Coal County sits in southeastern Oklahoma, where a north-south corridor through Coalgate meets a much more dispersed pattern of small towns, creeks, ridges, and rural roads. US 75 runs through the central part of the county, while Tupelo and Centrahoma lie well to the west and Lehigh and Phillips extend the settlement pattern south of Coalgate. The county outline has several pronounced steps and offsets rather than a simple rectangular shape, which makes the boundary map especially useful when comparing places near its western and eastern edges. High-resolution map files are available for download in the section below.
The maps on this page are also available as four high-resolution JPG files in one ZIP archive. Use the county map when you need roads, communities, and the boundary together; the city map makes the main settlement pattern easier to compare. For natural features, the water map follows the Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy drainage systems, while the elevation map highlights the higher northern ridges, a prominent high area in the southwest, and lower valleys through the center and southeast.
Table of Contents
Coalgate as the main road reference point
Coalgate is the county seat and the easiest place to use as an orientation point. On the main county map, US 75 enters from the north and continues south through Coalgate toward Phillips and Lehigh. State Highway 3 approaches from the west through the Tupelo and Centrahoma area, while Highway 31 comes in from the southwest. Highway 43 continues east from the Coalgate area, and Highway 131 provides a north-south route on the eastern side. Farther west, Highway 48 is a useful landmark for locating Tupelo, Clarita, and the western portion of the county.
This road pattern matters because the communities are not arranged along one continuous urban strip. US 75 forms the clearest north-south line, but the western part of Coal County depends on different east-west connections before reaching Coalgate. The eastern side is more lightly settled on the map and has a denser network of creeks and rolling terrain. Looking at the numbered highways together gives a better sense of how the county is organized than simply measuring straight across its outline.
Neighboring counties help place the map in a wider Oklahoma context. Hughes County lies to the north, Pittsburg County is to the northeast and east, and Atoka County borders the southeast. Pontotoc and Johnston counties lie along the western side. The Oklahoma Historical Society describes Coal County as part of southeastern Oklahoma and identifies Coalgate as its county seat. With those surrounding names visible, the map makes it easier to understand why US 75 is such a useful reference line for travel through the center of the county.
A scattered town pattern from Tupelo to Lehigh
The city distribution map strips away much of the road detail and makes the placement of the main communities easier to see. Coalgate is the largest labeled center and sits near the middle-southeastern part of the county. Tupelo and Centrahoma are well to the west, while Phillips is just south of Coalgate and Lehigh is farther down the same general corridor. The five ranked places are therefore spread across three distinct parts of the county rather than clustered in one compact area.
The broader county map adds smaller places that help fill in the gaps. Clarita appears in the southwest near Highway 48, Bromide is close to the southern edge, and Cottonwood lies northeast of Coalgate. These locations show why a single Coalgate-centered view can be misleading: some communities are close to the central road network, while others sit much farther toward the irregular western edge. The map is most useful when those small places are considered together with the highways and county boundary.
The ranking markers are a settlement reference, not a routing tool. They do not represent driving distance or travel time between towns. A trip from Tupelo to Coalgate, for example, follows the road network rather than a direct line across the page. The same is true for Lehigh and the smaller communities in the southwest. For navigation, use a current road service; for county orientation, the city map is useful because it quickly shows which places are west, south, or near the Coalgate corridor.
Coalgate and Lehigh also have a historical connection to the coal industry that gave the county its name. Oklahoma Historical Society entries describe both communities as important mining settlements, with railroads and mines shaping their early growth. That history is not required to use the map, but it helps explain why several communities developed along the same general north-south transportation corridor. On a modern map, the most visible surviving reference is the sequence of settlements along US 75.
Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy organize the drainage
The terrain and water map reveals a much denser pattern than the road map. Clear Boggy Creek is one of the main drainage references in the western and southwestern part of the county, while Muddy Boggy Creek curves through the northern and eastern side before continuing toward the southeast. The Oklahoma Historical Society also identifies Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy as the two principal drainage systems for Coal County. Starting with those names makes the smaller tributaries easier to place.
Leader Creek and Little Caney Boggy Creek feed the western drainage, and the central portion of the county includes Boggy Creek and Caney Creek. Farther east, Coon Creek and Coal Creek stand out, with Keel Creek and Salt Creek appearing closer to the eastern edge. Rock Creek is prominent in the north-central area, while Caney Boggy Creek and Sandy Creek are labeled toward the northeast. The number of named streams explains why the blue linework looks much more complex here than on a simple transportation map.
The shaded relief beneath the streams is important because many channels follow visible low corridors between ridges. Northern headwaters descend toward the center and southeast, while western tributaries cut through lower ground toward Clear Boggy Creek. This map is meant for geographic reference rather than hazard or legal work. It does not show official flood zones, navigable channels, property boundaries, or surveyed stream limits, so those questions should be checked with the appropriate current agency data.
A small part of the Lake Atoka area lies near the southeastern side of Coal County, and the historical society notes recreational access to the lake from this part of the county. Even so, the most informative water feature on the county-wide map is the creek network rather than a single large lake. Following Clear Boggy and Muddy Boggy first, then tracing tributaries such as Rock Creek, Coon Creek, or Coal Creek, gives a clearer picture of how water moves across the county.
Northern ridges, a high southwest corner, and lower central valleys
The elevation map gives Coal County a very different appearance. Its legend reports an actual elevation range of roughly 160 to 304 meters, with a mean near 206 meters. Higher terrain appears repeatedly along the northern edge and northwest, where brown and orange ridges form a broken band. Additional elevated ridges show up in the northeast. By contrast, much of the center and southeast is shown in greener tones that mark lower ground and longer valley corridors.
One of the most distinctive features is the high terrain in the far southwest, which stands apart from the northern ridge belt. Between these higher areas, the center of the county contains a patchwork of smaller ridges and valleys. When the elevation map is compared with the water map, the larger creek corridors generally track the lower terrain. That relationship is especially helpful for understanding why the drainage network bends and branches as it does instead of running in straight lines.
The Oklahoma Historical Society places Coal County generally in the Sandstone Hills region and notes that forest becomes more common in the east, where the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains begin, while more open prairie occurs to the west. The relief map is consistent with a landscape of repeated ridges and valleys, particularly in the eastern and northern portions. Elevation color alone does not identify vegetation or land use, however, so the map should be read as a topographic reference rather than a land-cover map.
This surface is derived from USGS 3D Elevation Program data and generalized for a county-scale illustration. It is useful for comparing relative height, recognizing valley directions, and seeing where ridges become more pronounced. It is not survey-grade elevation and should not be used for parcel-level engineering, drainage design, construction staking, or other work that depends on precise site measurements. Those tasks require current professional or agency-grade data.
Why the irregular county boundary matters
Coal County has several offsets that are easy to miss if the map is reduced too far. A western extension reaches toward the Tupelo area, the eastern edge steps inward and outward, and the southern outline changes width before reaching the Atoka and Johnston county sides. Because of those bends, a place that looks roughly level with Coalgate may still be near an outer edge rather than near the center of the county. The dark boundary on the main map should be checked before assuming that a nearby road or creek is inside Coal County.
The settlement pattern reinforces that point. Tupelo and Clarita are both in the western side but occupy very different north-south positions. Centrahoma sits between Tupelo and the Coalgate corridor, while Bromide is close to the southern edge. On the east side, fewer towns are labeled and the map is dominated more by creeks, ridges, and Highway 131. Combining the boundary with the city and water maps is therefore more informative than treating the county as a simple box around Coalgate.
Choosing the most useful map for the task
For roads, town names, and the county outline, start with the main county map. It gives enough context to place US 75, Highways 3, 31, 43, 48, and 131 alongside Coalgate and the smaller communities. If the goal is simply to compare where the principal towns sit relative to one another, the city map removes much of that detail and makes the west-to-south settlement pattern easier to read.
For natural features, the water and elevation maps work best as a pair. The water map provides creek names and drainage connections; the elevation map explains the ridges and low corridors around those channels. A reader looking at Muddy Boggy Creek can switch to the elevation surface and see the lower route it follows, while someone studying the higher northwestern terrain can return to the water map to see how tributaries descend from those ridges.
For printing, classroom work, or a local reference sheet, it is often better to choose the one or two maps that match the question rather than placing every layer on a single page. The road map is best for orientation, the city map for settlement distribution, the water map for named streams, and the elevation map for relief. Using each for the information it shows most clearly keeps the county-specific details readable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which map is best for finding Coalgate and the other main towns?
Use the main county map when you need towns and roads together. It shows Coalgate on US 75, Tupelo and Centrahoma to the west, and Phillips and Lehigh to the south. The city distribution map is a useful companion when you want a cleaner view of the relative position of the five main communities without as many highway and terrain labels.
Where can I see Clear Boggy Creek and Muddy Boggy Creek most clearly?
The terrain and water map shows them most clearly. Clear Boggy Creek provides a major reference in the western and southwestern drainage, while Muddy Boggy Creek crosses the northern and eastern side toward the southeast. Tributaries including Leader Creek, Rock Creek, Coon Creek, and Coal Creek are labeled as well, making it easier to see how smaller channels connect to the larger systems.
Can the 160–304 meter elevation range be used as a land survey?
No. The elevation map is a county-scale generalized surface for comparing higher ridges and lower valleys. It is useful for geographic orientation, but parcel elevations, construction design, drainage calculations, and engineering work require precise survey or agency data for the specific site.
Map File Information
The ZIP archive contains the high-resolution JPG originals used for the Coal County maps on this page: the county map, city distribution map, terrain and water map, and elevation map.
- Printable Size: 2572 × 3638 px each
Related Maps
Sources and References
County geography, community history, and regional context were checked against the Oklahoma Historical Society entry for Coal County and its Coalgate entry. Current county statistics are available from U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Boundary references are available through U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line, water data through USGS National Hydrography, and elevation data through the 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.
