Feature Types of Topo Maps Explained

Feature types on TopoZone are used to categorize all the points of interest in our database. These feature types come from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and are far from perfect. You’ll notice in the list below that there is some overlap of points of interest that fall under different categories.

In a few cases we have changed feature type names to make it a little clearer (e.g. changing “ppl” to “city”). In other cases we re-categorized individual points of interest (e.g. moving lighthouses that were under “locale”). However, with over 1.1 million points of interest in our database, it’s hard to fix all the anomalies presented in the data.

Every county page on TopoZone has a list of the feature types related to that county. To help make it clear how the points of interest fall into these categories, we have created a detailed list of the feature types found on the site. Many different points of interest can be found within a feature type. In this list below we included the different features and naming conventions that are used within each feature type category.

List of Topo Map Feature Types

  • Arch – rock arches, rock windows, and natural bridges
  • Area – wide areas and places with “area” in the name such as natural areas, prairies, meadows, forests, wildernesses, wild areas, land tracts, recreation areas, roadless areas, groves, plateaus, mesas, hills, badlands, breaks, dunes, rincons, islands, ranches, fields, watersheds, deltas, alluvial fans, valleys, geological areas, conservation areas, botanical areas, study areas, burned areas, historic areas, memorial areas, scenic areas, primitive areas, wildlife areas, game management areas, public hunting areas, oil fields, mining areas, rockhounding areas, picnic areas, rest areas, viewing areas, camping areas, and experimental areas
  • Arroyo – dry creeks including draws, washes, gulches, ravines, canyons, coulees, and arroyos
  • Basin – low spots including basins, valleys, swales, cirques, pockets, sinks, holes, bottoms, pits, tubs, bowls, wallows, hollows, potholes, and natural amphitheaters
  • Bay – large bodies of water including bays, coves, bights, lagoons, harbors, anchorages, eddies, inlets, arms, waterways, ports, bayous, and sounds
  • Beach – shoreline features including beaches, banks, shores, coasts, swashes, and landings
  • Bench – flat spots on slopes that include ledges, benches, shelves, tables, decks, mesas, plateaus, and terraces
  • Bend – natural river features such as bends, curves, eddies, turns, elbows, oxbows, logans, rounds, angles, holes, bottoms, reaches, and cutoffs
  • Cape – places that extend into bodies of water like points, capes, spits, peninsulas, heads, and necks
  • Channel – waterways such as channels, passages, canals, narrows, cuts, straits, sloughs, bayous, chutes, floodways, inlets, reaches, ranges, passes, creeks, rivers, gaps, cuts, and water highways
  • City – populated places such as cities, towns, urban districts, census designated places, subdivisions, additions, estates, villages, mobile home parks, trailer parks, homesteads, historical former townsites, and ghost towns
  • Cliff – steep slopes including cliffs, walls, inclines, crags, points, bluffs, rims, headlands, mesas, ledges, noses, and rocks
  • Crater – volcanic craters, meteor craters, and calderas
  • Flat – flat areas including flats, parks, meadows, prairies, pastures, cienegas, plains, and clearings
  • Forest – forests, woods, national forests, state forests, municipal forests, national grasslands, forest preserves, petrified forests, forest ranger districts, tree nurseries, and conservation areas
  • Gap – low spots between summits like passes, gaps, divides, saddles, cols, narrows, and notches
  • Geyser – geysers
  • Glacier – glacial features including glaciers, snowfields, icefields, icefalls, glacier lobes
  • Harbor – boating points of interest such as harbors, marinas, docks, slips, moorages, berths, anchorages, boat basins, air harbors, yacht clubs, boatyards, and ports
  • Hot Springs – hot springs, hot seeps
  • Island – islands, islets, archipelagos, rocks, keys, heads, towheads, and hammocks
  • Isthmus – includes isthmuses, narrows, and necks
  • Lake – lakes, ponds, and reservoirs
  • Lava – volcanic lava features such as lava flows, volcanic fields, lava beds, lava tubes, and lava domes
  • Levee – man-made water control features including dikes, levees, banks, and revetments
  • Lighthouse – lighthouses, light stations, lights, lighthouse historical markers
  • Locale – “catch-all” category for many things including ranches, corrals, ranger stations, guard stations, substations, camps, campgrounds, caverns, shelters, shopping centers, malls, plazas, golf courses, recreation sites, lookouts, viewpoints, overlooks, towns, cities, rest areas, ruins, fairgrounds, cabins, windmills, aquariums, visitor centers, lodges, ports, railroad stations, stadiums, arenas, marinas, boat launches, piers, gardens, botanical areas, rearing ponds, chalets, schools, powerhouses, mills, villages, farms, historical places
  • Park – city parks, state parks, national parks, campgrounds, picnic areas, playgrounds, city pools, sports fields, recreation centers, national monuments, historical monuments, historical markers, fairgrounds, recreation areas, wildernesses, wildlife refuges, waterfowl management areas, natural areas, bird sanctuaries, rest stops, stadiums, preserves, gardens, arboretums, and zoos
  • Pillar – rock pillars such as spires, pinnacles, chimneys, needles, columns, poles, rocks, stacks, peaks, volcanic plugs, monuments, and rock towers
  • Plain – large broad areas including plains, plateaus, deserts, uplands, and tablelands
  • Range – areas with multiples summits including mountain ranges, hills, mountains, buttes, knobs, and peaks
  • Rapids – river rapids, riffles, rips, eddies, shoals, chutes, and cascades
  • Reserve – wildernesses, Indian reservations, reserves, natural preserves, open spaces, wildlife habitat areas, wildlife management areas, fishing access sites, game ranges, wildlife areas
  • Reservoir – man-made bodies of water including reservoirs, lakes, ponds, tanks, silt detention ponds, city water reservoirs
  • Ridge – ridges, divides, fronts, hills, mountains, cleavers, points, arms, and spurs
  • Ski Area – ski areas, ski resorts, cross-country ski areas, ski touring centers, and winter sports areas
  • Slope – graded hillsides including slopes, inclines, bluffs, hills, grades, slides
  • Slough – slow moving swampy waterways such as sloughs, bayous, branches, swales, creeks, rivers, cuts and guts
  • Spring – natural water sources a.k.a. springs, warm springs, and seeps
  • Stream – creeks, rivers, streams, brooks, washes, drains, arroyos, sloughs, forks, branches, runs, and kills
  • Summit – individual mountains, peaks, hills, mesas, buttes, points, knobs, knolls, balds, domes, rocks, heads, lookouts, mounts and mounds
  • Swamp – wetlands including marshes, swamps, bogs, marshy lakes, cienegas, heaths, meadows, bays, brakes, sloughs, sumps, ponds, and vlys
  • Tower – lookout towers, fire towers, beacons, radio towers, TV towers, microwave towers, water towers, bell towers
  • Trail – includes trails and paths for hiking and biking, trailheads, parking areas, national scenic trails, nature trails, rail-trails, 4×4 trails, canoe trails, and ski trails
  • Valley – valleys, canyons, gulches, coulees, hollows, pockets, boxes, slot canyons, cañadas, ravines, rincons, draws, washes, heads, and gorges
  • Waterfalls – falls, waterfalls, cascades, drops, and pour-offs
  • Woods – wooded areas including woods, groves, pines, patches, orchards, brambles, forests, thickets, brakes, and pineries

The USGS feature types that are currently not used on TopoZone include:

  • Airports
  • Bars
  • Bridges
  • Buildings
  • Canals
  • Cemeteries
  • Census
  • Churches
  • Civil
  • Crossings
  • Dams
  • Hospitals
  • Military
  • Mines
  • Oilfields
  • Post offices
  • Schools
  • Seas
  • Tunnels
  • Wells