Editing Columbia County, New York (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|648|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|635|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|14|sqmi}} (2.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_36.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519062322/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_36.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 19, 2014 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 3, 2015 |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files }}</ref>

Columbia County is in the southeast south-to-central part of New York State, southeast of [[Albany, New York|Albany]] and immediately west of the [[Massachusetts]] border. The western border is the [[Hudson River]].

The landscapes of the county were among the scenes depicting by the [[Hudson River School]], a mid-19th century [[art movement]].<ref name=Gefter/>

The terrain is gentle, rolling hills, rising sharply into the [[Taconic Mountains|Taconic]] and [[Berkshire Mountains]] along the state line. To the west lie the [[Hudson River]] and the [[Catskill Mountains]].
[[File:Catskills across the Hudson.jpg|thumb|The [[Catskill Mountains]] from [[Olana]] in southern Columbia County]]

The highest point is on the [[Massachusetts]] state line, near the summit of Alander Mountain, at approximately {{convert|2,110|ft|m}} above sea level, in the town of Copake. The lowest point is at or near sea level, along the Hudson.

Columbia County is accessible by two limited-access highways. The [[Taconic State Parkway]], which is not accessible to trucks or commercial traffic, runs through the center of the county from south to north, ending at an interchange with [[Interstate 90 in New York|Interstate 90]] and connecting the county with points south. Columbia County is the last New York county located along eastbound [[Interstate 90 in New York|Interstate 90]] (and the first county along westbound I-90), which passes through the towns of Canaan and Chatham as the Berkshire Connector portion of the [[New York Thruway]]. I-90 has two exits within the county; for the southbound [[Taconic State Parkway]] in Chatham, and for [[New York State Route 22|NYS Route 22]] in Canaan. Depending on precise location within the county, road travel distance to New York City ranges between {{convert|96|and|145|mi|km}}.

Several other major routes cross Columbia County including north–south [[U.S. Route 9 in New York|U.S. Route 9]], east–west [[New York State Route 23|NYS Route 23]], north–south [[New York State Route 22|NYS Route 22]] and a short portion of east–west [[U.S. Route 20 in New York|U.S. Route 20]] in the county's northeastern corner.

===Rivers and streams===
[[File:Roeliff Jansen Kill, Livingston, New York.jpg|thumb|The [[Roeliff Jansen Kill]] near Rhinebeck-Hudson Road in [[Livingston, New York]].]]
The Hudson River forms the western border of the county. Other notable creeks include; the Ancram Creek, [[Claverack Creek]], Copake Creek, [[Kinderhook Creek]], [[Roeliff-Jansen Kill]], and Valatie Kill. The Rossman Falls and Stuyvesant Falls lie on the Kinderhook Creek. Notable lakes and ponds include [[Copake Lake, New York|Copake Lake]], Kinderhook Reservoir, [[Queechy Lake]], and [[Lake Taghkanic State Park|Lake Taghkanic]].
[[File:Herondale Farm sign, Ancram, New York.jpg|thumb|A farm on Columbia County Route 3 in [[Ancram, New York]].]]

=== Farms ===
Columbia County is home to many local farms supplying the area with fresh meat, eggs, herbs, and produce, including Holmquest, Ronnybrook, Fix Brothers Fruit Farm, Eger Brothers, Hover Farms, Marsh Meadow Farm, Schober Farm, Millerhurst, Ooms Farm, Churchtown Dairy, Pigasso, Common Hands Farm, Darlin' Doe, Blue Star Farm, Green Mead Farm, Little Ghent Farm, and Ironwood Farm.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Columbia County Home to Next Generation of Farmers|url = http://www.twcnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/news/2015/09/16/columbia-county-home-to-next-generation-of-farmers.html|website = TWC News|access-date = October 14, 2015}}</ref> Other farms include the large, well-known Hawthorne Valley Farm which includes a farm store and training programs, the biodynamic Roxbury Farm, and FarmOn! at Empire Farm, also a teaching farm.

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] - northwest
* [[Berkshire County, Massachusetts|Berkshire County]], [[Massachusetts]] - east
* [[Dutchess County, New York|Dutchess County]] - south
* [[Greene County, New York|Greene County]] - west
* [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer County]] - north
* [[Ulster County, New York|Ulster County]] - southwest

===National protected area===
* [[Martin Van Buren National Historic Site]]