U-shaped valleys are very common areas with tall mountains, but are not found elsewhere. The Lake District and Scotland both have many U-shaped valleys. In the case of the Lake District, the bottoms of the valleys are often filled with lakes.


The deep scouring by the glacier produces near vertical sides and so, as rivers spill into these valleys, they often fall to the valley floor as waterfalls. Yosemite has some of the most spectacular examples.