There are thousands of stories in the Adventure Journal archive. We like to paw through the files on occasion, to pull one out, give it a shine, and put it back on the homepage for new readers to enjoy. -Ed
I first fell in love with topographic maps about 12 years ago. I’d scored a dream job with the National Park Service, performing archaeological surveys deep in the backcountry of Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park for weeks at a time. Every morning, our crew leader would have us unfold our Mt. Clarence King or Kearsarge Peak 7.5 minute quadrangle maps, and we’d plot out the day’s off-trail survey. At lunch, we’d do the same, this time trying to figure out where the hell we were, using contour lines and shooting bearings of nearby peaks with our incredibly cool orienteering compasses. Nobody carried a GPS. The maps were like little miracles to me. The little boy in me was eternally fascinated.
I knew nothing about topo maps then. I was perplexed at how they were made, and wondered how much of the country had been mapped to that level of accuracy. For the next few years I worked as an archaeologist, occasionally using topos in field surveys, drawing site maps of my own, still befuddled how a two-dimensional paper map could depict the contours of the earth so well.
Here are five things you may not have known about topo maps (though you’ve likely suspected #5):
1. There Are Topographic Maps of the Planets
Scientists and cartographers have drawn topo maps of the surfaces of other planets. Mercury, Venus, Mars—all mapped. You could plop down on the surface of those places, and, well, lord knows what your compass would be doing (and you’d definitely be dead), but you could in theory, hike around for awhile with a decent idea of where you were. Our moon has been topo-ed too. Of course, all the best campsites on the moon have been booked like a year in advance, and you can forget about scoring a weekend site up there until 2025.
2. The History of USGS Topos is Long
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been making and compiling topographic maps since 1884. That’s a long time! They finally finished mapping every square inch of the lower 48 states in 1991, and have published tens of thousands of topo maps in their history. You can actually access thousands of historic topographical maps through the USGS’s Topoview website. Want to compare topos of Mt. Whitney from 1919 and 1994? See how the Lake Tahoe basin has developed in the last 60 years? Topoview’s got the goods. I’ve spent way, way too much time on this website already.
3. Copper Plate Topo Maps
Until about 1950, topographic maps of the U.S. were made from beautifully-engraved copper plates. At first, these plates were engraved from field drawings made by surveyors. Eventually, aerial stereophotography replaced the hand-drawn field maps, before new techniques nixed the copper engravings altogether. But for a few decades, USGS topos were pressed from gorgeous copper plates, adding an even cooler bit of alchemy to the map-making magic. I kind of wish they still were. Some of those copper plates were preserved, and have been sold to the public for display.
4. Accuracy of USGS Topos Is Impressive
Ever wonder how accurate 7.5 minute USGS quadrangles are? I always did. The vast majority of times you’re in the backcountry, “pretty accurate” is just fine for maps, provided you’re on a trail, of course. But still, I was always curious—is this bridge on the map, really, exactly right where the map says it is? Turns out, USGS topo maps use the National Map Accuracy Standards. This means that 90 percent of the horizontal points tested by field survey teams are accurate to within 40 feet. Vertical points, to within half a contour line, or five feet, based on standard 7.5 minute, 10-foot contour lines. So, yeah. That bridge is pretty much where it says it is.
5. Using a Topo Map Temporarily Turns You Into a Badass Explorer
Look – I LOVE my Gaia GPS app. Love it. Wouldn’t go the backcountry without it. But I still pull out my topo [ed. note: always bring a paper map] and compass and try to plot my location because it makes me feel like an honest-to-god adventurer. Plus, they make people using them look cool as hell, as I remind my wife every time I pull a map out of my pack.
Bonus: 6. Hey, you stuck around to the end. Nice job. Here’s one last localized topo fact. The back cover of Adventure Journal Quarterly features a section of a U.S. topo map that relates somehow to a place featured in the magazine. Sometimes the connections are direct, sometimes not. See if you can figure them out!
Bravo! My father was mariner and woodsman who taught me compass and map as a kid. Then the US Army refined it. I still go with map and compass and supplement with a GPS only sometimes. Gotta keep the skills up.
No longer seeing the ‘Share’ option on posts to share on FB/TW … I am missing it somewhere? Thanks!
We had some issues with the module we were using and are researching a new one—thanks for noticing!
Nice. Enjoyed this bit. I’ve been topo’ed
Fun read. I’ve built up quite the collection of maps these days. Despite all the tech, I still like to buy regular old paper maps.
Amazing tidbit about the copper plates! And I’d be curious to see how an “earth” compass works somewhere else.
Thanks the map article. In the U.K. Here mapping started rather earlier. And we even completed the survey of India by the end of the 1850,s. I Recoomend the book on this story. The great arc, the story of how India and every were mapped and named.
I do long distance canoeing, solo in Northern B.C. This summers trip is 1400 km or 44 1:50,000
topos. The Topo tells a story of things that i won’t see on the river, the valleys and hills and the lifelines that are all around me. They tell me what the rate of descent is on the river, where there should be a rapid even if it is not marked. I live by these maps, a joy at the end of the day to look ahead and see the unfolding story. And also look back at what was accomplished while i was focused on navigating and not seeing the total picture.
Great article! I have a collection from when I guided in the desert SW. I’ve marked my favorite springs, camp sites and arch sites discovered just by wandering.
are the counter intervals not 40 ft on the 7.5 min map?
I know everyone already knows this, but in case you don’t know the awesomeness…. caltopo.com.
I always try and figure out the top map on the back of the AJ. One of my favorite parts of the magazine.
Love it Dude. My browser has a new bookmark.
Take it to the next level and use underwater topographic maps and a compass to navigate underwater, in total darkness of night…
Bathymetric maps actually…
After a couple of AJ issues, I caught on (hey, I’m slow) and figure out where it is, almost always using google. Ok, always with google. Nice touch and yet another example of the awesomeness of AJ mag.
If you have older USGS topos, find a map key.
There are many small printed figures indicating features you may wish to know… about such as springs for water, etc.
I biked the Northern Tier Route in 2018, following AAC-Maps but also using road maps to get the bigger Picture. I had an awful time finding Maps, though. Whenever I asked (at gas stations, bookstores, Tourist Offices) people seemed to dimly remember that, yes, there were such things as road maps in the pre-GPS era – just as there have been dinsosaurs in some prehistoric time. We should start a “save the printed map” extinction Rebellion sort of initiative to make sure following generations know what topo- and roadmaps are. And how wonderfully inspiring they can be!