AI Tutor
West Virginia looks like an uneven puzzle piece with two long handles sticking out. If you took a road trip from one side of the state to the other, the land would rollercoaster from sunlit river valleys, up into chilly cloud-topped peaks, and across thousands of bumpy hills.
What causes the land to look so completely different as you travel across the state?

Potomac Section

The Potomac Section sits in the Eastern Panhandle, where long parallel ridges shelter wide, sunny valleys filled with rich farming soil and apple orchards.
This region holds the lowest elevation in the state—meaning the height of land above the ocean—dropping to just 240 feet at Harpers Ferry, where two rivers slice through the mountains.
What happens when you leave these sunny orchards and climb west into the clouds?

Allegheny Highlands

The Allegheny Highlands forms the giant mountain backbone of West Virginia, filled with towering ridges, dark spruce forests, and rushing trout streams.
This region holds Spruce Knob, the state's highest point at 4,863 feet above sea level, where it gets so cold and windy that snow can fall even late in spring.
If you climb down the western slope of these giant peaks, the land looks smooth on an old map—so why does walking across it feel like climbing thousands of stairs?