If you hiked the Appalachian Trail from Fontana Dam through the Smokies, you would follow the spine of the mountains northeast. And if you hiked the North Carolina Bartram Trail up the Nantahala's from Franklin, you would climb west on Trimont Ridge. Also, rather than depicting the land as if it were a flat surface, which is what road maps do, the topographic maps show this mountainous region's elevational features. Once you learn how to interpret contour lines, you can envision a mapped area's ridges, valleys and peaks, even if you've never been there. Topographic maps are laid out in reference to the four cardinal directions.
North is to the top, south to the bottom, east to the right, and west to the left.
Trails on a topo map are represented by dashed or black or red lines. In the topo map shown with this article, I have highlighted a portion of one of the most popular hiking routes to Mount LeConte, in the Smoky Mountains. The Appalachian Trail heads northeast on the main ridge of the Smokies from Newfound Gap to Mount Kephart. Just before the Appalachian Trail reaches the top of the mountain, The Boulevard splits off from it, skirts the western side of Mount Kephart, then follows its namesake ridge northwest toward Mount LeConte, dipping south three times to go around knobs. The contour lines tell me.