The Hill's of Zurich

Zurich's Hills is a beautifully designed guided tour around some of the minor elevations surrounding the Zürichsee. The map was made by Raluca Nicola using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and open-sourced contour line and map data.

I love everything about this map. In essence it is fairly simple. The map just uses contour lines, a digital elevation model and waterbody data (and only two colors) to create a 3D visualization of the hills around Zurich. The map sidebar provides a guided tour and further information about some of the featured hills. As you scroll through the tour the map interactions are indicated with small map symbols and by underlined text. Click on the underlined hill names and the map rotates, pans and zooms to focus on the selected location.


The 3D oblique views available on the map means that this map would actually be really useful on a  walk around Zurich. While admiring the views you could use the map to identify the names of the hills and peaks which surround you.