Northeastern Highlands (ecoregion)

The Northeastern Highlands Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The ecoregion extends from the northern tip of Maine and runs south along the Appalachian Mountain Range into eastern Pennsylvania. Discontiguous sections are located among New York's Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Range, and Tug Hill. The largest portion of the Northeastern Highlands ecoregion includes several sub mountain ranges, including the Berkshires, Green Mountains, Taconic, and White Mountains.

The Northeastern Highlands region is underlain by metamorphic rock and glacial till. The ecoregion is flanked by several others including the Acadian Plains and Hills, Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands, Northeastern Coastal Zone, Northern Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, and Northern Piedmont ecoregions. The elevation generally ranges from 182 meters (597 ft) to 1,916.6 meters (6,288 ft) at the top of Mount Washington, the region's highest and most prominent point.

The region is characterized by heat during the summer, the chilling winters, and the nutrient-poor podzols and other cryic (perennially frozen) soil types of the region which support boreal (north) and broadleaf (south) forests that cover the majority of the region. Ecotourism, forestry, and agriculture are the predominant land uses of the sparsely populated region. Though much of the region was once cleared to make farmland, much of it has reverted into natural forested areas. To a lesser extent, dairy and crops are still grown in lowland valleys and beef cattle on upland pastures. The ecoregion has been subdivided into thirty-three Level IV ecoregions.