This map was made in honor of the inaugural Holyoke Hydra Cyclocross Race in September of 2019. It shows the deep history of the the Connecticut River (Kwenitekw in Abenaki) floodplain south of the Holyoke Range to the Massachusetts-Connecticut Border, winding its way through the settlement cities of Holyoke and Springfield.

The delicate, feathery structures bordering the river are evidence of its ancient meanders since the draining of Glacial Lake Hitchcock ~15,700 years ago. The geologically famous river terraces of the Westfield can be seen to the lower left, with the meander belt of the Manhan River seen near the top left of the map. Many geologic features can be seen on this map: drumlin fields in South Hadley, and arcuate sand dunes just to the west of Westover AFB in Chicopee, and the dipping layers of strata that make up the Holyoke Range at the very north end of the map.

I was inspired to make this map after seeing Daniel Coe's work (www.kartopics.com) portraying the Williamette River in Oregon. This cartographic style is used with his permission. This map was made using GIS software and the detailed elevation data derived from LiDAR imagery, collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and MassGIS.

The map is primarily an elevation map: The river is white, with higher elevations at progressively darker shades of blue, with everything ~260 feet above the surface of the river, above the floor of Glacial Lake Hitchcock, masked out in dark blue / black.