How to Get Free Maps for Survival Kits

Sean Gold

2 days ago7 min read

Maps are an important part of bug out bags, get home bags, and survival kits. Knowing your surroundings can make all the difference in an emergency. You may just appreciate maps and find them interesting. Whatever draws you to maps, finding them online and printing them is easier than ever.

Besides quickly downloading and printing maps, many state tourism offices offer free folding maps. You don’t have to stop by the visitor’s center- we show you where to order maps shipped straight to your home for free.

Get a Map Online

There are several free resources to download maps. Here are our two favorite 7.5-minute maps with just a few differences:

National Geographic USGS maps – a great resource where you can print a quad of your local area just by putting in your town or zip code and clicking on the quads you want to print. It bundles the PDF with adjacent quads so you can easily print areas. This is the traditional USGS map but with added hill shading.
USGS US Topo Quadrangles – download the maps used by the USGS and Department of the Interior here. The topographical style adds more detail with more lines and fewer colors than the NatGeo maps. These maps are continuously updated, which is a bonus.

If you live in an urban or suburban area, you may also want a street map. There is one resource that rises above the others for easily printing street maps, and it is completely free and open source:

OpenStreetMap – Less precise than a minute map with topography, but it’ll work for most folks. You can figure out whatever scale you want and print with roads and all.

Of course, you can always go with what you know and print physical copies of Google Maps too.

Print Maps

You can print the maps on any printer, but it helps if you use a color printer. It is optimized for standard 8.5” x 11” paper. If you don’t own a printer, or if you want the map to be free, you can use one at work, at school, or a library.

The color from the topo maps can take up a lot of ink, so keep that in mind. When I print mine, it goes through all of the ink cartridges pretty quickly with the large amount of green and red in my area.

Print extra maps, and maybe some for your friends and family. Maps are pretty cool to look at, have around, and stash in your kits- so you can’t print too many.

Mark Your Maps

Take a look at what you print out. What good does it do you if you can’t recognize any landmarks or even where you are on the map? Circle relevant landmarks and mark up the map as you see fit. Make it your own so it is easy to use when you need it. You can write extra information in the margins as you see fit.

Some people say not to mark your home or other personal places on maps in case you lose it, but we’re not living in a spy movie. Put whatever you want on the map, as long as you don’t clutter it up too much.

Free Maps from Each State

Most state tourism offices offer free maps, whether it is a stand-alone folding map or part of a tourism book. Here are all the states you can grab for free with links below for each:

State Transportation Maps

Here are the full-blown folding highway maps that you’ll find at visitor centers that you can get sent straight to your door without paying a penny.

Arizona – The free travel guide comes with a separate fold-out map at Visit Arizona.
Arkansas – They tout that they’ve given away free highway maps since 1916. They are available at I Drive Arkansas.
California – Free road transportation map comes in a bundle with a visitor’s guide and road trip guide at Visit California.
Colorado – A folding state map is provided separately with their travel guide at Colorado.com.
Florida – They have travel guides but offer free stand-alone transportation maps as well at Visit Florida.
Georgia – Free road transportation map at Explore Georgia.
Illinois – Free road transportation map as part of their ‘travel kit’ including a magazine and park guide at Enjoy Illinois.
Iowa – Get a free state transportation map at the Iowa DOT.
Kansas – Folding highway maps for free at Kansas DOT.
Kentucky – Free road transportation map at KYTC.
Maryland – Have to jump through some hoops: Start at Visit Maryland. Then scroll down the page and add Maryland State Highway Map to Order, then fill out the form.
Maine – The state highway map is thrown in with the Maine Travel Planner at Maine Tourism Association.
Massachusetts – Just dump your address into this empty form at Mass.gov.
Michigan – Free road transportation map at MDOT.
Minnesota – You can request a wide range of printed resources, including the highway map at Explore Minnesota.
Montana – Easy form to fill out for a highway map at Montana’s DOT.
Nebraska – You request a paper copy of their highway map using the Contact Form according to their State Map Page.
Nevada – Request a free map at the Nevada DOT.
New Mexico – Get a state highway map for free at the New Mexico DOT.
North Carolina – Free road transportation map at NC Tourism. Delivery in 2-3 weeks
North Dakota – Get the free official highway map (and add the free travel/hunting/fishing guides) at North Dakota Tourism.
Ohio – Free road map at ODOT.
Oklahoma – Email your request to map_request@odot.org according to Oklahoma DOT. It looks pretty old, but it’s a free paper map!
Oregon – Add the state highway map along with other free visitor guides at Travel Oregon.
Pennsylvania – Fill out the PDF form and save it as a digital copy to email to the address listed at the bottom of the form: PA DOT Map Order Form.
South Carolina – Free road transportation map at SCDOT.
South Dakota – The free folding map comes bundled with their vacation guide at Travel South Dakota.
Tennessee – Free road transportation map at TDOT.
Texas – They offer a packet, but you can request just the free road transportation map at Let’s Texas.
Utah – For your free map, check the last box on the travel guide order form at Visit Utah.
Vermont – Order the Vermont Road Map & Guide for free at Vermont Vacation.
Virginia – Free state road map at VDOT.
Wisconsin – Free official state highway map (click order print version) at Travel Wisconsin.

States Without Free Maps

For a variety of reasons, these states don’t provide folded hard copies of free state highway maps online (or in person, for a few).

Alabama – Alabama charges for maps and doesn’t have one in their travel guide.
Alaska – Alaska charges a $2.99 shipping and handling fee for their folding map. They are pretty far and it’s a big map, so I can’t blame them.
Connecticut – They push an app you have to download and don’t offer physical resources.
Delaware – Offer a ‘discover guide’ through their tourist site but no map.
Hawaii – Only offers digital guides and maps, which makes sense given the distance and multiple islands.
Idaho – They only offer to send a travel guide (no highway map) or a digital highway map download.
Indiana – In 2021 they decided to quit printing and providing annual state roadway maps.
Louisiana – They have a free travel guide with plenty of coupons but no room for a map.
Mississippi – No maps or guides sent from any sites- just a Visit Mississippi app.
Missouri – Travel guide available with no mention of maps.
New Hampshire – No paper maps in their free travel guide or on their state websites.
New Jersey – They claim to have free maps but are perpetually out of stock.
New York – Only sends brochures, not full travel guides or maps.
Rhode Island – It is not surprising that they don’t offer a map considering Rhode Island’s size. You can fit a 2-mile map on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.
Washington – Only offers a free scenic byways map and requires a credit card to ship (although they do not charge it).
West Virginia – WV offers a free travel guide with a travel map, but not a highway transportation map.
Wyoming – Free travel guide but only offers free map downloads.

I’ve ordered my state’s and all the states next to mine as well.

Protect Your Maps

Protecting what you print is important. There are many options here, from zip-lock bags in the pantry all the way to using special paper. Here are a few ways to protect what you print:

Ziploc– The cheapest option is also the most used. While it is not completely waterproof, it can usually keep it safe inside a pack or kit.
Waterproof Bag– This option is better than the zip-lock bag, but it also costs a lot more. You won’t have the leak problems or the sweating problems the zip-lock has.
Laminating– Laminating your map can make it handle all sorts of bad weather, spills, sweat, or any other thing a disaster may throw at it. You don’t even need to find a professional copy store or have a laminating machine, they make adhesive laminated sheets you can use. Adhesive laminate is not as good as thermal laminate, but it is better than bare printing paper.
Waterproof Paper– Printing your free survival map on waterproof paper is probably the best of the options although it can be pretty costly if you print a lot of sheets. You will have to doctor up your maps on the computer before you print since it will be tough to get anything to stay on the paper besides a permanent marker. Rite in the Rain paper is used by the military and law enforcement and is our top pick after reviewing weatherproof paper.

Review for Changes

This step is not for right now, we just need you to earmark it. Come back to your maps periodically to review them for accuracy. Not only can roads and structures change- but even streams and lakes can change over time. If the changes are drastic enough, just repeat the steps above to get an updated map.

We recommend writing a note to review your maps when you review the kits associated with them. For instance, if you are checking expirations on your bug out bag checklist, be sure to include checking your maps.

The Final Word

Printing a free survival map for your various survival kits is pretty easy. Make sure it covers enough area to be useful and that you protect it from the elements and you will be set.