Map Reading

Blue on a topo map always means water, but not always water you can count on. Here's how to read every USGS water and wetland symbol, from perennial streams to...

Green means trees, white means open ground, and stipple patterns mean sand, gravel, or disturbed earth. Here's how to read every USGS vegetation and surface symbol.

That red grid of squares on western and midwestern topo maps is the Public Land Survey System. Here's how to read township, range, and section lines and the corners that...

Every color on a USGS topo map has a job: brown for the land's shape, blue for water, green for woods, black and red for man-made features, and purple for...

Highways in red, back roads in black, trails as a single dashed line. Here's how to read every USGS road, trail, and railroad symbol before you pick a route.

Crossed picks, small Xs, and half-black squares mark mines, pits, and prospects, many of them long abandoned. Here's how to read them, plus power line and pipeline symbols.