References Maps

Natural Resource Maps of the County
This page provides base and thematic maps that King County Dept of Natural Resources and Parks uses in its work. We save digital copies to share with county residents, businesses, government agencies, schools and non-profit organizations to make the full use of our existing maps. These maps are provided in Adobe Acrobat format.

Many of the maps available on this page are complex and require generous download times. We've provided the file sizes and expected download times in the map descriptions to help decide what to download. Here is one of the newest maps on our cartographic maps page:

King County Noxious Weed Distribution Maps
Map depicts known locations of weed infestations for 30 different noxious weed species in King County from 1996 through 2005. The map is 11"x17" and designed for either print or online viewing. The base information is up to date as of February, 2004. An interactive weed infestation map is also available for viewing.» More about noxious weeds.

Snoqualmie Watershed Riparian Photo Viewer
Use a map to to get photographs of individual stream reaches on the Snoqualmie River and its various tributaries.

Historic and Recent Aerial Photographs
Aerial photos from the 1930's, 1970's, and 1990's illustrating growth of several areas in King County including Bellevue near Meydenbauer Bay, around Cottage Lake near Woodinville, Maplewood near Renton, and Lake Meridian in Kent.

Hydrography - Interactive Map
Note: turn off your popup blocker - this link will open a new browser window
View and query GIS datasets including Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs), King County wetlands inventory, National wetlands inventory, rivers, streams, and lakes, and display aerial photos and USGS topographic map images.

Groundwater Maps and Figures

Groundwater Interactive Map
Note: turn off your popup blocker - this link will open a new browser window
Zoom in to view the full set of GIS layers including well locations, groundwater sampling sites, wellhead protection areas, water services areas, property boundaries and aerial imagery among other things. Viewing information about individual map features may take some practice: choose the "active" (or queryable) map layer from the layers list on the right side of the page, select the tool from the left side, and click on a layer's area , line or point to display associated data.

King County Geographic Information System
View and query maps and data online using iMap map portal. order a CD of King County data, or find online descriptions and documentation for King County GIS data in the Spatial Data Catalog. The group also offers a King County, Wasihngton GIS Training Program.

King County Watersheds Map
This page is a geographic portal to King County information by drainage area. Find out what natural resource information we have and what's going on where you live.

Other Map & Aerial Photo Resources

External pages where you can view, download, and order maps and aerial photos of King County.

• University of Washington Libraries
  Map Collection and Cartographic Information Services
• Terraserver by Microsoft (external link)
  Digital Aerial Images
• MapMart (external link)
  Order digital maps and data, paper USGS maps, aerial photos, software, etc; USGS partner
• TopoZone by Maps a la carte, Inc. (external link)
  Digital US Geological Survey maps - USGS partner
• Directions by Yahoo! (external link)
  Enter a starting address and a destination address or airport code, and Yahoo! will draw you a map and provide directions.
• Washington Coastal Atlas by Washington State Dept. of Ecology (external link). View shoreline aerial photos of every stretch of shoreline in the state and overlay a variety of features such as biological and habitat, physical, and regulated features and shoreline modifications.
  • Shoreline Aerial Photos by Washington State Dept of Ecology (external link). Oblique aerial photos of every stretch of saltwater shoreline in the state.
• CRC Press - Remote Sensing, GIS and Mapping
  Major studies and publications related to geographic technologies.

Having trouble finding what you need?

Click on the Search button on the upper right hand corner to search through the King County website-- it's a time-saver.