Topographic Maps of New York
Combine a topographic basemap, contours and shaded relief to understand the ground.
Read the shape
Contours connect equal elevations. Closely spaced lines show steep ground; nested loops can show summits or depressions. Shaded relief helps distinguish ridges from valleys, but its lighting is a visualization rather than a sun study.
Compare the backgrounds
USGS Topo supplies map context, Esri World Imagery supplies a visual aerial backdrop, and the relief basemap uses USGS hillshade. Aerial downloads use public-domain USGS NAIP rather than the Esri display layer.
The tool offers 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 100, 200, 500 ft. Use 1 or 2 ft for a house lot, a driveway or site work, 5 or 10 ft for acreage, a farm or a day hike, and 20 ft or more for steep country such as Mount Marcy or the Catskills, where finer lines merge into a solid band.
Data and accuracy
Ground elevations come from the public-domain USGS 3DEP seamless bare-earth model, above NAVD 88. Source detail varies by location. Lidar coverage and source resolution vary across New York. Check your location against the USGS 3DEP index; no statewide coverage percentage is asserted. Buildings and trees are excluded from every terrain analysis in this edition.
Accuracy depends on the source survey, its date and processing. Check the work-unit metadata for your site; this tool does not promise a vertical accuracy. Bare-earth elevations exclude buildings and tree canopy. Coarser source areas have less detail, and a fine contour interval does not create finer source data. These results are not a substitute for surveyed elevations where engineering or legal decisions depend on them.
DXF exports use New York State Plane, US survey feet (zone selected for the area). Each file records the exact zone and local origin.
Try it on your site
Map analysis is free. Downloads use a pass: US$29 for 24 hours, US$99 for 30 days or US$399 for 12 months, one-off payments with no subscription.
Data sources and further reading
Everything on this page is built on public elevation data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program and New York’s lidar program. If you want the raw data rather than a processed result, these are the places it lives.
Primary sources
- USGS 3DEP elevation service — Bare-earth elevation for the map and downloads, with 3.3 ft source cells where available and coarser detail elsewhere.
- USGS 3DEP lidar work units — Coverage footprints, collection dates, source resolution and quality levels.
- NYS GeoHub public tax parcels — Assessment parcel boundaries in participating counties. Reference data, not surveys.
Search, basemaps and terms
- USGS GNIS place names — Place search is restricted to New York.
- NYS GeoHub address geocoder — Public address search.
- USGS Topo — Topographic display basemap.
- Esri World Imagery — Display-only aerial basemap, under Esri terms. Aerial downloads use USGS NAIP instead.