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My Current Elevation

California maps: printable and free

5 free maps of California: high-resolution PNG (300 dpi) and PDF for US Letter or A4.

PDF = US Letter; A4 for other countries. Tap a map to view it full size. Free for personal, school and commercial use.

Data updated · By Ankit Kumar, compiled from public U.S. government and open datasets · How these numbers are made

1. California blank outline map

The state border only, with a scale bar. Good for labeling, coloring and tracing.

Blank outline map of California with no labels: about 565 miles wide and 655 miles tall, on a letter-size page.View full size
Blank outline map of California with no labels: about 565 miles wide and 655 miles tall, on a letter-size page.
PNG (2,483 × 3,171, 61 KB)PDF, US Letter (20 KB)PDF, A4 (20 KB)

2. California county map

All 58 counties, outlined without names.

Map of California showing the borders of its 58 counties, without names.View full size
Map of California showing the borders of its 58 counties, without names.
PNG (2,483 × 3,171, 124 KB)PDF, US Letter (77 KB)PDF, A4 (76 KB)

3. California labeled county map

The same 58 counties, each named. Names that don't fit inside a small area sit just outside, joined by a short line.

Map of California's 58 counties with each name printed inside its border, including San Bernardino County, the largest by land area.View full size
Map of California's 58 counties with each name printed inside its border, including San Bernardino County, the largest by land area.
PNG (2,483 × 3,171, 163 KB)PDF, US Letter (83 KB)PDF, A4 (82 KB)

4. California map with major cities

23 cities, chosen by 2024 Census population and spaced so no labels overlap. The capital is marked with a star.

Map of California with 23 major cities marked and labeled, including Sacramento (capital), Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose.View full size
Map of California with 23 major cities marked and labeled, including Sacramento (capital), Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose.
PNG (2,483 × 3,171, 171 KB)PDF, US Letter (94 KB)PDF, A4 (92 KB)

5. California elevation map

USGS 3DEP elevation as color plus hillshade. Legend in feet with meters underneath; triangles mark the high and low points, a star the capital.

Shaded-relief elevation map of California, colored from green lowlands to brown and white high ground, marking Mount Whitney (14,505 ft, highest), the Death Valley low point (-282 ft) and Sacramento, with a legend in feet and meters.View full size
Shaded-relief elevation map of California, colored from green lowlands to brown and white high ground, marking Mount Whitney (14,505 ft, highest), the Death Valley low point (-282 ft) and Sacramento, with a legend in feet and meters.
PNG (2,483 × 3,171, 1.7 MB)PDF, US Letter (723 KB)PDF, A4 (692 KB)

California: shape, counties and terrain

California spans about 565 miles from east to west and 655 miles from north to south, with 155,859 square miles of land. Its outline is irregular: the state fills only 43% of the box drawn around it on the map. The Census boundary file draws it as 15 separate land areas, only one of them larger than 100 square miles.

California has 58 counties. The largest by land area is San Bernardino County (20,068 sq mi) and the smallest is San Francisco County (47 sq mi). The capital, Sacramento, sits at 27 ft downtown (USGS).

Elevation runs from -282 ft (-86 m) on the Death Valley to 14,505 ft (4,421 m) at Mount Whitney in Inyo-Tulare County, a range of 14,787 ft. The sampled average is about 2,829 ft.

On the relief map's elevation grid, 1% of the state lies below 0 ft, 81% between 0 and 5,000 ft and 17% between 5,000 and 10,000 ft and 1% above 10,000 ft. Split from south to north into thirds, the southern third averages 1,542 ft, the central third 2,877 ft and the northern third 3,748 ft, so the land is highest in the northern third and lowest in the southern third.

More figures, with sources: California elevation: highest, lowest and average points.

How teachers and students can use these maps

  • Blank map: label Sacramento, the capital, and the largest cities, then check them against the cities map. Older students can draw in rivers or mountain ranges from an atlas.
  • County map: find your own county among the 58. The labeled version works as an answer key; the blank one as a quiz.
  • Cities map: Sacramento to Chula Vista is about 482 miles in a straight line. Measure it with the scale bar and see how close you get.
  • Elevation map: find Mount Whitney (14,505 ft) and the Death Valley (-282 ft), and work out the difference: 14,787 ft. Then use the legend to estimate the elevation of your town and check it with our elevation tool.
  • Printing: each map has a US Letter PDF and an A4 PDF. The PDFs are vector files, so lines and labels stay sharp at any size. The outline maps use very little ink in black and white.

License: free to use

These maps are free for personal, school and commercial use. Print them, copy them, change them, and use them in worksheets, slides, books, apps or websites. No permission or fee is needed. A credit is appreciated: Map: MyCurrentElevation.org.

The data behind them (US Census Bureau boundaries and population, USGS elevation) is in the public domain. Inter, the typeface on the maps, is licensed under the SIL Open Font License.

Sources

How each number is produced: methodology and data sources.

Other states and the US map: all printable maps · California elevation

Data updated · By Ankit Kumar, compiled from public U.S. government and open datasets · How these numbers are made

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