Map Scale Information

Map
Scales

for general hill walking
& mountain use

1
to
25 000

Map
Scale

1 : 25 000 scale maps are the ideal scale of map generally for walking and mountain climbing, they are produced by many companies including Ordnance Survey.

At 1 : 25 000 scale map obviously represents
1 centimetre on a 1:25 000 scale map is equal to 25,000 centimetres on the ground; 4 centimetres on the map therefore represents 1 kilometres on the ground: which is equal to one grid square.

When using a 1 : 25 000 scale map, individual buildings such as houses, farms, etc. are clearly visible; other features such as field boundaries (be they, wall, hedge, or fence) appear in rural areas. However, in built up areas individual buildings, road names and other smaller detail is not shown.
1 : 25 000 scale maps are particularly useful for showing footpaths and bridleways showing those that are rights of way in separate colours

There are many 1 : 25 000 maps produced of UK areas, Ordnance Survey produce three editions
Pathfinder (covering the whole of UK and gradually being phased out) Explorer (replacing the Pathfinder series and covering a larger ground area)
Outdoor Leisure (a series of maps of popular walking, leisure and tourist areas)
Many other companies produce 1 : 25 000 scale maps including Harvey's whom produce 1 : 25 000 "Superwalker" maps.

Like all good large scale maps 1 : 25 000 scale maps should show National Grid squares so that any feature can be given a unique reference number. This scale of map is for general-purpose use, for example business planning, motoring, walking and cycling.

Image produced from multimap.com

an example of the detail
of information that
is to found on a
1 : 25 000 scale map

This is a 1:25,000 section of
Ben Nevis covering just under 2 Km. x 2 Km.

1
to
50 000

Map
Scale

1:50 000 scale maps are the smallest scale of map generally acceptable for walking and mountain climbing

A 1 :50 000 scale map when converted to actual distance
1 centimetre on a 1 : 50 000 scale map is equal to 50,000 centimetres on the ground; 2 centimetres on the map therefore represents 1 kilometre on the ground (2cm = 1 km). Alternatively, 1Ľ inches on the map is equal to 1 mile on the ground.

The scale difference between a 1 : 50 000 scale map and a 1 : 25 000 scale map is that on a smaller scale map, such things as individual buildings are grouped together as blocks, and in rural areas, field boundaries do not appear.

A typical (and most commonly used) example of a 1 : 50 000 map is the Ordnance Survey Landranger map. There are 204 Landranger maps covering the whole of the UK and each map covers an area of 40 km by 40 km (25 miles by 25 miles)

Landranger maps show such features as
Tourist information
Camping and caravan sites
Picnic areas and viewpoints
Selected places of interest
Rights of Way (bridleways and footpaths)

Whilst 1 : 25 000 is a specialist map a 1 : 50 000 map is a good all purpose map suitable for good general detail when motoring, walking or cycling.

an example of the detail of information that
is to found on a 1 : 25 000 scale map

In the example below is a section of the detail of a 1:50,000 Landranger map. It is from Landranger number 140, Leicester and Coventry. It is a small section (approximately 4km. x 4km.) of Bradgate park Leicestershire

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service.
Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey

Orienteering Maps Orienteering maps are usually produced in either 1 : 10 000 or 1 : 15 000 scale	these map extracts are from the 1 to 10,000 scale map as is usual the orienteering map is drawn & printed in five colours

different
map
scales
use different
symbols

no not HELP !!!

do You
know your
map symbols
????