Blue Ridge at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

The Apple Blossom Festival (Winchester) and the Azalea Festival (Norfolk), both in April, are nationally known events. During Virginia Garden Week in April, private homes and gardens are opened to the public. The major resort areas are located at Virginia Beach, along the Chesapeake, and in the national park areas of the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Skyline Drive along the crest of the Blue Ridge provide scenic views. The most famous natural phenomenon is the Natural Bridge (Rockbridge County). In the lower Shenandoah Valley are the Grand Caverns, Luray Caverns, the Endless Caverns, and others. There are mineral springs in Bath County, and the famous Cumberland Gap is in far southwestern Virginia.

Mountain and Valley Province.—The Blue Ridge Mountains are the result of a massive thrust of ancient crystalline rocks, primarily Granite and greenstone, along a geologic fault. These long and narrow mountains run northeast to southwest through the state, rising sharply from the Piedmont to a height of 3,000 feet in the northern section to well above 4,000 feet in the southern section, the highest peaks being between Whitetop (5,520) and Mount Rogers (5,719) in the far south. The Blue Ridge divides eastern and western Virginia.

Topographic variations within Virginia form three geographic areas: (1) the Tidewater or Coastal Plain; (2) the Piedmont Province; and (3) the Mountain and Valley Province which has three subdivisions—the Blue Ridge Province, the Valley and Ridge Province, and the Appalachian Plateau.