Download Contour Lines as KML for Google Earth

Generate contour lines for anywhere in Oregon from USGS 3DEP lidar elevation data and open them in Google Earth: colored by elevation, labeled in feet and draped over the landscape.

What is KML?

KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is the XML format behind Google Earth. It describes points, lines and shapes in longitude and latitude, together with how they should look: colors, widths, labels and folders.

For contours, that means the file arrives styled. Open it and the lines appear on the globe, colored from low to high, with heights written beside them.

What you get in the file

• One item per elevation: every contour level is a single placemark named with its height in feet, such as “1,250 ft”.
• Colored by elevation: low contours in blue, through cyan, green and yellow, to red at the top.
• Height labels on the map: a separate “Height labels” folder places labels along the lines, so heights show on the map itself. One click hides them all.
• Elevation data fields: each line carries elevation and elevation_ft in feet, above NAVD 88, with elevation_m (meters) alongside.
• WGS84: longitude and latitude, as KML requires.
• Source credit: the document description names the USGS 3D Elevation Program and links to its public-domain terms.

Software that reads KML

Google Earth

• Google Earth Pro (desktop): free for Windows, Mac and Linux; the most complete KML viewer.
• Google Earth on the web: open KML files from your computer or Google Drive.
• Google Earth mobile: view KML on a phone or tablet.

GIS and mapping

• QGIS: opens KML as a vector layer.
• ArcGIS Pro: converts KML with the KML To Layer tool.
• Google My Maps: imports KML into a shareable web map.

Field apps and GPS

Many outdoor and field mapping apps import KML overlays. Support varies, and big contour files can be slow on a phone, so test a small area first.

How to download contour lines as KML

1. Open the map: go to Download Data and search for a place, trailhead or peak.
2. Select the area: draw a rectangle, or click a taxlot to select the rectangle around it. The area can be up to 7.5 miles per side.
3. Choose the interval in feet (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40, 100, 200, 500 ft):
   • 5–10 ft: a property, a small park or gentle farmland
   • 20–40 ft: hiking areas and foothills
   • 100 ft and up: mountains such as Mount Hood, where closer lines crowd together in Google Earth
4. Choose KML among the contour formats.
5. Download: the contours are free to view on our map; the file needs a pass.
6. Open it: double-click the file, or use File > Open in Google Earth Pro.

The Contour Lines tool can also save the contours it draws on the map as KML, clipped to the taxlot when you have selected one.

Using KML contours in Google Earth

1. Open: the file appears under Temporary Places in Google Earth Pro.
2. Tilt: hold Shift and drag (or use the tilt control) to see the lines follow the terrain.
3. Labels: tick or untick the Height labels folder to show or hide heights.
4. Style: right-click a level and choose Properties to change its color or width.
5. Keep it: drag the file from Temporary Places into My Places so it is there next time.
6. Combine: overlay your own tracks, waypoints or property outlines.

Common uses

Trip planning

Hikers, hunters and backcountry skiers use contours over Google Earth’s imagery to read slopes, benches and saddles before heading into the Cascades or the Wallowas. Pair them with an elevation profile of the route.

Teaching and presentations

Teachers show how contour lines describe a landscape by flying from the flat Willamette Valley to the steep walls of the Columbia Gorge, with the same lines in both places.

Looking at land

Buyers and landowners use contours in Google Earth to see how a rural parcel lies: where it is flat, where it is steep, and where water collects. The rural land terrain check walks through what to look at.

Search and rescue planning

Teams use contours to read terrain in an unfamiliar area quickly, alongside their own maps and tools.

Conservation and land management

Contours over imagery help explain streams, wetlands and habitat edges to landowners and the public.

Tips

Keep Google Earth fast

Fine intervals over large areas make thousands of lines. Choose a coarser interval for mountains, or split a big area into several smaller downloads.

Combine with other KML

Contours work well with GPS tracks, waypoints and property outlines. Keep each in its own folder so you can switch them on and off.

Make a tour

Google Earth Pro can record a tour that flies along a route with the contours showing, which is useful for presentations.

Share with anyone

KML needs no GIS skills to open. It is a good format for sending terrain to clients, family or a hiking group.

KML or another format?

KML or GeoJSON

KML is made for viewing in Google Earth. GeoJSON is better for GIS analysis and custom web maps.

KML or DXF

For design drawings in AutoCAD or Civil 3D, use DXF, which is in Oregon Statewide Lambert, feet (EPSG:2992).

KML or PDF

KML is interactive on screen; a PDF is a printable map sheet with a scale bar.

About the data

Ground elevations on this site come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) seamless bare-earth model: 3.3 ft per pixel where lidar has been flown and about 33 ft per pixel elsewhere, with elevations above NAVD 88. The data is in the public domain. Most of Oregon’s lidar was flown through the Oregon Lidar Consortium, run by DOGAMI, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. DOGAMI reports about 99% of Oregon covered by at least one lidar project. See lidar coverage in Oregon for the project behind your area. More from the USGS 3D Elevation Program and DOGAMI’s lidar program.

Accuracy is inherited from the USGS 3DEP source and the lidar project behind it, not asserted by this tool. Where lidar exists, at 3.3 ft per pixel, vertical accuracy is that of the project: individual Oregon Lidar Consortium projects report vendor RMSE of a few inches or less in DOGAMI’s project records; for example, Metro 2014 reports about a tenth of a foot. Outside the lidar work units the seamless DEM is about 33 ft per pixel and far coarser. Every download states what share of its area fell outside the lidar work units. Values are bare-earth elevations above NAVD 88 from a digital elevation model — they exclude buildings and tree canopy and are not a substitute for a surveyed elevation where a legal or engineering decision depends on it.

Frequently asked questions

Other formats

• Contours as GeoJSON – for QGIS and GIS
• Contours as PDF – for printing
• Contours as DXF – for AutoCAD and Civil 3D
• Topographic maps of Oregon – making and reading topo maps
• Contour lines for Oregon – overview of every format