Potomac Water Gap

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Potomac Water Gap

View of the western gap from Weaverton Cliffs on South Mountain
Elevation 240ft./73m.
Location Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland Flag of the United States United States
Range Blue Ridge Mountains
Traversed by U.S. Highway 340

The Potomac Water Gap is a double water gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, located at the intersection of the states of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, near Harpers Ferry.

As the Potomac River approaches the Blue Ridge on the eastern edge of the Shenandoah Valley, it turns to the south paralleling the ridge before it joins with the Shenandoah River at Harpers Ferry and cuts east directly through a gap between Blue Ridge Mountain to the south in Virginia and West Virginia and Elk Ridge Mountain to the north in Maryland. The River then bends slightly to the north and travels four miles before reaching the second gap between the Short Hill Mountain to the south in Virginia and South Mountain.

U.S. Route 340 and the B&O Railroad both pass through the Potomac Water Gap. Historically, the C&O canal passed through as well.

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topo map