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Reading Topo Maps: Understanding Map Symbols and Colors

Dotted, dashed, and curvy. Red, blue, and brown. All these colors and styles criss-cross a topo map. Learn what they mean.

by: The Backpacker Editors

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RED -Overprinted on primary and secondary roads to highlight them. Also used to denote surveying features that belong to the U.S. Public Land Survey.

	Township or range line
	Land grant or mining claim
	Fence line

BLACK -Manmade or cultural features

	Primary highway
	Secondary highway
	Light duty road
	Dirt/gravel road
	Trail
	Divided highway
	Dwelling
	School
	Church
	Airport
	Landmark
	Campground
	Picnic area
	Cemetery: small; large
	Railroad tracks
	Power lines
	National boundary
	State boundary
	City boundary
	National park or forest boundary
	Quarry/open pit mine
	Cave or mine entrance

BLUE -Water-related features

	Stream
	River
	Intermittent stream
	Disappearing stream
	Small falls
	Small rapids
	Large falls
	Large rapids
	Water well
	Spring
	Glacier contour lines
	Marsh or swamp

BROWN -Contour lines and elevation numbers

	Index contour lines
	Intermediate contour lines

GREEN -Vegetation features

	Woods
	Scrub
	Orchard

WHITE -Sparse or no vegetation. Basically, white indicates any landscape feature except for trees or water - including desert, grass, sand, rocks, boulders, and so on.



PURPLE -Denotes revisions that have been made to a map using aerial photos. Such revisions have not been field-checked for accuracy.

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