How to Read a Topographical Map on a Hiking Trip

Video Transcript

"Hi! I’m Kate with Zoar Outdoor on behalf of expertvillage.com talking to you about hiking and backpacking. When reading a map of when you are going hiking, there are some things to look at right away. Topographical maps show you the elevation. This one is a topographical map and if you look, you can see how these lines all around the map. I’ve drawn lines on this map to demonstrate exactly what these lines do. It is essentially putting lines on a flat piece of paper to make it seem or look like mountain. At the top, you will have the summit, has a circle and if it is super steep, on the actual map itself the lines will be closer than the other since this is a steep side. If it is not a steep section, the lines won’t be as close together and you will be able to tell this on the map. On my map the contours intervals are every 100 feet. So that means every time there is a contour line, it is a 100 foot difference. So in this map, I can tell valleys to peaks where the trail is and you also can find this out by the map key. The trails on this map are in red, the contour lines are brown, rivers and water are all blue and I can see if I am going to be traveling at the top of peaks or if I would be down in a valley near the shelters or if there is water nearby. All these things are very easy to find out with your map and you don’t need a compass to find it all out. Read your map key, learn how to figure out the contour lines and learn what the scale is for your mileage and you should have a pretty good day using your map; you don’t need a compass. You just need to steady your map very well and take notice if you're hiking up something or hiking down something, and if you're near water or not."