FeatherSticks · Skills
How to Read Contour Lines: Hills, Valleys and Slopes Explained
Those brown squiggles on your map are a 3D model. Here is how to read it.
Quick facts
- Time to learn
- Basics in an evening, fluency after a few walks
- Difficulty
- Easy to moderate
- Best for
- Route planning, off-trail travel, finding camp spots
- You need
- Topographic map 1:25,000, ruler or compass
What you need
- Topographic map 1:25,000
- Baseplate compass with a ruler
- Pencil and paper strip for profiles
- Waterproof map case
- Phone with offline maps as backup
- Washable marker for the fist model
Step by step
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1 Check the contour interval
Look in the map legend for the height step between two lines – typically 10 m on 1:25,000 maps in Germany.
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2 Find the index contours
Every fifth line is usually thicker and labelled with its height. Count on from it in interval steps.
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3 Work out which way is uphill
Height labels rise towards the summit, and streams lie in valleys and always flow downhill.
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4 Read the spacing
Lines close together mean steep ground; lines far apart mean gentle ground.
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5 Name the landforms
Rings are hills, an hourglass is a saddle, a V pointing uphill is a valley, a V pointing downhill is a spur.
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6 Match map and terrain
Orient the map and compare the shapes with what you see around you as you walk.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to check the contour interval and misjudging the height of a climb.
- Mixing up valleys and spurs because both look like a V – check which way is uphill.
- Planning by distance only and ignoring the ascent hidden in the contours.
- Trusting the lines to show every small bank or crag that lies between two intervals.
- Treating a map-based slope angle as exact, especially near snow slopes.
- Reading app contours zoomed out, where only a few lines are shown.
- Camping in a hollow or valley bottom that collects cold air and water.