Tracking Wildlife and Nature: The Terrain Map Guide

When your story is about the land itself, political boundaries and road names can get in the way. For researchers tracking bird migrations or hikers sharing their latest trail, the Terrain style is the ultimate choice.

Bringing Depth to Your Story

The topography of a region like the Rikoti Pass in Georgia or the mountains of Japan deserves to be seen in 3D.

1. Open the style selector and choose Terrain (OpenFreeMap).
2. Hold Right Click + Drag to pitch the camera. You’ll see the ridges and valleys rise up from the map.
3. Toggle the Globe Projection off for short trails (like ship travel through islands). This maintains more accurate 1:1 scale for small areas.

Plotting the Path

For hiking or biking, use the Route Tool in Direct Mode.

• Manually place waypoints along the ridge of the mountain.
• Use a high-contrast color like Orange or Green to make the route pop against the natural textures.
• Set the animation type to Draw so the trail "walks" with your story.

Contextual Pins

Instead of just a pinpoint, use the Marker Style.

• Add a pin for the "Summit" or "Observation Point."
• Use the Show Label feature to include the elevation (e.g., "5,000m").

Always professional rendering engine before exporting to ensure that the delicate topographic contour lines are captured with maximum precision.