Although Massachusetts is only about 190 miles long, from east to west, it has six different geographic areas: the Coastal Lowlands, the Eastern New England Upland, the Connecticut Valley Lowland, the Western New England Lowland, the Berkshire Valley, and the Taconic Mountains.

The Coastal lowlands start in the east at the Atlantic Ocean and include the Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard, and the Nantucket Islands. The landscape in this area has rounded hills, swamps, small lakes and ponds, and short, shallow streams and rivers. Further to the west is the Eastern New England Upland. This heavily forested area spreads westward from the Coastal Lowlands forty to sixty miles, rising to about 1,000 feet above sea level and, then, gradually slopes downward in the west to meet the Connecticut Valley Lowland.

The Connecticut Valley Lowland is a long, narrow land area that stretches from northern Massachusetts to southern Connecticut. The Connecticut River runs through this area and provides fertile soil for farming. The Western New England Upland is an extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont. The land in this area rises to more than 2,000 feet above sea level. This area is home to the Berkshire Hills and Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet (1,064 metres) feet above sea level.

To the west of the Western New England Upland and the Berkshire Hills lies the Berkshire Valley. This narrow valley, less than ten miles wide, runs between the Berkshire Hills to the east and the Taconic Mountains to the west. The valley is covered with green meadowlands.

On the extreme western border of Massachusetts lie the Taconic Mountains. Less than six miles wide, this narrow band of hills stretches from northwestern Massachusetts to the south rising upward to Mt. Everett 2,602 feet above sea level.

In the southeast, Cape Cod juts out into the ocean, forming Cape Cod Bay. The offshore waters of this 65-mile (105-km) long bay are among the most treacherous in the country. On shore, tufts of grass spring up along the sand dunes, and gnarled jack pines and scrub oaks, some only head high, grow in bunches. Inland are a great number of rivers and streams, including the Connecticut, Charles, and Merrimack. More than 1,100 ponds and lakes lie among the hollows of the hills; there is a body of water in almost every communities. Many have long Indian names, including Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. The best-known small body of water, however, is Walden Pond, immortalized by writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.The Boston metropolitan area gets its drinking water from Quabbin Reservoir in the western part of the state. The world’s largest man-made domestic water supply, it was built between 1933 and 1939 and its construction required the moving of four entire towns (Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott). It provides water for dozens of towns and cities to the east.

Although Massachusetts is a relatively small state, there are big differences in climate between its eastern and western sections. Overall, the state has a temperate climate, with cold winters and moderately warm summers. The Berkshires in the west have both the coldest winters and the coolest summers. The normal January temperature in Pittsfield in the Berkshires is 22°F (-6°C), while the normal July temperature is 68°F (20°C). The interior lowlands are several degrees warmer in both winter and summer; the normal July temperature is 71°F (22°C). The coastal sections are the warmest areas of the state; the normal January temperature for Boston is 30°F (-1°C), and the normal July temperature is 74°F (23°C). The record high temperature in the state is 107°F (42°C), recorded at Chester and New Bedford on 2 August 1975; the record low is -35°F (-37°C), recorded at Chester on 12 January 1981. Annual rainfall is around 42 to 45in (1,070mm to 1,140mm).