Champlain Valley
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
around Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
extending slightly into Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
drained northward by the Richelieu River
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
into the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Lake Champlain Valley at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre downstream and east of nearby Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006...
(northeast of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
)but the Richelieu valley is not generally referred to as part of the Champlain.
The Champlain Lake Valley is also the most heavily populated region in Vermont, broadly stretching eastward from the lake's shore to the spine of the Green Mountains
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range extends approximately .-Peaks:The most notable mountains in the range include:*Mount Mansfield, , the highest point in Vermont*Killington Peak, *Mount Ellen,...
. The state's largest city, Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
is located on the lake; the city's associated suburban communities
Burlington-South Burlington metropolitan area
The Burlington metropolitan area is a metropolitan area consisting of three counties in northwestern Vermont and anchored by the principal cities of Burlington and South Burlington...
encompass part of the central section of the valley. Beyond urbanized Chittenden County
Chittenden County, Vermont
Chittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of 2010, the population was 156,545. Its shire town is Burlington. Chittenden is the most populous county in the state, with more than twice as many residents as Vermont's second-most populous county, Rutland.Chittenden County...
, however, the valley's landscape is primarily open pasture and row crops, making the Champlain Valley the most productive agricultural region of Vermont.
The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of Clinton County
Clinton County, New York
Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 82,128. Its name is in honor of the first Governor of New York as a state, George Clinton. Its county seat is Plattsburgh.-History:...
and Essex County
Essex County, New York
Essex County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,370. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Its county seat is Elizabethtown...
. Most of this area is part of the Adirondack Park, offering tremendous views of the High Peaks region and many recreational opportunities in the park and along the relatively undeveloped coast line of Lake Champlain. The city of Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh (city), New York
Plattsburgh is a city in and county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 19,989 at the 2010 census. The population of the unincorporated areas within the Town of Plattsburgh was 11,870 as of the 2010 census; making the population for the immediate, urban Plattsburgh,...
is to the north and the historic village of Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga, New York
Ticonderoga is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 5,167 at the 2000 census. The name comes from the Mohawk tekontaró:ken, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways"....
in the southern part of the region.
Geology and physiography
The Champlain Valley is among the northernmost valleys considered part of the Great Appalachian ValleyGreat Appalachian Valley
The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough — a chain of valley lowlands — and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountain system...
reaching from Canada to Alabama.
The Champlain Valley is a physiographic section
Physiographic regions of the world
The physiographic regions of the world are a means of defining the Earth's landforms into distinct regions based upon classic 1916 three-tiered approach defining divisions, provinces, and sections...
of the larger Saint Lawrence Valley
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
physiographic division.
Lake Champlain is situated in the Champlain Valley between the Green Mountains of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, drained northward by the Richelieu River
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
into the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Lake Champlain Valley at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre downstream and east of nearby Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006...
(northeast of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
) and fed by Otter Creek, the Winooski
Winooski River
The Winooski River is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately long, in northern Vermont in the United States. Although not Vermont's longest river, it is one of the state's most significant, forming a major valley way from Lake Champlain through the Green Mountains towards the Connecticut...
, Missisquoi
Missisquoi River
The Missisquoi River is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately 80 mi long, in northern Vermont in the United States and southern Quebec in Canada. It drains a rural area of the northern Green Mountains along the US-Canada border northeast of Lake Champlain, and an area of Quebec's Eastern...
, and Lamoille
Lamoille River
The Lamoille River is a river which runs through northern Vermont and drains into Lake Champlain. It is about in length, and has a drainage area of around . The river generally flows southwest, and then northwest, from the water divide of the Green Mountains, and is the namesake of Lamoille...
Rivers in Vermont, and the Ausable, Chazy
Chazy River
Chazy River is the name of two tributaries of Lake Champlain in Clinton County, New York in the United States.The more northerly river is the Great Chazy River, which empties into Lake Champlain at King Bay in the Town of Champlain....
, Boquet
Willsboro, New York
Willsboro is a town in Essex County, New York, in the United States, and lies thirty miles south of the city of Plattsburgh. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,903...
, and Saranac
Saranac River
Saranac River is an river in the U.S. state of New York. In its upper reaches is a region of mostly flat water and lakes. The river has more than three dozen source lakes and ponds north of Upper Saranac Lake; the highest is Mountain Pond on Long Pond Mountain...
Rivers in New York. Lake Champlain also receives water from Lake George
Lake George (New York)
Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake draining northwards into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River Drainage basin located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, U.S.A.. It lies within the upper region of the...
via the La Chute River
La Chute River
The La Chute River is a short, fast-moving river, near the Vermont-New York State border, now almost wholly contained within the municipality of Ticonderoga, New York, connecting the northern end and outlet of the long Lake George and the southern end of Lake Champlain through many falls and...
.