US Geological Survey Montana Shaded Relief Topographic Map 1:500,000 Scale

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 1:500,000 scale State of Montana Topographic map covers large areas at one inch, about eight miles. These maps are used for regional and statewide planning and land management. They are less detailed than 1:24,000 scale maps, the most detailed maps of the United States, but they still show major features like boundaries, state parks, airports, roads, and railroads. They also show footbridges, drawbridges, fence lines, and changes in road lanes. 
USGS topographic maps typically show both natural and manmade features, including: 
Natural features: Mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, rivers, and vegetation 
Manmade features: Roads, boundaries, transmission lines, and major buildings 
The maps use contour lines to show the Earth's terrain, with closely spaced contours in steep mountainous areas and more widely spaced contours in flatter areas. The elevation of any point on the map can be estimated by referring to the elevations of the contour lines above and below it.

Other features on the map include: 

• Water features: Streams, lakes, and springs are shown in blue
• Woodland features: Shown in green 
• Urbanized areas: Shown in a red tint 

USGS topographic maps are georeferenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) or the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 84) and projected to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection and state coordinate system.

Other Information: