7 ms·

Printable 1:24000 topographic maps for the entire US

141 points by david-given 10y ago

tombrossman 10y ago
This is cool, thanks to OP for submitting this. In the past I have ordered topographic maps from Raven Maps and they really are excellent. Not cheap, but you can get plain paper suitable for framing or laminated if you want to write on them with whiteboard markers. I have a giant one of the USA, plus a few of states I've lived in. No affiliation with the company except as a customer. http://www.ravenmaps.com/ http://www.ravenmaps.com/
- ghaff 10y ago
  Raven has some really beautiful maps. Their landforms and drainage, in particular, is a real work of art. I used to have it up on an office wall but I don't have any surface big enough for it at the moment.
- Animats 10y ago
  If you want USGS topos on paper, the USGS sells them directly.[1] The USGS retail map store in Menlo Park, CA sells only California maps now. [1] https://store.usgs.gov/ https://store.usgs.gov/
yread 10y ago
Note that they can be quite old (USGS rev. 2001). They also don't have a lot of detail - I was looking at the section of Appalachian trail I hiked and it would it quite difficult to use these maps even though they are nominally larger scale than the map I've used.
david-given 10y ago
I'm a map junkie; I grew up in the UK, where we have the Ordnance Survey, who makes some of the best maps in the world. At school we actually got lessons in mapreading and analysis. As a result, whenever I go to another country the first thing I do is to try and find some decent maps of the area. With, you know, contours on them. It can be surprisingly hard. I was so, so glad to find this.
- bane 10y ago
  You may also enjoy the U.S. equivalent to the Ordnance Survey, the USGS. https://www.usgs.gov/ https://www.usgs.gov/
  - mikeyouse 10y ago
    A cool link that's pretty hidden on the USGS site is Earth Explorer: http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It's an agglomeration of most maps that are available -- you can pick the area, and then see a giant list of the types of maps that cover those coordinates. From topo maps to high resolution aerial photographs, to solar irradiance, to rainfall -- all types of interesting materials.
- arethuza 10y ago
  FYI Bing maps has the UK OS maps down to 1:25,000 - which is awesome!
  - david-given 10y ago
    Bing's geoblocked! You don't get the OS goodness unless you're inside the UK... streetmap.co.uk works everywhere, though, if you can stand the old-school interface: http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=171500&y=844500&z=120 http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=171500&y=844500&z=120
- iliis 10y ago
  Interested in maps from Switzerland? They are of very high quality as well: http://map.geo.admin.ch/ http://map.geo.admin.ch/ There are a lot of different overlays as well as older versions available. I especially recommend the 'Dufour Map' and the 'Siegfried Map' from the 19th century, the earliest official maps of the country.
  - tschuy 10y ago
    Similarly, the French government has some great maps up: http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil It's in French, unfortunately for the Anglophone world, but they also have aerial maps dating back to the 30s under the advanced explorer.
torgoguys 10y ago
For some reason, I read the title as being 3D printable maps for the entire US. That'll eventually come, I guess.
- patrickg_zill 10y ago
  There is no reason you can't make a 3d map, by tracing the contour lines...
- dagw 10y ago
  You can get low resolution digital elevation models over the US from the USGS or NASA. From there you can triangulate and generate an stl file fairly easily.
- noahnoahnoah 10y ago
  I actually sort of did this (but I cut them w/ a CNC router rather than 3D printing them). https://imgur.com/a/fMy19 https://imgur.com/a/fMy19 is the finished product; http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524543 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524543 are the files I generated and used. They aren't truly accurate maps -- they do have the elevation exaggerated to be more visually interesting, but it's consistently scaled. Some people have gone on to print them w/ 3d printers (rumor is they're on the wall at Makerbot now).
- dharma1 10y ago
  Here you go http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/ http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/
- thatcherc 10y ago
  Already has! I made Terrain2STL [0] a couple years ago to do just that. It converts STRM topo data to the STL format. [0] - http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/ http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/
  - dharma1 10y ago
    Nice. Could you 3D print the entire earth as a globe? :)
planteen 10y ago
The US National Map has better, more recent topos. These GeoPDFs allow turning on/off layers (e.g., satellite image, PLSS grid lines, etc). You can also download historic topos. http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/ http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/
- Animats 10y ago
  That used to be at "seamless.usgs.gov". The USGS was proud that they'd finally aligned their topos into one seamless map.
NelsonMinar 10y ago
Hey this is awesome! I'm a little confused about the NatGeo copyright; aren't these USGS maps and therefore not copyrighted? If you want an online map, MapZen recently produced a really excellent outdoor map style. No contours, but really beautiful relief shading and an emphasis on hiking trails, parks, etc. It's based on open data including OpenStreetmap, SRTM, and a lot of other sources. https://mapzen.com/blog/walkabout/ https://mapzen.com/blog/walkabout/
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  (I can't get the page to load yet, but own a bunch of NatGeo maps-) It probably falls under something akin to fair use. NatGeo is likely using a lot of USGS geo data, but doing additional work on top, adding in trails, making the map nice, etc. I tried to make my own maps once for my GPS unit, it gave me a new level of respect for mapmakers. It's not terribly hard to take the raw LIDAR survey data and make crude maps, but making a nice polished zoomable map with trails, POI's, etc is laborious.
  - knz 10y ago
    > I tried to make my own maps once for my GPS unit, it gave me a new level of respect for mapmakers. It's not terribly hard to take the raw LIDAR survey data and make crude maps, but making a nice polished zoomable map with trails, POI's, etc is laborious. It was even more laborious before computers were involved in cartography. My first employer was full of old timers who manually carved contour lines and maintained trig stations.
BarkMore 10y ago
CalTopo (http://caltopo.com/ http://caltopo.com/) has these maps and more. In addition, CalTopo supports many useful overlays.
nighthawk 10y ago
I'm a huge fan of http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/ http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/ for finding USGS maps - it's a simple, visual browser to find all available years + scale levels for any location.
CrackpotGonzo 10y ago
My friend uses these open maps to make really cool 3D topo maps. If anyone's interested this is it: http://lithosproject.com http://lithosproject.com
Maultasche 10y ago
Wow, the map for my area is seriously outdated. My town looks about like it did when I was a kid in the 1980s. It's easy to tell because my town has consistently grown since then from around 20k population to 150k population, and a lot of things that were built up in the late 80s aren't yet on that map. It's quite fascinating to get a refresher of what it looked like in the past. It's a nice concept. I like being able to see this stuff.
gravypod 10y ago
Is there any way to download bulk data sets for gross height data for the USA? I'd love to pair that up with OSM to make a few nice 3D maps.
- waterphone 10y ago
  http://nationalmap.gov/elevation.html http://nationalmap.gov/elevation.html
kirrent 10y ago
Damn, and here I was already jealous that NOAA provides free charts for the US coast. http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml
jsweojtj 10y ago
I love this stuff! I have a wooden topographical map made with a 3D CNC cut of the SF Bay Area hanging on my wall. It's about 18x18 inches and almost 2 inches deep out of a single piece of almost 2 inch thick piece of plywood. The part I like the most is that the layers in the plywood reveal an automatic topographical map visualization. Got it from here if curious: http://3dwoodenmap.com/ http://3dwoodenmap.com/
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

141 points by david-given 10y ago

This is cool, thanks to OP for submitting this. In the past I have ordered topographic maps from Raven Maps and they really are excellent. Not cheap, but you can get plain paper suitable for framing or laminated if you want to write on them with whiteboard markers. I have a giant one of the USA, plus a few of states I've lived in. No affiliation with the company except as a customer. http://www.ravenmaps.com/ http://www.ravenmaps.com/

ghaff 10y ago
Raven has some really beautiful maps. Their landforms and drainage, in particular, is a real work of art. I used to have it up on an office wall but I don't have any surface big enough for it at the moment.
Animats 10y ago
If you want USGS topos on paper, the USGS sells them directly.[1] The USGS retail map store in Menlo Park, CA sells only California maps now. [1] https://store.usgs.gov/ https://store.usgs.gov/

yread 10y ago

Note that they can be quite old (USGS rev. 2001). They also don't have a lot of detail - I was looking at the section of Appalachian trail I hiked and it would it quite difficult to use these maps even though they are nominally larger scale than the map I've used.

david-given 10y ago

I'm a map junkie; I grew up in the UK, where we have the Ordnance Survey, who makes some of the best maps in the world. At school we actually got lessons in mapreading and analysis. As a result, whenever I go to another country the first thing I do is to try and find some decent maps of the area. With, you know, contours on them. It can be surprisingly hard. I was so, so glad to find this.

bane 10y ago
You may also enjoy the U.S. equivalent to the Ordnance Survey, the USGS. https://www.usgs.gov/ https://www.usgs.gov/
- mikeyouse 10y ago
  A cool link that's pretty hidden on the USGS site is Earth Explorer: http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It's an agglomeration of most maps that are available -- you can pick the area, and then see a giant list of the types of maps that cover those coordinates. From topo maps to high resolution aerial photographs, to solar irradiance, to rainfall -- all types of interesting materials.
arethuza 10y ago
FYI Bing maps has the UK OS maps down to 1:25,000 - which is awesome!
- david-given 10y ago
  Bing's geoblocked! You don't get the OS goodness unless you're inside the UK... streetmap.co.uk works everywhere, though, if you can stand the old-school interface: http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=171500&y=844500&z=120 http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=171500&y=844500&z=120
iliis 10y ago
Interested in maps from Switzerland? They are of very high quality as well: http://map.geo.admin.ch/ http://map.geo.admin.ch/ There are a lot of different overlays as well as older versions available. I especially recommend the 'Dufour Map' and the 'Siegfried Map' from the 19th century, the earliest official maps of the country.
- tschuy 10y ago
  Similarly, the French government has some great maps up: http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil It's in French, unfortunately for the Anglophone world, but they also have aerial maps dating back to the 30s under the advanced explorer.

torgoguys 10y ago

For some reason, I read the title as being 3D printable maps for the entire US. That'll eventually come, I guess.

patrickg_zill 10y ago
There is no reason you can't make a 3d map, by tracing the contour lines...
dagw 10y ago
You can get low resolution digital elevation models over the US from the USGS or NASA. From there you can triangulate and generate an stl file fairly easily.
noahnoahnoah 10y ago
I actually sort of did this (but I cut them w/ a CNC router rather than 3D printing them). https://imgur.com/a/fMy19 https://imgur.com/a/fMy19 is the finished product; http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524543 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1524543 are the files I generated and used. They aren't truly accurate maps -- they do have the elevation exaggerated to be more visually interesting, but it's consistently scaled. Some people have gone on to print them w/ 3d printers (rumor is they're on the wall at Makerbot now).
dharma1 10y ago
Here you go http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/ http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/
thatcherc 10y ago
Already has! I made Terrain2STL [0] a couple years ago to do just that. It converts STRM topo data to the STL format. [0] - http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/ http://jthatch.com/Terrain2STL/
- dharma1 10y ago
  Nice. Could you 3D print the entire earth as a globe? :)

planteen 10y ago

The US National Map has better, more recent topos. These GeoPDFs allow turning on/off layers (e.g., satellite image, PLSS grid lines, etc). You can also download historic topos. http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/ http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/

Animats 10y ago
That used to be at "seamless.usgs.gov". The USGS was proud that they'd finally aligned their topos into one seamless map.

NelsonMinar 10y ago

Hey this is awesome! I'm a little confused about the NatGeo copyright; aren't these USGS maps and therefore not copyrighted? If you want an online map, MapZen recently produced a really excellent outdoor map style. No contours, but really beautiful relief shading and an emphasis on hiking trails, parks, etc. It's based on open data including OpenStreetmap, SRTM, and a lot of other sources. https://mapzen.com/blog/walkabout/ https://mapzen.com/blog/walkabout/

sliverstorm 10y ago
(I can't get the page to load yet, but own a bunch of NatGeo maps-) It probably falls under something akin to fair use. NatGeo is likely using a lot of USGS geo data, but doing additional work on top, adding in trails, making the map nice, etc. I tried to make my own maps once for my GPS unit, it gave me a new level of respect for mapmakers. It's not terribly hard to take the raw LIDAR survey data and make crude maps, but making a nice polished zoomable map with trails, POI's, etc is laborious.
- knz 10y ago
  > I tried to make my own maps once for my GPS unit, it gave me a new level of respect for mapmakers. It's not terribly hard to take the raw LIDAR survey data and make crude maps, but making a nice polished zoomable map with trails, POI's, etc is laborious. It was even more laborious before computers were involved in cartography. My first employer was full of old timers who manually carved contour lines and maintained trig stations.

BarkMore 10y ago

CalTopo (http://caltopo.com/ http://caltopo.com/) has these maps and more. In addition, CalTopo supports many useful overlays.

nighthawk 10y ago

I'm a huge fan of http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/ http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/ for finding USGS maps - it's a simple, visual browser to find all available years + scale levels for any location.

CrackpotGonzo 10y ago

My friend uses these open maps to make really cool 3D topo maps. If anyone's interested this is it: http://lithosproject.com http://lithosproject.com

Maultasche 10y ago

Wow, the map for my area is seriously outdated. My town looks about like it did when I was a kid in the 1980s. It's easy to tell because my town has consistently grown since then from around 20k population to 150k population, and a lot of things that were built up in the late 80s aren't yet on that map. It's quite fascinating to get a refresher of what it looked like in the past. It's a nice concept. I like being able to see this stuff.

gravypod 10y ago

Is there any way to download bulk data sets for gross height data for the USA? I'd love to pair that up with OSM to make a few nice 3D maps.

waterphone 10y ago
http://nationalmap.gov/elevation.html http://nationalmap.gov/elevation.html

kirrent 10y ago

Damn, and here I was already jealous that NOAA provides free charts for the US coast. http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml

jsweojtj 10y ago

I love this stuff! I have a wooden topographical map made with a 3D CNC cut of the SF Bay Area hanging on my wall. It's about 18x18 inches and almost 2 inches deep out of a single piece of almost 2 inch thick piece of plywood. The part I like the most is that the layers in the plywood reveal an automatic topographical map visualization. Got it from here if curious: http://3dwoodenmap.com/ http://3dwoodenmap.com/

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]