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Map of the Picos de Europa
There are no streets here: there are contour lines. The central massif of the Picos de Europa, in northern Spain, is a limestone maze with dozens of summits above 2,400 metres, and drawn in lines it is pure relief.
What you see on the map
The contour lines. One every 20 metres, with the index contours bolder and labelled. Where they bunch up there is a rock face; where they spread out, the hollows and the high pastures.
The summits. Each with its name and height: the Pico Urriellu, better known as the Naranjo de Bulnes, at the centre; Torre Cerredo, the highest point of the Cantabrian Mountains, to the west; and around them Peña Castil, the Torre de la Párdida, Los Campanarios and many more.
The shaded relief. Beneath the contours, the rock darkens on the steepest slopes: that is what gives the drawing its volume.
The valleys. Rivers and paths slip between the summits, and the green of the lower pastures appears in the corners.
Which scale and paper suit it
1:25,000 on a 30 cm square, as in the picture, takes in the whole central massif, with contours every 20 metres. With the 10-metre contours of a detailed map, the rock turned into a solid mass at this scale.
1:10,000 on A3 moves in on a single summit, the Urriellu or the Vega de Urriellu, with contours every 10 metres.
In the night theme, as here, the light contours on a dark background look engraved; in sepia, like an expedition map.
Make it yours
Open the example and look for your own route: the Lakes of Covadonga, in the western massif, or the Cares gorge, which separates the two massifs, deserve a map of their own.
Change all the colours at once with a theme (black ink, sepia, night, blueprint) and download it as PNG. With a free account, also element by element, at 600 dpi, as vector PDF and as SVG.
