What is "wind gap"

alt. (context geography English) A dry valley once occupied by a stream or river, since captured by another stream. n. (context geography English) A dry valley once occupied by a stream or river, since captured by another stream.

n. a pass in a mountain ridge with no stream flowing through it

A wind gap is a valley through which a waterway once flowed but is now dry as a result of stream capture. A water gap is a similar feature, but one in which a waterway still flows. Water gaps and wind gaps often provide routes which, due to their gently inclined profile, are suitable for trails, roads, and railroads through mountainous terrain.

Examples of wind gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia include Swift Run Gap, Rockfish Gap, and Buford's Gap. The last was the original crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Bedford for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, later the Norfolk and Western Railway, a precursor of today's Norfolk Southern Railway system.

A wind gap is a dry valley once occupied by a stream or river, since captured by another stream. Wind gap may also refer to:

• Windgap, County Kilkenny, a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland
• Windgap Cove, a part of Scoat Fell, a mountain (fell) in the English Lake District
• Windgap (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in the west area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania