Franklin County, PA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, shaded from 410 ft on the south side to 2,460 ft on Big Mountain
Elevation
2,460 ft 750 m1,940 ft 595 m1,690 ft 515 m1,180 ft 360 m660 ft 200 m410 ft 125 m
Contours every 500 ft, bold every 2,500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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How to use this mapviews, tools and data
Elevation
Ground colored by height from green (lowest) to white (highest), with contour lines every 40–500 ft (USGS data).
Satellite
A 2016 satellite photo at 33 ft (10 m) detail; contours off.
3D
Tilt and turn the terrain; hills are raised 1.5×, or set ×1 for true height.
Click or tap anywhere
The exact elevation of that spot in ft and m.
Measure
Pick two points for the climb, descent and grade along a straight line.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Franklin County averages about 890 ft (270 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 410 ft on the south side to 2,460 ft on Big Mountain.

Average elevation
890 ft 270 m
all land inside the county
Highest
2,460 ft 750 m
on Big Mountain
Lowest
410 ft 125 m
on the south side

Franklin County spans about 2,050 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where most of its land lies, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Average of all land890 ft270 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Big Mountain (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
2,460 ft750 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the south side
410 ft125 m

Elevation profile, west to east

25 mi west to east through Chambersburg.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, shaded from 410 ft on the south side to 2,460 ft on Big Mountain
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
County in Pennsylvania, United States
Population
159,285 2024 est.
Land area
772.3 sq mi + 0.6 sq mi water
Density
206 per sq mi
Time zone
Eastern UTC−5 / −4
Landform regions
Valley and Ridge 88%, Blue Ridge 12%
Drains to
Atlantic Ocean
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Huntingdon County1,150 ft
  2. Fulton County1,120 ft
  3. Franklin County890 ft
  4. Juniata County860 ft
  5. Perry County860 ft
  6. Adams County740 ft
  7. Cumberland County700 ft
  8. Washington County, MD640 ft
  9. Frederick County, MD610 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Big Mountain, Franklin County2,460 ft
  • Clarks Knob2,330 ft
  • Rising Mountain2,310 ft
  • Broad Mountain, Franklin County2,300 ft
  • Eckenrode Knob2,260 ft
All 32 towns in Franklin County by typical elevation
  1. Blue Ridge Summit1,340 ft
  2. Fannett Township1,040 ft
  3. Mont Alto870 ft
  4. Metal Township850 ft
  5. Pen Mar830 ft
  6. Quincy Township820 ft
  7. Fayetteville810 ft
  8. Warren Township, Franklin County780 ft
  9. Guilford Township770 ft
  10. Guilford750 ft
  11. Rouzerville730 ft
  12. Greene Township730 ft
  13. Washington Township730 ft
  14. Letterkenny Township730 ft
  15. Scotland710 ft
  16. Waynesboro710 ft
  17. State Line700 ft
  18. Southampton Township690 ft
  19. Hamilton Township690 ft
  20. Shippensburg partly680 ft
  21. Orrstown680 ft
  22. Lurgan Township670 ft
  23. Wayne Heights660 ft
  24. Fort Loudon650 ft
  25. Chambersburg630 ft
  26. Peters Township, Franklin County620 ft
  27. St. Thomas Township610 ft
  28. Marion610 ft
  29. Antrim Township600 ft
  30. Greencastle600 ft
  31. Mercersburg580 ft
  32. Montgomery Township, Franklin County580 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census county boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid. Land means the boundary minus Census area water.
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell; it is a named summit, so its height is the peak method: the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it. Lowest: the lowest land cell; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
  • Nearby Places: neighboring counties and rankings use each one's average elevation, on its own grid, the same figure its page shows. Peaks and hills: the highest summits inside the county with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence, then the highest federal (GNIS) summits inside it when there are fewer than 5; each is the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a usable survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it (shown as published).
  • Towns: each town's typical elevation (population-weighted median of its own 2020 blocks at 1 arc-second); a town is listed when any of its 2020 residents live in the county.
  • Rounding: computed heights are rounded to 10 ft (5 m), or to 1 ft (1 m) under 100 ft; 3DEP is good to about a meter, not a foot. Published figures (NGS survey heights) are shown as their publisher gives them.
  • Datum: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). NGS plans to replace NAVD 88 with a new datum (NAPGD2022); heights will then shift slightly.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (TIGER boundaries and water, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, county adjacency); NOAA NGS survey heights; BTS time zones. All public domain.