Where is the Continental Divide in North America?

The Great Continental Divide in North America starts at Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska and follows the Rocky Mountain ridges through western Canada and the western United States, and then through the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. The same divide continues through South America across the Andes Mountains.

The United States also has an Eastern Continental Divide that runs along the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. This divide separates water that flows into the Atlantic Ocean from water that flows into the Mississippi River and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico. Other continental divides in North America include the Laurentian, Arctic and St. Lawrence.