. Further inland, the state narrows into the panhandle, reaching westward in a long, narrow, horizontal band. A total land area of just under 10,000 square miles makes Maryland the ninth-smallest state, but despite its relatively diminutive size, Maryland features a variety of different landforms.
Part of the greater Appalachian range, the Allegheny Mountains extend from Virginia and West Virginia northward through Maryland's panhandle and into Pennsylvania. The Alleghenies consist of series of nearly parallel ridges oriented in a southwest-to-northeast direction. These heavily forested mountains are bisected by deep valleys filled with creeks or rivers. In colonial times, the Allegheny Mountains posed a barrier to settlers wishing to migrate westward. Backbone Mountain, Maryland's highest point at 3,360 feet, is located in the Alleghenies.
Blue Ridge Mountains
To the east of the Allegheny Mountains lies a wide valley, and beyond that valley rise the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Also part of the Appalachians, the Blue Ridge extends from southern Pennsylvania all the way to northern Georgia. Like the Alleghenies, the Blue Ridge run in a southwest-to-northeast direction. A very narrow mountain range, the Blue Ridge Mountains are less than 10 miles wide throughout their stretch in Maryland.
Moving east from the Blue Ridge, the landscape peters out into rolling hills and a relatively flat, high plateau; this area is known as the Piedmont. The Piedmont separates the Appalachian Mountains from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, extending from Alabama to New Jersey. It is about 50 miles wide through Maryland. A rapid drop in elevation known as the fall line separates the Piedmont from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. At this dividing line, which in Maryland extends from Baltimore southwest to the border with Washington D.C., streams and rivers tumble over waterfalls and rapids.
The Atlantic Coastal Plain runs from Florida through New Jersey. In Maryland, the coastal plain usurps the entire Eastern Shore and most of the Western Shore as well. Areas that make up the coastal plain lie at elevations of 400 feet or less. The land turns into salt marshes where the plain meets the Chesapeake Bay; such marshes are particularly plentiful on the Eastern Shore. On Maryland's short Atlantic coastline, sandy beaches can be found.
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