Andrews County Map readers will notice one thing almost immediately: Andrews is the clear center of a very large, lightly settled West Texas county. U.S. 385 runs north and south through the city, while other highways spread toward the New Mexico line, the Midland–Odessa area, and neighboring counties. This page combines a county map, a city-focused map, a terrain-and-water map, and an elevation map, and the same four views are available as high-resolution A3 JPG files in one downloadable ZIP.
Andrews County sits on the western side of Texas, with Lea County, New Mexico, on its west boundary. Gaines County is to the north, Martin County lies to the east, Midland and Ector counties are on the southeast and south sides, and Winkler County is to the southwest. The county covers roughly 1,500 square miles, yet the settlement pattern is strongly concentrated in Andrews. That contrast between a compact urban center and a broad surrounding plain is more useful for understanding this map than a long list of place names.
The four map views emphasize different parts of the same geography. The general county map is best for roads, the boundary, Andrews, and scattered local labels. The city map strips the picture down enough to show how dominant Andrews is within the county. The water map shifts attention northward to Monument Draw, Mustang Draw, small water features, and a mapped aqueduct, while the elevation map shows a broad decline from higher ground in the west toward lower terrain in the east. Looking at them together gives a much fuller picture than treating Andrews County as an empty rectangle on a statewide map.
Table of Contents
A wide-open county organized around Andrews
The general map makes the county’s settlement pattern easy to see. Andrews sits close to the middle of the mapped area, with the Andrews County Courthouse marked inside the city and McKinney Acres just to the south. Farther away, labels such as Coyote Corner and Sixteen Corner Windmill appear as isolated references rather than parts of a chain of towns. Large areas between those labels contain roads, ranch and energy landscapes, and local features without another major urban center taking over the map.
The outline of Andrews County is close to rectangular, a common visual pattern in this part of West Texas, so the internal geography is easier to understand by following the roads than by following a winding natural boundary. From Andrews, routes head toward nearly every side of the county. The western side is especially useful to keep in mind because the county ends at the New Mexico state line, where Lea County begins. The map therefore works well as an orientation tool for travelers and researchers moving between eastern New Mexico and the Permian Basin.
The neighboring counties explain its regional position
The city map labels several neighboring counties outside the Andrews County boundary, including Gaines, Martin, Midland, Ector, and Winkler. U.S. Census Bureau geography data also identifies Lea County, New Mexico, as the county’s western neighbor. Those names place Andrews between the Midland–Odessa side of the Permian Basin and southeastern New Mexico. In other words, the map is not only about finding a county seat; it also shows why Andrews is a practical reference point in a much larger oil-producing region.
Roads radiate from Andrews rather than linking a chain of cities
U.S. 385 is the easiest route to recognize because it passes through Andrews on a north-south line. State Highway 176 crosses the city east to west, and State Highway 115 approaches from the southwest. The general map also shows numbered routes 87, 128, and 703 in other parts of the county. The important pattern is not the route number count but the way these roads converge on Andrews and then separate across a large rural area.
The city map makes this concentration even clearer. Its city index lists Andrews as the major city, and no second comparable city competes for attention inside the county. City of Andrews planning material describes Andrews as the county seat and the county’s sole municipality, which matches the visual impression of the map. For a first-time reader, the simplest way to navigate the county is therefore to locate Andrews, identify U.S. 385, and then trace the highway or county direction that matters for the trip.
This road pattern also helps explain the county’s relationship to larger regional destinations. Northbound travel on U.S. 385 leads toward Gaines County, while southbound travel approaches Ector County and the Odessa area. Routes to the east point toward Martin and Midland counties, and roads heading west eventually reach the New Mexico side of the region. These maps are not substitutes for live navigation or road-condition services, but they are effective for learning the county’s basic directional structure before using a detailed route planner.
Dry draws matter more than large rivers on the water map
The terrain-and-water map looks very different from a county map in a wetter part of the United States. There is no broad river dominating the county. Instead, Monument Draw runs along the northern part of the map and connects into the drainage that becomes Mustang Draw in the northeast. The Handbook of Texas describes Monument Draw as beginning in Lea County, New Mexico, crossing southwestern Gaines County, and reaching its mouth on Mustang Draw in northeastern Andrews County. Mustang Draw then continues southeast through other West Texas counties.
A draw in this setting is a low drainage feature that may carry water after rain but is not necessarily a continuously flowing stream. That distinction is useful because the blue network on the map should not be read as a set of permanent rivers. Moore Lake is labeled on the western side, and several small water bodies appear as isolated blue patches. The map also labels an Andrews Municipal Aqueduct, which is water infrastructure rather than a natural river. Reading the names along with the line shapes keeps natural drainage and engineered water features from being confused.
The position of the draws is also revealing. Andrews is centered on the road network, but the most visible named drainage lies farther north and northeast. That separation means a road-only map can make the county look simpler than it really is. The water layer adds a second geography: subtle low ground, intermittent drainage, and scattered water features crossing a dry plain where permanent surface water is limited.
Elevation drops gradually from west to east
The elevation map provides the broadest explanation for the county’s terrain. Its legend reports an actual mapped range of about 873 to 1,089 meters, with a mean near 968 meters. Brown and tan tones cover much of the western side, indicating higher ground, while greens become more common toward the east where elevations are lower. The total relief is a little more than 200 meters, so this is not mountainous terrain; the change is a long, gentle slope spread across a very large county.
Hillshade adds texture that a flat road map cannot show. Small depressions, shallow drainage paths, and subtle surface changes become visible even though the county lacks steep mountains or deep valleys. The higher western terrain and lower eastern terrain also make sense when compared with the water map, where named draws occupy lower pathways across the northern and northeastern side. The elevation colors are best used for relative comparison rather than for reading the exact height of a road or parcel from a single pixel.
What the four views reveal when read together
Each layer changes what seems important. On the county map, Andrews and the highways dominate. On the city map, the lack of another major incorporated center becomes the main story. The water map shifts attention north to Monument Draw and Mustang Draw, and the elevation map turns the broad west-to-east slope into the background that ties the terrain together. Combining those observations gives Andrews County a much clearer identity than a generic description of “roads, cities, water, and elevation.”
The maps also show why the open spaces should not be mistaken for areas without geographic detail. Outside Andrews are scattered local labels, energy and ranch landscapes, small water features, subtle drainage, and elevation changes that extend for many miles. The county’s large size magnifies the distance between landmarks. A feature that looks close to Andrews at page scale may still be many miles away on the ground, so the maps are especially helpful for regional orientation and comparison rather than street-level measurement.
Choosing the right Andrews County map for the task
For a quick location check, start with the general county map and find Andrews, U.S. 385, and the county boundary. Use the city view when the goal is to understand where the populated center sits relative to Gaines, Martin, Midland, Ector, and Winkler counties. The terrain-and-water map is better for locating Monument Draw, Mustang Draw, Moore Lake, and the mapped aqueduct, while the elevation map is the clearest choice for comparing the higher west with the lower east.
- Regional orientation: compare Andrews with the New Mexico boundary and surrounding West Texas counties.
- Road overview: trace U.S. 385 and the main routes spreading from Andrews before opening a live navigation app.
- Water and terrain study: separate named draws, small water bodies, and the municipal aqueduct from the road network.
- Elevation comparison: use the color scale to see how the county gradually descends toward the east.
The downloadable JPGs are intended for higher-resolution viewing and printing. They can be placed side by side in a report or lesson, or kept as separate reference sheets when only one theme is needed. Because these are reference maps, they should not be used alone for legal property boundaries, current construction detours, emergency routing, or other decisions that require the latest authoritative data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Andrews within Andrews County?
Andrews is near the center of the county and is the main urban reference point on these maps. U.S. 385 passes through the city north to south, while State Highways 115 and 176 connect it with other directions across the county.
Why does the water map show draws instead of a major river?
Andrews County lies in a dry West Texas environment where intermittent drainage features are more prominent than large permanent rivers. Monument Draw and Mustang Draw are important named features in the north and northeast, and the map also distinguishes small water bodies and an engineered aqueduct.
Which side of Andrews County is higher?
The elevation map shows the western side as generally higher and the eastern side as lower. The mapped range is about 873 to 1,089 meters, with the change occurring gradually across the broad plain rather than through steep mountain relief.
Map File Information
The ZIP contains the four Andrews County maps described on this page as high-resolution A3 JPG files. They are useful for printing, side-by-side comparison, classroom reference, or keeping an offline copy.
- File Type: ZIP containing four high-resolution A3 JPG files
Related Maps
Sources and References
The map descriptions were checked against public county, boundary, hydrography, and elevation resources. For current legal boundaries, road conditions, or other time-sensitive details, consult the responsible agency directly.
- Andrews County official website – county government and local information
- Handbook of Texas: Andrews County – county geography and historical context
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line – county, road, and geographic boundary data
- USGS National Hydrography – streams, draws, and water-feature data
- USGS 3D Elevation Program – elevation and terrain data
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.
