Download the Tulare County Map files from this page as one high-resolution A3 JPG ZIP. The package includes a general county map, a ranked city-distribution map, and a terrain-and-water map. The road view labels Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Dinuba, Lindsay, Exeter, Woodlake, Three Rivers, Highway 99, Highway 198, Highway 190, Highway 65, and other routes. The water view adds the Kaweah, Tule, Kern, South Fork Kern, and White rivers, Lake Kaweah, Lake Success, smaller mountain lakes, and the sharp transition from the western valley floor to the eastern Sierra Nevada.
Tulare County is especially easy to understand when the western lowlands and eastern mountains are treated as two different landscapes. The county’s official overview describes the western half as fertile valley floor and the eastern half as high Sierra Nevada country. The supplied maps show the same contrast without requiring technical elevation data. Most of the ranked cities are in the flatter west, while roads and streams become sparse and deeply cut as they move east toward the mountains.
Table of Contents
Visalia and Highway 198 provide the clearest starting point for the county map
Visalia is the most useful first reference on the general map. It occupies a large developed area in the west-central county, and Highway 198 runs directly through the city. Highway 99 passes close by on the west, creating an easy connection between the main north-south valley route and the road that leads east toward the Sierra foothills. Once those two highways are located, Tulare, Exeter, Three Rivers, and several smaller communities are much easier to place.
Highway 198 leaves Visalia toward the east, passes the Exeter area, and continues toward Three Rivers. The landscape changes quickly along that direction. Roads become less grid-like, the county outline opens into a large mountain region, and the water map shows the Kaweah River system entering much rougher terrain. In the opposite direction, Visalia returns to the flatter highway-and-canal landscape of the San Joaquin Valley.
North of Visalia, Dinuba sits in a separate developed area near the upper western edge. Woodlake is farther east and is associated with Highway 245 on the general map. Highway 63 and Highway 201 provide additional references around the northern valley. This part of the county is best read by using Visalia as the center and then comparing Dinuba and Woodlake rather than trying to memorize every local road at once.
Tulare, Porterville, and the southern valley use different north-south road references
Tulare lies south of Visalia on the broad valley floor. Highway 99 runs along the west side of the city and continues through the county toward Pixley and Earlimart. Highway 137 crosses the Tulare area east-west. This makes Tulare part of the same large valley transportation system as Visalia, even though the two cities have separate developed footprints on the map.
Porterville sits farther east and follows a different road pattern. Highway 65 runs through the Porterville side of the county and also passes near Lindsay to the north. Highway 190 leaves Porterville toward the east and quickly enters rougher terrain. Reading Highway 99 and Highway 65 as separate north-south references prevents the southern county from collapsing into one undifferentiated city corridor.
Pixley and Earlimart remain close to Highway 99, while Allensworth sits farther west. Their position reinforces the wide, flat character of the southwestern valley. Porterville, by contrast, stands much closer to the foothill and reservoir country. That contrast becomes even clearer when the road map is compared with the water and hillshade view.
The ranked city map highlights six communities concentrated in the western half
The city-distribution map ranks six places: Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Dinuba, Lindsay, and Farmersville. It is not a connector-distance map. No line between two cities represents mileage or travel time. The graphic is intended to simplify the county and show where the ranked cities sit relative to one another and to the much larger mountain area in the east.
Visalia and Tulare occupy the central-western valley, while Porterville is farther southeast. Dinuba stands apart near the northwestern side, and Lindsay and Farmersville fill the space between Visalia and the Porterville area. The most important pattern is not the exact spacing between the symbols but the fact that all six ranked cities stay well west of the deepest Sierra terrain.
The city index includes population figures, but those numbers belong to the source date used by the map and should not automatically be treated as current estimates. Readers who need the latest population data should use the U.S. Census Bureau directly. For this article, the city map is used only to explain relative location and ranking.
The Kaweah River and Lake Kaweah mark the transition from Visalia to the Sierra foothills
The Kaweah River is one of the strongest labeled waterways on the terrain map. It crosses the eastern edge of the valley and reaches Lake Kaweah before the drainage splits into more rugged mountain branches. The South Fork Kaweah River is labeled farther into the mountains. When these features are compared with Highway 198 and Three Rivers on the general map, the connection between the valley city corridor and the Sierra entrance becomes easy to understand.
Lake Kaweah sits where the hillshade becomes much more textured than the valley floor. West of the lake, long straight channels and roads are more common. East of it, streams curve through steep terrain and there are far fewer large settlement labels. The map does not provide survey-grade elevations, but the visual contrast is strong enough to show where the foothill transition occurs.
Franklin Canal is labeled in the northwestern valley, and Bravo Lake appears west of Lake Kaweah. These features help distinguish managed valley channels and lower-water areas from the mountain river network. The graphic should not be used to determine irrigation rights, flood risk, canal ownership, or current water levels; it is a regional location reference.
The Tule River and Lake Success connect Porterville with the southern foothills
The Tule River is prominently labeled in the southern half of the water map. It crosses the lower valley and extends toward the foothills east of Porterville. Lake Success appears on the same broad side of the county, giving the Porterville area a clear water landmark that is absent from the Highway 99 city corridor farther west.
Highway 190 on the general map is useful when reading this section. It leaves Porterville and heads into the mountain country, while the water map shows the river and reservoir in the same general direction. The terrain becomes much rougher east of the city. This makes Porterville a useful dividing point between the flat southern valley and the Sierra foothills.
The White River is labeled farther south as a separate watercourse. It crosses another part of the county and should not be confused with the Tule River. The map shows these rivers as named geographic references only. It does not report streamflow, flood conditions, water quality, or recreation access.
The Kern River system and small high-country lakes emphasize the scale of eastern Tulare County
The eastern half of the terrain map is dominated by deeply shaded Sierra Nevada relief. The Kern River and South Fork Kern River are both labeled in this mountain region. They are far removed from the dense Visalia–Tulare road pattern and cross a landscape with few large settlement labels. Their position helps show just how far Tulare County extends beyond its western valley cities.
Several small lakes are labeled in the northeastern mountains, including Lake Reflection, Big Bird Lake, and Moose Lake. Funston Lake appears farther south. These lakes are not important city-navigation landmarks, but they are useful for understanding the density of mountain drainage and the broad area occupied by Sierra terrain on the supplied map.
The county’s official overview describes the eastern half as high Sierra Nevada country with extensive public lands. The map supports that broad geographic distinction through steep hillshade and a dense network of mountain streams. Exact elevation, slope, trail access, and engineering measurements require dedicated sources such as the USGS 3D Elevation Program rather than this county overview.
Use the road map for valley cities and the water map for rivers, reservoirs, and mountain terrain
Choose the general county map when the main question is where Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Dinuba, Lindsay, Exeter, or Three Rivers lies, or when you need Highway 99, Highway 198, Highway 190, or Highway 65. It is the best view for settlement, roads, and the county outline. Use the ranked city map when you want a simpler comparison of Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Dinuba, Lindsay, and Farmersville.
Choose the terrain-and-water map when the Kaweah, Tule, Kern, or White rivers matter, or when you need Lake Kaweah, Lake Success, and the Sierra Nevada setting. A useful method is to locate a city first and then switch maps. Find Visalia and Highway 198, then follow the Kaweah River east; find Porterville and Highway 190, then compare the Tule River and Lake Success.
These files are general-reference maps. They should not be used for legal parcel boundaries, flood risk, irrigation rights, live road conditions, wildfire evacuation, water quality, engineering design, trail navigation, or precise elevation measurement. For classroom work, reports, presentations, broad trip orientation, and personal printing, the three views provide a practical overview of how Tulare County’s valley cities and Sierra waterways fit together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest place to find first on a Tulare County map?
Visalia is the best starting point because Highway 198 crosses the city and Highway 99 passes nearby to the west. From Visalia, it is easy to compare Tulare and Porterville in the southern valley, Dinuba to the north, and Three Rivers toward the Sierra foothills.
Does the ranked city map show mileage between the six cities?
No. The city map is a ranked distribution view for Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, Dinuba, Lindsay, and Farmersville. It does not connect the cities with straight-line or driving-distance measurements. Use a current navigation service when actual travel distance is needed.
What files are included in the downloadable Tulare County ZIP?
The ZIP contains three high-resolution A3 JPG files: the general county map, the ranked city-distribution map, and the terrain-and-water map. They match the subjects shown in the WebP previews but provide larger original JPG files for downloading, printing, and document use.
Map File Information
Download the Tulare County general map, ranked city-distribution map, and terrain-and-water map as high-resolution A3 JPG files. The ZIP contains three original JPGs matching the subjects shown in the WebP previews above.
- Included Files: general county map, ranked city-distribution map, terrain-and-water map
Related Maps
Sources and References
- Tulare County – About Tulare County
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles
- USGS National Hydrography
- USGS 3D Elevation Program
Green Map creates custom-edited map images using open geographic data sources such as geoBoundaries, Natural Earth, OpenStreetMap, and government open data.
These maps are edited visual materials, not raw data files, and are provided for education, documents, presentations, and graphic reference.
