How We Build a National Park Map (Start to Finish)

There’s something special about unfolding a map around a campfire—feeling the fabric between your fingers, tracing a trail with your thumb, imagining what’s around the next ridge. Long before I started True North Map Co., I loved maps for the same reason most adventurers do: they spark curiosity. They help us wander. They help us get un-lost.

Every map we make—whether it’s the Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, BWCA, or anything else—begins with that same sense of curiosity. But behind the scenes, there’s also an enormous amount of precision, data wrangling, design work, and backcountry testing that goes into every single print.

This post walks through our entire process from start to finish, giving you a peek into how we build each map you carry into the wild.

 

1. It All Starts With Research and Field Knowledge

 

Before any line is drawn, I spend hours researching the landscape—its terrain, trails, zoning, history, and how people actually use it. National Parks in particular require careful study because:

 

-Boundaries are complex and often change over time

-Trail networks may be updated annually

-Certain areas have seasonal restrictions

-Popular routes can shift due to closures, storms, or maintenance

 

I pull together everything I can: spring ranger reports, backcountry office notes, official GIS databases, USGS historical data, trail association maps, satellite imagery, fire history, and more. If a park has published public GIS layers for campsites, water sources, or trail classifications, those get downloaded too.

The goal is simple: build a picture of the park that’s accurate, current, and useful—not just decorative.

 

2. Gathering the Data: GIS Layers, Terrain Models, and Trail Networks

 

Every True North map is rooted in geographic information system (GIS) data. This includes:

 

-Hydrology: lakes, rivers, creeks, intermittent streams

-Trails: hiking, backpacking, portages, service roads

-Access Points: trailheads, shuttle stops, parking areas

-Campsites and Shelters: especially important in GRSM and BWCA

-Elevation: digital elevation models (DEMs) for creating contour lines

-Boundaries: park borders, wilderness zones, private inholdings

 

Some of this data comes clean. Some of it… doesn’t.

Trails might be mislabeled or outdated. A creek that flows year-round on one dataset might be seasonal on another. Campsites may have been relocated. Shuttle stops in Zion change more often than you’d think.

So I blend, correct, and refine. Sometimes I end up hand-drawing trail realignments based on ranger notes or satellite interpretation when the data doesn’t match reality.

This is where the craftsmanship begins—the part you don’t see on an app.

 

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3. Terrain Rendering: Giving the Land Shape and Texture

 

At True North Map Co., all elevation information on our National Park maps is built from digital elevation models (DEMs). From those models, we generate clean, readable contour lines—and only contour lines.

No shaded relief.

No hillshading.

No slope tinting.

Just crisp contours with consistent spacing.

Why? Because contour lines give hikers, paddlers, and backpackers the most precise read on terrain:

 

-You see every ridge and valley.

-You can judge steepness instantly.

-You can anticipate climbs and descents.

-You avoid the visual clutter that often comes with shaded-relief maps.

 

This approach keeps the map lightweight, clear, and easy to use in bright sun, low light, or when the map is wet. Contours don’t smear, fade into background shading, or compete with trail labels—they simply define the land.

 

4. Trail and Feature Labeling: Where Design Meets Function

 

Next comes labeling—the unsung hero of cartography.

Text placement is a delicate dance. Every label has to be:

- Clear

- Readable at arm’s length

- Out of the way of important terrain features

- Sized appropriately

- Oriented with the land (ridges, canyons, lakes)

If you’ve ever noticed that the word “Alum Cave Trail” sits perfectly along its ridge instead of covering up switchbacks—that’s not luck. That’s hours of nudging, resizing, testing, and correcting.

Too many modern park maps clutter trails with labels or bury them under unnecessary symbols. I want your eyes to relax when you look at a True North map, not squint.

 

5. Building the Final Layout: Borders, Legends, Scale Bars, and Extras

 

Once the core data is finished, I design the final layout:

 

-Legend with symbols you’ll actually use

-Scale bar (especially important for backcountry pacing)

-North arrow

-Trail distances

-Key access points

-Campground and shelter icons

-Inset maps when needed (e.g., Zion Narrows)

 

This is also where I lock in color schemes. Every region has its own personality:

 

-Smokies: lush greens, soft blues, misty ridgelines

-Zion: warm sandstone tones, canyon shadows

-BWCA: crisp blues and greens with clean boundary lines

 

I build for clarity, not decoration. Beauty is a result of good design—not the goal itself.

 

6. Printing on Durable Cloth—Why We Don’t Use Paper

 

Once the digital map is complete, it’s time to make it real.

We print using a specialized process on rugged, washable, tear-resistant cloth—fabric that’s built to survive countless trips, rainstorms, and the occasional plunge into a lake.

Why cloth?

 

-Paper tears

-Laminated maps crease and bulk up

-Phones die

-Apps freeze

-Batteries don’t charge in thunderstorms

 

A cloth map can be stuffed in a pocket, worn as sun protection, wrapped around a water bottle, or laid across your lap in the canoe.

Durability is part of the design philosophy. The physical map is the final piece of the product—not an afterthought.

 

7. Field Testing: If It Doesn’t Work in the Wild, It Doesn’t Ship

 

Every map we make gets tested the way our customers use them:

 

-Stuffed in pockets

-Smeared with sunscreen

-Tossed into the bottom of a portage pack

-Rained on

-Folded and unfolded dozens of times

-Navigated with in real-world conditions

 

Some of the best improvements come from these field tests.

If a contour line is too faint, I adjust.

If a trail label gets lost in tree shading, I reposition.

If a color bleeds into a symbol in low light, I fix it.

Feedback from real hikers and paddlers is part of the equation too—many of you have helped shape the maps you see today.

 

8. The Final Map: Something You Can Trust in the Backcountry

 

By the time a map goes up in our shop, it has:

 

-Dozens of GIS layers behind it

-Hundreds of hand-placed labels

-Weeks of field testing

-Multiple rounds of redesign

-A cloth print built for real wilderness use

 

A map should be simple to use, but never simple to make.

Every line, trail, icon, and contour is placed with intention. And when you carry a True North map into a National Park, my hope is that it not only helps you navigate—but inspires you to explore deeper, wander further, and stay curious.

That’s why we build them the way we do.