The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and western Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front forms the boundary between the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to its east and the Appalachian Plateau (locally called the Allegheny Plateau) to its west. The Front is closely associated with the Appalachian Mountains' Eastern Continental Divide, which in this area divides the waters of the Ohio/Mississippi river system, flowing to the Gulf of Mexico, from rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay and from there into the Atlantic Ocean. The Allegheny Front and the Eastern Continental Divide do not always coincide; for example, the North Branch of the Potomac River begins well west of the Front, at the Fairfax Stone near the southwestern tip of Maryland, about and across the actual divide from the headwaters of the Youghiogheny River draining northwards into the Monongahela and Ohio rivers. The Allegheny Front is one of the windiest spots east of the Mississippi, leading to the recent establishment of wind farming there. Geography The Allegheny Front forms part of the Appalachian Structural Front, separating the Appalachian Plateau from the Appalachians' Ridge and Valley Province. The various other escarpments along this structural feature include the Catskill Escarpment to the northeast and the Cumberland Escarpment to the southwest. The Allegheny Front itself extends for about southwesterly from south-central Pennsylvania through western Maryland, then divides the eastern panhandle of West Virginia from the rest of that state. The name "Allegheny Front" is applied to the escarpment throughout much of its extent, although it is little used in Maryland. Elevations The highest part of the crest of the Allegheny Front is also its southernmost high point, Mount Porte Crayon at , on the Pendleton/Randolph county line in West Virginia. Its lowest point, , is along the North Branch of the Potomac River near Keyser, West Virginia. Other high points along the Front include the Dolly Sods area in West Virginia, a broad, rocky plateau at an elevation of about ; Dan's Rock on Dans Mountain in Maryland at ; and Blue Knob in northern Bedford County, Pennsylvania, with an elevation greater than . Eastern Continental Divide Local segments of the Eastern Continental Divide usually pass within a few miles of the Allegheny Front, and in many places coincide with it; this divide between waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of