I often meet other hikers on the trail who seem confused about their location or direction of travel. Most are not carrying a map and simply expect that their will be an obvious trail or markers to define the way. Other people I meet have a map but simply cannot read it.

Knowing how to read a map isn’t difficult, for most people, given training, a bit of practise and continual use. The symbols, topography lines and direction helpers all might require a little understanding, but the answers are all right there! We’ll show you how to find the key to finding your way!

Choosing the Right Map

Understand the scale of the map

The map scale shows you a ratio of map distance to real distance. These differ in size from map to map. Look for the scale, generally located on the side or bottom of the map. It will look something like 1:100,000, which denotes that 1 unit on the map is the equivalent of 100,000 units in real life. In general, the following scales work best as stated:

• 1:25,000 map for hiking
• 1:190,000 map for driving
• 1:24,000,000 map for seeing the entire world.

To determine how far your destination is, use a ruler (found on your compass) and the scale to measure how many kilometres it is from point A to B. For example, if your map’s scale is 1:25,000, and the distance from point A to point B is 15 cm, the total distance is 15 x 25,000 = 375,000cm. One kilometre is 100,000 cm, so the distance from point A to point B is 375,000 ÷ 100,000 = 3.75km. Confused Yet?

Note the latitude and longitude

If you’re traveling to the next town, this isn’t so important. But if you are hikinhsailing, flying, or touring long distances, this might be useful.

• The latitude refers to the distance in degrees north or south of the equator.
• The longitude refers to the distance in degrees east or west of the Greenwich Meridian Line.
• Each degree is divided into 60 minutes, with each minute representing a nautical mile (or 1.15 land miles/1.85km). This means that one degree is the equivalent of 60 nautical miles or 69 land miles/111km.
• The latitude is represented by the numbers on the side of the map.
• The longitude is represented by the numbers at the top and bottom of the map.

Where the latitude and longitude cross at your location is your point of reference. Latitude and longitude points are often used when there are no landmarks or roads to help determine a location.

Tip: If you have trouble remembering which is which, the longitude lines are “long.” The diameter of the longitudinal lines is roughly constant, whereas the latitude lines get progressively smaller, the further they are from the equator.

Learn to read contour lines

Contour lines on a map represent how high or flat the land is. Each line represents a standard height above sea level.

• When contour lines are close together, this means that the gradient is steep (the closer together, the steeper the gradient becomes).
• When the contour lines are further apart, the gradient is flatter, so the further apart they are located, the flatter the ground will be.

Examine the legend

Most maps have a legend or key of symbols on the map itself. Get familiar with how your map represents data—that is key to understanding the rest of the map. In general, maps do the following:

• Lines in varying sizes, colors, and unbroken or broken lines depict roads, from lanes to freeways and all in between.
• Mountains tend to be shown as brown or green, and are height-dependent: darker at the bottom, lighter or white at the top.
• Rivers, lakes, the ocean and other water bodies are generally shown in blue.
• Forests, woods, parks, golf courses, or other large bodies of trees or green space are usually depicted in green.
• Towns and city limits are often shown in a pastel pink or yellow, and the size and boldness of their names indicate relative population size or importance.
• Buildings tend to be shown in gray or black colours.