Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah Valley
A view across the Shenandoah Valley and Shenandoah River
Shenandoah Valley Virginia, Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, December 2010
Floor elevation	500–1,500 feet (150–460 m)
Long-axis direction	Northeast to southwest
Geography
Population centers	Winchester Harrisonburg Staunton Lexington Martinsburg, West Virginia
Borders on	Blue Ridge Mountains (east) Ridge and Valley Appalachians (west) Potomac River (north) James River (south)
Traversed by	I-64 / I-81 / US 11 / US 33 / US 50 / US 250

The Shenandoah Valley (/ˌʃɛnənˈdoʊə/) is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians (excluding Massanutten Mountain), to the north by the Potomac River, to the south by the James River, and to the Southwest by the New River Valley. The cultural region covers a larger area that includes all of the Valley plus the Virginia Highlands to the west and the Roanoke Valley to the south. It is physiographically located within the Ridge and Valley Province and is a portion of the Great Appalachian Valley.