Question

What
are
the uses
of colours
on topographical sheets?​

Answer 1

Answer:

The color brown is used to denote most contour lines on a map, which are relief features and elevations. Topographic maps use green to denote vegetation such as woods, while blue is used to denote water features like lakes, swamps, rivers, and drainage.

At higher elevations, mountains may be snow-capped year around, or the terrain may actually be a glacier. In each of these cases, contour lines are also drawn in blue. It is therefore possible to quickly discern that a particular route from A to B might be more treacherous than operating at a high altitude—the trek might require crampons, an ice axe, and other materials that might not be readily available once in the backcountry.

Finally, black is used to represent man-made objects, including trails. Red is used for man-made features, like main roads or political boundaries, and purple for new changes or updates on the map that weren’t previously represented. Newer maps no longer use purple, but since so many older maps exist, it’s worth mentioning.

At the bottom of the Huntsville quad is Lake Ravenshaded in blue, since it’s a water feature. Notice the thick red line, delineating a political feature, the state park boundary. The majority of the image is shaded green, showing that this part of the map is full of vegetation. Contour lines are present in brown, as are two different types of paths: an unimproved or 4-wheel-drive trail represented by parallel dashed lines and a foot trail represented with a single dashed line.