The northern part of the lake is located in a depression that insinuates itself in the NE-SW direction within the Alps, while the southern part occupies an area of ​​the high Po Valley: therefore, a valley and a foothills section are distinguished, the first narrow and elongated, the second broad and semicircular. A characteristic of Garda is the limited size of the water catchment area (2290 km²) with respect to the lake surface: at a length of 52 km the lake corresponds to 95 km of the basin, while the respective widths are 16 km and 42 km. The eastern watershed of the Benacense hydrographic basin has a direction parallel to the axis of the lake, while the western one has a more sinuous course. Inside the basin the major reliefs are the Presanella peak (3556 m) and the Adamello mountain (3554 m), and the Monte Baldo (2218 m), located east of Lake Garda even if most of the territory is included. between 65 and 1500 m. Morphologically the Garda water catchment area can be divided into four areas: the plain of about 200 km², the lake surface of about 370 km², the western portion of about 500 km² and the eastern portion of about 1040 km². [2] The waters of the lake bathe numerous municipalities in the province of Brescia (Sirmione, Desenzano del Garda, Lonato del Garda, Padenghe sul Garda, Moniga del Garda, Manerba del Garda, San Felice del Benaco, Salò, Gardone Riviera, Toscolano Maderno, Gargnano, Tignale , Tremosine sul Garda, Limone sul Garda), Verona (Peschiera del Garda, Castelnuovo del Garda, Lazise, ​​Bardolino, Garda, Torri del Benaco, Brenzone, Malcesine) and Trento (Riva del Garda, Nago-Torbole, Arco).