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RESEARCH GUIDES

McKeldin Map Collection

Guide to the map collection on the 4th floor of McKeldin Library.

State Maps

State-wide maps, published since the early 1970s by the USGS and the BLM, are available for each of the fifty states. Scales vary from 1:2,500,000 (Alaska) to 1:500,000. Maps depict a variety of features, including topography, roads, relief, wilderness status, land and minerals management, surface management, landcover, and bathymetry. Multiple editions exist for most states. They are shelved in map cases by state.

Bureau of Land Management Maps

These 1:100,000-scale maps, published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are cadastral survey maps of public lands in 13 western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). There are two series:

  • Surface Management maps depict land ownership information by state and federal agencies (e.g., U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, BLM, National Park Service). 
  • Surface and Mineral Management maps depict land ownership information by state and federal agencies, and the location and nature of federally owned mineral rights.

Both series portray basic geographic, topographic and roadway information, as well as township, range and section boundaries. Maps are updated regularly to accommodate changes in surface ownership, and older editions are retained for historical purposes.

BLM maps are shelved in map cases by state, then by series, then alphabetically by map/quadrangle name.