Subject and Course Guides: Maps Produced By The U.S. Government: Topographic Maps

What are topographic maps?

Topographic maps, or topos, show natural features as well as cultural features, such as buildings. These maps use contours to depict the shape and elevation of terrain.

Topos can be used for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to: engineering, recreational purposes, land management, and planning.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been making topographic maps for over 125 years.

Other agencies develop their own maps derived from USGS topos. Information about the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Surface Management Maps and the U.S. Forest Service FSTopo maps can be found under the Public Lands tab.

Scales & Series

USGS topographic maps come in a variety of scales. The most popular and the most detailed are the 7.5-minute or 1:24,000-scale (1 inch = 2,000 feet) quadrangle series. Depending on latitude, the area portrayed by the 7.5-minute series ranges from 49 to 64 square miles. It takes about 57,000 7.5-minute maps to cover the 48 contiguous states.

Next are the 15-minute or 1:62,500-scale. The full coverage of this series has been discontinued, but remains the standard map series covering Alaska. The 15-minute series of the lower 48 states has been replaced by the 7.5-minute series.

Nearly all of the contiguous 48 states and Hawaii are covered by the 1:100,000-scale (1 centimeter = 1 kilometer) series of topographic maps. For the most part they are derived from the 1:24,000-scale series.

Other series include the County Map series, 1:250,000-scale series, State Map series, National Park map series, Shaded-relief maps, Topographic-bathymetric maps, and Antarctic maps.

Topos Online

The USGS no longer produces print topos, but there are a variety of ways to access USGS topos online for free. The most common point of access involves locating the area of interest on the map, then selecting and downloading the file(s).

USGS has two digital collections of maps: US Topo and the Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC). All topos are available as downloadable georeferenced PDF files. US Topo maps have been published digitally since 2009 as layered PDFs with both vector and raster data. The HTMC maps date from 1882 through 2006. The files are not small—for example, the median file size for US Topo is 22MB.

More information about using these files and the HTMC is available in the quickstart guide, US Topo Map and Historical Topographic Map Users Guide.

The USGS Store Map Locator & Downloader
Maps from 1882 to present. The tried-and-true point of access for USGS topos.
Don’t let the word “store” fool you, the maps are free to download. From the store, click on Map Locator & Downloader on the left. By default, the Map Locator is set to “Navigate” by which one can use the search box to find a location by place, address, or USGS map name. To browse and place a marker or pin on the map, select “mark points” to the right of the map viewer and place a pin on the map in the desired area. Then click the marker for a listing of all available maps for that area. A zip file of the selected map can be downloaded directly from that list or added to a “bundle” to be downloaded together. The bundle or “download cart” can be edited and viewed to the right of the map viewer.
The National Map Data Delivery
Maps from 1882 to present. Requires an email address to receive download links.
Select “US Topo Availability” in the “Overlays” tab of the left pane. Use the search box at the top or click on the map to select a location. Clicking the map pin will reveal the most recent topo available for that area. To download other editions of the map, click “Download” beneath the quadrant name in the “Selection” tab of the left pane. Select “Historical Topo Maps” and click Next. Select the map series of interest and click Next. The “Cart” tab of the left pane will now be visible. From there, items can be previewed, added, and removed from the cart. Click “Checkout” and enter an email address with which to receive the download links for the requested maps.
For additional assistance, check out The National Map Viewer Quick Start Guide.
US Topo and Historical Topographic Map Collection
Maps from 1882 to present.
A text query application for US Topo and HTMC maps. Perform a search of maps by state, scale, or map name. However, without a map name, the results will number in the thousands.
topoView
Maps from 1882 to 2006. Topos available in GeoPDF, GeoTIFF, JPEG, and KMZ formats.
This is a “Beta” application developed by the USGS National Geologic Map Database project (NGMDB) in collaboration with the National Geospatial Program (NGP).
Select the map scale on the right and filter by year by using the timeline slider up top. Select a location by zooming and selecting a quadrant from the map or use the “Enter Location” search box open on the upper right. By clicking on a quadrant, a map information window will open on the bottom left. The map previewed can be downloaded by selecting a format. Additional maps for the area are accessible by clicking the map counter to the right of the map preview.
For more information about how to use topoView, view the help page or watch the short video, An Introduction to TopoView.
USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer
Maps from 1882 to 2006. Ability to view topos as overlays and adjust transparency.
A collaboration between USGS and ESRI.
Use the map to navigate to a location or use the search box in the left pane. Click on the map to place a crosshairs and select the location. The available maps for the area will appear in a timeline on the bottom of the page. Selecting maps will place them in the left pane where the transparency can be adjusted to view the changing landscape over time. Maps can be downloaded by clicking “download map” next to the map thumbnail. In addition, the stack of maps created can be shared by clicking one of the social media links in the upper right.
More detailed instructions are available here, Envisioning the Past: Tips on How to Use the USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer.

More Info

US Topo Quadrangles - Maps for America
Informational website about the US Topo topographic map series.
Historical Topographic Maps - Preserving the Past
Informational website about the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC).

University of Illinois Chicago

University
Library

Search UIC Library Collections

Search UIC Library Website

Maps Produced By The U.S. Government

What are topographic maps?

Scales & Series

Topos Online

More Info

Richard J. Daley Library

Library of the Health Sciences, Chicago

Library of the Health Sciences, Peoria

Crawford Library of the Health Sciences, Rockford

UIC Law Library