Boyd's US Landscape Topo Basemap

boydsmaps

This map is locally hosted at boydsmaps.com

Link to this metadata:
boydsmaps.com/mapinfo/lctopo.html

Link to this map:
boydsmaps.com/#9.00/39.780052/-104.989378/lctopo/0.00/0.00

Originally published: October 13, 2025

Most recent update: none

Resolution: 125 feet (38.2 meters)

Map Tiles: 461,000

Size: 18.7 gb

Data Sources

US Geological Survey
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Domestic Names
prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/GeographicNames

National Atlas of the United States
1:1,000,000-Scale Major Roads of the United States
geodata.lib.berkeley.edu/catalog/stanford-tq511pr5084

US Geological Survey
Governmental Unit Boundaries dataset from The National Map
data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/data/

US Department of Transportation
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Aviation Facilities
geodata.bts.gov/datasets/usdot::aviation-facilities

Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC)
Annual National Land Cover Database
www.mrlc.gov/data

NASA EarthData
ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model
earthdata.nasa.gov/data/catalog/lpcloud-astgtm-002

Description

This map - available exclusively at boydsmaps - is based on the same NLCD dataset as our Landscape of the United States 2024 map and can be used as a companion to all the maps in the Landscape Series with our sync app.

But it can also be useful as a general purpose US basemap. Our goal was to create something different from the typical OpenStreetmap-based maps found elsewhere. It is based on data from a variety of different sources, giving it a unique style. The Level 12 (125 foot) resolution is the maximum amount of detail available from NLCD source data and is sufficient to show features at a regional scale but not small details.

Road data includes interstate highways, US highways, state and county routes from the National Atlas of the United States. Minor roads were derived from the 2024 National Landcover Database (NLCD) impervious descriptor product which differentiates roads from other impervious surfaces. This dataset provides clear images of minor roads in many locations but lacks detail in others, depending on the local geology and other factors.

Major roads are identified with custom route icons, a special boydsmaps feature not found on other maps. Some toll road icons contain small text that is difficult to read; use the legend below as a reference. There are a total of 28,455 of these custom route icons on the map.

The locations of cities and towns were derived from points created at the geographic centers of polygons in the National Map Governmental Unit Boundaries dataset. We chose this source because it includes population data, unlike other national datasets such as US Census Bureau shapefiles. This allowed us to create labels with font sizes proportional to population as shown below. Note that the dates are unknown for this data however and may not accurately represent the current population of all cities. We also included some small towns from a legacy boydsmaps dataset that doesn't include population data.

The following table summarizes the population of cities on the map. Note that you must zoom all the way in to Level 12 to see all cities. As you zoom out, fewer towns are shown and the font sizes are progressively smaller.

A total of 76,228 Points of Interest (POI) derived from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) are included in the map. For the most part, they fall into the category of geographic features, as summarized below. Again, you must zoom all the way in to level 12 to see all points of interest. As you zoom out, fewer POI are shown until you reach level 6 where there are none.

Custom icons with standard three-letter codes were created for major airports, based on data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. These are only shown at zoom levels 10 through 12.

The GNIS data did not include the elevation of mountain summits, so we generated them from the same ASTER GDEM data that was used for the shaded terrain. All elevations are shown in feet.

Important: these elevations are not the accepted standard for the summits. They are only provided as a general reference and are not likely to match any official elevations, due to the relatively low resolution of the data and the fact that it's a Digital Surface Model (DSM) instead of a bare-earth Digital Elevation Model (DEM).

Green forest shading and pink areas representing development were derived directly from the 2024 Annual National Landcover Database. They were then mapped onto a 3d surface created from ASTER GDEM terrain data (which is also used in our series of US Landscape maps). Waterbodies were also extracted from 2024 Annual NLCD but then converted to vector-format polygons which were subsequently re-sampled and smoothed to produce a better-looking final version to overlay on the terrain. Wetlands were also processed with a similar technique, creating polygons that are filled with traditional wetland symbols.

Credits

Annual NLCD team at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) in Sioux Falls, SD

US Geological Survey (USGS), 2024 Annual NLCD Collection 1 Science Products: USGS data release, doi.org/10.5066/P94UXNTS

ASTER GDEM is a product of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and NASA.

NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2009, doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.002

Acknowledgment of The National Atlas of the United States of America would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated for products derived from these data.

US Geological Survey, National Geospatial Program

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)

Resources for the Landscape Series

United States Geological Survey
Annual NLCD - The Next Generation of Land Cover Mapping
boydsmaps.com/mapinfo/docs/fs20253001.pdf

United States Geological Survey
Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1 Science Product User Guide
mapinfo/docs/LSDS-2103_NLCD_User_Guide_v11.pdf

NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, Joint Japan-US ASTER Science Team
ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model Version 2 - Summary of Validation Results
mapinfo/docs/Summary_GDEM2_validation_report_final.pdf

Use Constraints

This map is © 2025 Boyd Ostroff with all rights reserved. It is provided free of charge for personal, non-commercial, non-organizational use but is not open source software. It may not be published or re-distributed in any form without the written consent of the author. Reasonable usage of map screenshots is permitted as long as they are attributed to boydsmaps.com (preferably with a link to the actual map).

Distribution Liability

Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the US Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.

Map software is provided "as is", without any express or implied warranty. In no event will boydsmaps.com be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software. The user assumes all risks associated with the use of this software. boydsmaps.com will not be held responsible for any inaccuracies and no responsibility is assumed for damages or other liabilities due to errors, installation, accuracy, availability, use or misuse of the data presented.