vrkelley

How do i read the degrees/minutes/seconds etc to know elevation on a topo map. Here is a link to the map that is in question:


https://www.trails.com/topomap.aspx?trailid=BGW063-004

colleen c

I'm gonna give this a shot at the answer, it's been a while since my days of backpacking and contour topo map reading. I'm sure there are other here much better at answering this but at least this is a start. So here goes:

First off, do not confuse degree, minute and second with elevation. All place on the surface of this earth will have a coordinate in Degree, minutes and second. At any given on coordinate of Degree, minute and second, that number will never change regarless of the elevation. Someone can give you the coordinate in degree minute and second at the tip of Mt Everest and that coordinate remain the same even if someone bulldoze that mountain to a flat valley.

When you scroll that map left/right or up/down, the number showing the degree, minute and second will change at the lower left corner just outside the map. If you note those number of point A and point B, ou can convert those to distant by simply using these conversion:

One degree=69 miles
One minute = 1.1 mile
One second = 0.02 mile (roughly 100ft)

It will be simpler just to use the scale at the bottom left of the sample map you provided for finding a distant from point A to point B.

Now for the elevation. I see two ways of getting your elevation. If you set the map to topo mode, you will see some red color curved line where one or more will have a red number on it, these are call contour lines. I believe in the map here they are in unit of meter. I also see that each interval of the contour line might be 10 meters apart. So if you go from one contour line that has the number 50 on it, then that mean the elevation is at 50 meter. If you jump to the next contour line it will increase to 60 meters or 40 meters depending on which side of the first contour line you go.

Option two. In that map, you can set your starting point A center with the indicator. From there you can read the elevation on the number at the lower left corner(ft or m). Note that elevation and then scroll the map with your trail on the center of the indicator and note the elevation of of point B. The elevation is the difference of the two. Persoanlly, I will not rely on the accuracy of this map. I think a real topo map will be much better.

Did this help or did I confuse the heck out of ya??? This is about the limit of my knowlege and hopefully some else may provide a much better answer......

alanthealan

Depends on the map projection being used, and the latitude. to get around this you can use a representative fraction. Here is a site with directions for the fraction.

For elevation you count the conotur lines, look for a bench mark (usally marked with an x), or the hightest point which is a circle with the elevation labeled.

MVclyde

It's hard to explain how to read a topo map but Colleen's answer was really good. Here's a link to some more detailed info: https://www.maps-gps-info.com/read-topo-maps.html

FWIW, I looked at the map and tried to determine the elevation by moving the center point along contour lines, and moving it between contour lines. It tells you the elevation, but doesn't seem to be very accurate. I would only use it as an indicator of elevation change, but I wouldn't rely on it for a precise answer.

alanthealan

You could also try mapmyride.com the maps are more interactive allowing for route plotting and it also has a profile display with elevation.