Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Landscapes & Wildlife
Whether you've come to glimpse alligators, whales, manatees or moose, the
eastern USA delivers. Its coasts, mountains, swamps and forests have
heaps of habitat for wildlife spotting. The national parks are prime places to
take it all in.
Landscapes
The eastern USA is a land of temperate, deciduous forests and contains the ancient Ap-
palachian Mountains, a low range that parallels the Atlantic Ocean. Between the moun-
tains and the coast lies the country's most populated, urbanized region, particularly in the
corridor between Washington, DC, and Boston, MA.
To the north are the Great Lakes, which the USA shares with Canada. These five lakes,
part of the Canadian Shield, are the greatest expanse of fresh water on the planet, consti-
tuting nearly 20% of the world's supply.
Going south along the East Coast, things get wetter and warmer till you reach the
swamps of southern Florida and make the turn into the Gulf of Mexico, which provides
the USA with a southern coastline.
West of the Appalachians are the vast interior plains, which lie flat all the way to the
Rocky Mountains. The eastern plains are the nation's breadbasket, roughly divided into
the northern 'corn belt' and the southern 'cotton belt.' The plains, an ancient sea bottom,
are drained by the mighty Mississippi River, which together with the Missouri River
forms the world's fourth-longest river system, surpassed only by the Nile, Amazon and
Yangtze rivers.
Beyond the East, the Rocky Mountains and southwestern deserts eventually give way to
the Pacific Ocean.
Plants & Trees
Displays of spring wildflowers and colorful autumn foliage are a New England specialty.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains all five eastern-forest types - spruce fir,
hemlock, pine-oak, and northern and cove hardwood - which support over 100 native spe-
cies of trees.
In Florida, the Everglades is the last subtropical wilderness in the US. This vital, en-
dangered habitat is a fresh- and saltwater world of marshes, sloughs and coastal prairies
that support mangroves, cypresses, sea grasses, tropical plants, pines and hardwoods.
