Virginia Regions

(The following is the beginning of the Introduction to the Piedmont Virginia
Region of Natural Virginia prepared by Deane Dozier)

The Piedmont, which takes its name from the French word meaning “foot of the mountains,” is the largest of Virginia’s five physiographic regions.  This land of rolling countryside and river valleys in the middle portion of the state provides a photogenic transition between the western mountains and the eastern Coastal Plain (Tidewater).  The Piedmont section extends from the Blue Ridge on the western side to the fall line on the eastern side, where rivers stop flowing and become influenced by tides.  

Despite the gentle nature of these undulating foothills and peaceful river valleys, the Piedmont is complex geologically.  Earth scientists scratch their heads sorting out the components of the rock base, formed by repeated geologic events, shaped and molded by pressure and continental drift, and deeply weathered by time.  These ancient rocks are enduring support for the soils, woodlands, lakes and rivers that are home to bobcat and beaver, smallmouth bass and bluegill, white-tailed deer and black bear, great blue heron and Eastern bluebird. 

Land of River Valleys

To discover why Ben Greenberg has an affinity for photographing the natural beauty of the Piedmont—besides the fact that he lives in the heart of it—just slide a canoe down a shady bank into the Roanoke River, or the James.  Or maybe the Rivanna, or the Rappahannock or the Appomattox.  Drift with the current down waterways largely unseen from highways, where Monacans or Manahoac tribes once fished.  Flow quickly along through riffles, then allow your craft to slow in calm pools with their watery reflections of the seasonal foliage.  Glide through woodlands where Occaneechi and Saponi tribes once hunted.  As the river winds to the north, then to the south, you might catch glimpses of the Blue Ridge.  Let the river take you past grassy fields and farms, slipping beneath branches of sycamore and tulip poplar with bird song above you, and cicadas stitching a summer day with their raspy song. 

A canoeist who gets an early start might see the effect of the rising sun on a pre-dawn mist, as in Ben’s colorful picture of sunrise on the James River at Richmond, or his Rivanna River image taken on a foggy Albemarle County morn.  The Rivanna River Rapids provided Ben with an amazing image of the waters reflecting fall color.  Though you see only the water as it surges around rocks in the panoramic composition, the orange and amber glow of the river reveals the brilliance of unseen foliage on the riverbank. 

Rolling Countryside