How to Find Elevation on Google Maps (and Better Ways to Get It)

Only indirectly. Google Maps does not display a number for the elevation of the spot you click. What it offers is the Terrain layer: shaded relief with contour lines, where, in Google's words, "contour lines overlaid on the map show elevation and gray numbers show altitude." You estimate a point's elevation by finding the nearest labeled lines.

There are three practical ways to get elevation out of Google products:

If you just need the number for one point or the climb on one route, a direct elevation lookup is faster than any of the three; see the last section.

On a computer:

1. Open Google Maps in a browser.
2. Point to Layers on the map and click More.
3. Choose Terrain.
4. Zoom in on a hilly area until contour lines and gray elevation numbers appear.

On iPhone, iPad or Android:

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Tap the Layers button at the top right of the map.
3. Choose Terrain.
4. Zoom in until the contour labels show.

Three things trip people up. Contours appear only within a range of zoom levels: zoomed out, you see only shading; zoomed too far in, the labels can disappear again, so step back a level or two. Google notes that a layer can be unavailable where it lacks enough information, and in practice contours are sparse in flat or densely built areas, so a city street may show no lines at all. Units follow your region: US users usually see feet, most other countries meters.

A contour line joins points of equal elevation. The contour interval is the height difference between neighboring lines, and every few lines a labeled index contour gives the actual height. The diagram below shows the same terrain from above and in profile:

To estimate the elevation of a point between two lines:

1. Find the labeled lines on either side, and work out the interval by counting the unlabeled lines between two labels. Five gaps between the 1,000 ft and 1,500 ft labels means a 100 ft interval.
2. Identify the two lines your point sits between, for example 1,000 ft and 1,100 ft.
3. Judge how far across the gap the point lies. Forty percent of the way from the 1,000 ft line toward the 1,100 ft line gives roughly 1,000 + 0.4 × 100 = 1,040 ft.

Reading the pattern matters as much as the numbers:

• Lines close together mean steep ground; lines far apart mean gentle ground.
• Closed loops getting smaller mark a hilltop. The summit is higher than the innermost line but lower than the next interval.
• V-shapes pointing uphill mark valleys and streams; V-shapes pointing downhill mark ridges.

Your estimate can be off by up to half an interval, plus whatever error the underlying model has. That is fine for judging a hike and not fine for a building permit.

Contour lines also give you the climb on a route without any chart. Take the A to B line in the diagram above, which crosses both hills:

1. Start at A. It sits below the lowest line, the 400 ft contour, so call it a little over 300 ft.
2. Count lines on the way up. Between A and the higher summit the route crosses every line from 400 ft to 1,800 ft: 15 lines, so at least 1,400 ft of climbing, plus the bit below the first line and above the last. The summit is inside the 1,800 ft loop, so it is between 1,800 and 1,900 ft.
3. Count down to the saddle. The route drops back across the lines to just above 500 ft between the hills.
4. Repeat for the second hill. Up to just over 1,300 ft, then down to about 450 ft at B.

Adding the pieces gives roughly 2,350 ft of total climb and 2,200 ft of descent, which is what the computed profile under the map shows. A shortcut that saves counting every line: count only the bold index contours and multiply by their spacing, then add the remainder.

The same counting works on Google Maps Terrain, on a paper topographic map or on a printed trail map. The only thing that changes is the contour interval, so always check it before counting.

Google Earth gives a single number for any point, which Maps does not.

Elevation of a point (Google Earth Pro on desktop): move the cursor over the terrain and read the elevation in the status bar at the bottom of the 3D view. If the value reads 0 everywhere, Google's help page says to make sure the Terrain layer is turned on in the Layers panel.

Elevation profile along a route:

1. Draw a path with the Add Path tool, or open an existing path or a GPX track.
2. Select the path and choose Edit > Show Elevation Profile (or right-click the path in the Places panel).
3. A chart appears in the lower half of the 3D view, elevation on the vertical axis and distance on the horizontal. Hover over it to read the height and distance at each point; click and drag along part of it to read just that section.

Units are set in Tools > Options on Windows or Google Earth > Preferences on Mac.

The values come from Google's global terrain model, so they share its limits: heights are smoothed between samples, and in forests and towns the surface can sit closer to treetops or rooftops than to the ground.

Google Maps added elevation to cycling directions in 2014: at launch, PCWorld reported a chart of the route's elevation with the total change, available on desktop in much of the US and Canada. Depending on the region and the device, cycling and walking directions may show the total climb and descent or a small elevation chart under the route.

The feature is not documented on Google's directions help page and does not appear on every route or in every country, and very flat routes may show nothing. Treat it as a quick check of how hilly a ride is, not as a training log. For a profile you can control, such as an off-road line or a route you draw yourself, use a profile tool that samples the terrain along the line.

Whichever method you use, keep these limits in mind:

• No point readout in Maps. Every Maps value is an interpolation between contour lines.
• Patchy coverage. Contours are drawn mostly for natural, hilly terrain; flat farmland and cities often have none.
• Model, not survey. The numbers come from a terrain model, not from benchmarks. For flood zones, construction or legal purposes, use a surveyed elevation or an elevation certificate.
• Surface versus ground. Models built from radar or imagery can include trees and buildings. In a forest, the height may describe the canopy.
• Different products, different models. Google Maps contours, Google Earth and other elevation tools sample different terrain models at different resolutions. On slopes, expect them to disagree by several feet to tens of feet; on flat ground they usually agree closely.
• Datum. Map elevations are heights above a sea-level surface (a geoid). Your phone's GPS altitude may be computed differently and can disagree by tens of feet; elevation vs altitude vs GPS height explains why.

If you need the elevation of a specific point, a dedicated lookup gives a number in one step:

• Any address or map point: the elevation finder takes a search, pasted coordinates or a map click and returns the elevation in feet and meters.
• Where you are standing: What Is My Elevation uses your device location; check the reported accuracy first.
• A route or hike: the elevation profile tool samples heights along a line you draw and charts the climbs and descents.

These tools read the Copernicus DEM GLO-90, a global surface model with about 90 m (300 ft) grid spacing, through the Open-Meteo elevation API, with heights relative to the EGM2008 geoid, so values are comparable to "above sea level" figures on maps. The Copernicus specification gives an absolute vertical accuracy better than 4 m (13 ft) at 90% confidence; narrow peaks and gullies are smoothed by the grid. If you need coordinates for the elevation lookup, find them on Google Maps or with the latitude and longitude finder.