Trifter

There are many different kinds of maps but they all have several things in common. The first thing they have in common is that the top of the map is north. This is true of all maps. East is on the right side of the map, west is on the left side of the map and south is at the bottom of the map. This it least will orientate you in the use of a particular map.

We are all familiar with the use of a roadmap even though this can also be a puzzle. The first thing you want to find out is where you are going, and where you are coming from. A roadmap actually spells out these different places by their name. First you have to find the names of places you are concerned with. Then you connect the dots to see how you get where you are going.

On this map there is usually a legend commonly found on the lower right hand corner of the map. Inside the legend you will find a lot of useful interesting and helpful information. It shows a group of symbols that will tell you how large the towns are; it will also show was symbols of points of interest you will encounter on your trip. At the bottom of the legend is usually inscribed a scale of miles that you can use to determine how far you will have to go on your trip. Usually just above the legend is a compass Rose showing use the different compass directions. Right at the top of the legend there is usually the name of the map. Sometimes however this appears at the top of the map.

The other most commonly used map is a topographic map that depicts the actual lay of the land you are interested in traversing. These maps are commonly used by hikers and other people who have an interest.

Like the roadmap this map also has a legend usually appearing at the bottom along with the name of map by quadrangle. It also includes a scale of miles. Tells you how much of an area the map covers in square degrees. The most common map is what is called a 7 1/2 minute quadrangle. This map is considerably less than 1° square. A degree can vary whether it is latitude or longitude. The size of a degree at latitude remains fairly constant considered as one nautical mile. A degree longitude tapers from the equator to the poles, and grows progressively narrower as you approach the pole. At the pole the size of a degree is zero, or a geometric point.

Another piece of information given in the legend is the contour interval. This is the height of the land between two lines. On the most common map this is 10 feet. The contour lines are drawn concentrically depicting the lay of the land. From these ink drawn lines we can determine the lay of the land.

A topomap also depicts all of the man-made structures that were present when the map was drawn. The newest structures are depicted in purple as they were added since the prior map was drawn.

We hope that this information has been useful, and we welcome any suggestions.