This obscure point in rural north-central Pennsylvania is one of the major hydrographic triple divide points of the North American continent.
In a simple schematic, the main divides of the United States form a letter "H"--to the left/west of the "H", water flows to the Pacific; to the right/east, the Atlantic. The upper/north area of the "H" flows to the St. Lawrence or Hudson Bay, while the lower/south zone goes to the Gulf of Mexico. The continental divide in the Rockies forms the left-hand side of the "H", while the Appalachian crest running from eastern Canada south to Florida forms the right hand side.
If you follow that, the Potter County Triple Divide is where the cross-bar of the "H" joins the right hand side. From here, water here flows north to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, south to the Ohio and Mississippi, and east to the Altantic, coincidentally in the largest basin and the longest river on the eastern US seaboard, the Susquehanna.
Not far away is Lyon Hill, the highest point in Potter County. | 