Shaded Relief
Digital elevation data can be processed to simulate shadows cast on landscapes from various angles.
Aspect
This view represents the direction that each slope faces.
Slope
This view emphasizes how steep the slopes are.
Imagery
Natural color imagery shows the forest and desert landscapes around the Grand Canyon.
False-Color Imagery
Infrared imagery highlights healthy vegetation in darker reds.
Land Cover
Derived from satellite data, this map consolidates land cover into 11 categories.
Landforms
This map classifies the land surface into 10 categories.
Ecosystems
This map shows areas of distinct bioclimate, landform, bedrock, and land cover that form the basic components of terrestrial ecosystems.
Forest Types
This map portrays data from 213,000 inventory plots across the contiguous United States and Alaska.
Geology and Faults
This geologic map provides a detailed look at the area around the Grand Canyon. Lines represent geologic faults and folds.
Water Features
The National Hydrography Dataset maps the lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and other surface waters of the United States in exquisite detail.
Land Management
The lands in and around the Grand Canyon are managed by a variety of federal and tribal agencies.
Park Map
The National Park Service publishes beautiful and informative printed maps of all the major national parks as key features of the brochures they make available to millions of park visitors.
At their core, maps facilitate understanding and exploration. With maps, we can discover new places and navigate them. But maps can also offer new perspectives and ways of understanding more familiar spaces, too. What could we learn about a place if we were able to view it through the context of elements our eyes can’t typically see? And just how many ways can we visualize a place?
This interactive map from Esri explores the Grand Canyon in 13 different ways. When you imagine the Grand Canyon, you probably think of sweeping red and brown cliffs towering above the Colorado River. But this map reveals features and insights about the Grand Canyon that you may have never considered.
Each view emphasizes a different feature or dimension of the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. Some are focused on the terrain and topography of the cliff faces and slopes. Others seek to highlight the ecological characteristics of landforms, ecosystems, and forest types to categorize the landscape around the Grand Canyon. You’ll also find maps detailing the hundreds of surface water features (as well as the mighty Colorado River) and the geology of the area, both of which helped to create this natural wonder. On many of the maps, you can click for additional details such as streamflow volume or who owns and manages the land.
Some of these views, such as the National Park Service map, are unique to the Grand Canyon. But many of these datasets could apply to most places on Earth. This interactive collection highlights the canvas maps provide and challenges us to consider how we think about—and visualize—a place.
More to Explore
- Discover additional Grand Canyon maps from the National Park Service.
- Learn more about the history of maps from the National Park Service.