Terrain is simple the area you will be operating in. Terrain can have vegetation of desert, forest, jungle, swamp, etc. Regardless of the vegetation of the terrain type, the land follow certain standard features. Identifying these can be as important as being able to identifying the difference between a church, road, school, or restaurant when traveling in a town.

All terrain features are derived from a complex landmass known as a mountain or ridgeline. The term ridgeline is not interchangeable with the term ridge. A ridgeline is a line of high ground, usually with changes in elevation along its top and low ground on all sides from which a total of 10 natural or man-made terrain features are classified.

Major Terrain Features:

1. Hill. A hill is an area of high ground. From a hilltop, the ground slopes down in all directions. A hill is shown on a map by contour lines forming concentric circles. The inside of the smallest closed circle is the hilltop. Other terms: mountaintop.

2. Saddle. A saddle is a dip or low point between two areas of higher ground. A saddle is not necessarily the lower ground between two hilltops; it may be simply a dip or break along a level ridge crest. If you are in a saddle, there is high ground in two opposite directions and lower ground in the other two directions. A saddle is normally represented as an hourglass. Other terms: gap.

3. Valley. A valley is a stretched-out groove in the land, usually formed by streams or rivers. A valley begins with higher ground on three sides, and usually has a course of running water through it. If standing in the valley, there is high ground in two opposite directions and a gradual inclination in the other two directions. Depending on it's size and where a person is standing, it may not be obvious that there is high ground in the third direction, but water flows from higher to lower ground. Contour lines forming a valley are either U-shaped or V-shaped. To determine the direction water is flowing, look at the contour lines. The closed end of the contour line (U or V) always point upstream or towards higher ground. Other terms: dale.

4. Ridge. A ridge is a sloping line of high ground. If you are standing on the centerline of a ridge, you will normally have low ground in three directions and high ground in one direction with varying degrees of slope. If you cross a ridge at right angles, you will climb steeply to the crest and then descend steeply to the base. When you move along the path of the ridge, depending on the geographic location, there may be either an almost unnoticeable slope or a very obvious incline. Contour lines forming a ridge tend to be U­shaped or V­shaped. The closed end of the contour line points away from high ground.

5. Depression. A depression is a low point in the ground or a sinkhole. It could be described as an area of low ground surrounded by higher ground in all directions, or simply a hole in the ground. Usually only depressions that are equal to or greater than the contour interval will be shown. On maps, depressions are represented by closed contour lines that have tick marks pointing toward low ground.

Minor Terrain Features:

6. Draw. A draw is a less developed stream course than a valley. In a draw, there is essentially no level ground and, therefore, little or no maneuver room within its confines. If you are standing in a draw, the ground slopes upward in three directions and downward in the other direction. A draw could be considered as the initial formation of a valley. The contour lines depicting a draw are U­shaped or V­shaped, pointing toward high ground.

7. Spur. A spur is a short, continuous sloping line of higher ground, normally jutting out from the side of a ridge. A spur is often formed by two roughly parallel streams cutting draws down the side of a ridge. The ground will slope down in three directions and up in one. Contour lines on a map depict a spur with the U or V pointing away from high ground.

8. Cliff. A cliff is a vertical or near vertical feature; it is an abrupt change of the land. When a slope is so steep that the contour lines converge into one "carrying" contour of contours, this last contour line has tick marks pointing toward low ground . Cliffs are also shown by contour lines very close together and, in some instances, touching each other.

Supplementary Terrain Features:

9. Cut. A cut is a man­made feature resulting from cutting through raised ground, usually to form a level bed for a road or railroad track. Cuts are shown on a map when they are at least 10 feet high, and they are drawn with a contour line along the cut line. This contour line extends the length of the cut and has tick marks that extend from the cut line to the roadbed, if the map scale permits this level of detail.

10. Fill. A fill is a man­made feature resulting from filling a low area, usually to form a level bed for a road or railroad track. Fills are shown on a map when they are at least 10 feet high, and they are drawn with a contour line along the fill line. This contour line extends the length of the filled area and has tick marks that point toward lower ground. If the map scale permits, the length of the fill tick marks are drawn to scale and extend from the base line of the fill symbol.

Terrain features do not normally stand alone. To better understand these when they are depicted on a map, you need to interpret them. You can interpret terrain features by using contour lines. Many times you will have to look at what contour lines are around the terrain feature you are trying to identify to determine what it is.