Topographic Maps
A topographic map is a detailed, accurate graphic representation of features that appear on the Earth's surface, including:
- human-made (e.g., roads and railways, provincial and national parks, place names, municipal and township boundaries, lots and concessions)
- natural (e.g., lakes and rivers, falls, rapids and rocks, wooded areas, wetlands)
Canadian Topographic Maps
1:50,000 & 1:250,000 Canadian Topographic Maps:
The most used Canadian topographic maps in the collection are the National Topographic System (NTS), 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scale sets. The GSG Library was a full depository for these sets, meaning all current edition paper NTS maps at these scales are available. The GSG Library also holds many previous 1:50,000 editions (primarily Ontario & Québec) in our collection. As of April 2007, these are also available in digital format:
- Download directory - CanMatrix & CanTopo (need to know NTS tile number)
- Download through interactive map (CanMatrix and CanTopo)
Historical Canadian Topographic Maps
Other print maps available are the discontinued Canadian Topographic Series Maps at the scales of 1:25,000, 1:125,000, and 1:126,700, 1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000 (International Map of the World). Coverage varies by set. Please consult the paper indexes filed at the GSG Library for specific details. Some of these are also available in digital format:
- 1:63,360 Topographic Maps of Ontario (Georeferenced)
- 1:63,360 Topographic Maps of Canada (Georeferenced)
- 1:25,000 Topographic Maps of Canada (Georeferenced)
Foreign Topographic Maps
- United States Topographic MapsThe US Topo series is a new generation of maps of the American landscape The project was launched in late 2009, and the term “US Topo” refers specifically to quadrangle topographic maps published in 2009 and later.
- United States Historical Topographic MapsHistoric maps are snapshots of the nation's physical and cultural features at a particular time. Maps of the same area can show how an area looked before development and provide a detailed view of changes over time. Historical maps are often useful to scientists, historians, environmentalists, genealogists and others researching a particular geographic location or area.
- World Topographic MapsListing of world topographic maps from the University of Texas Libraries (Perry Castaneda).
