Logan County in west-central Ohio has a landscape that changes noticeably from the Indian Lake area in the northwest to the higher ground around Bellefontaine and the hills farther east. Bellefontaine, the county seat, sits slightly south of the county’s center, while Lakeview and Russells Point cluster near Indian Lake. West Liberty lies close to the southern boundary, De Graff is in the southwest, and smaller communities and roads spread across the northern and eastern parts of the county.
This page brings together a general county map, a major-community map, a water map, and an elevation map, with high-resolution JPG versions available in the downloadable ZIP. Using Bellefontaine and Indian Lake as two anchor points makes the set easier to read: the general map explains roads and county shape, the water map follows the Great Miami and Mad river systems, and the elevation map shows why the terrain near Bellefontaine looks so different from the lower northwest.
Table of Contents
Bellefontaine as the road and location anchor
Bellefontaine is the simplest place to begin reading the county. Logan County’s official materials identify it as the county seat, and on the map it stands where several important roads are easy to compare. U.S. 68 runs north-south through the city, State Route 540 leaves the city toward the east, State Route 47 approaches from the west, and U.S. 33 crosses the southeastern part of the county. Together, those routes make Bellefontaine a useful reference point for locating communities in every direction.
The northwest has a different layout. Lakeview and Russells Point sit close to Indian Lake, with State Routes 720, 366, and 117 forming much of the visible road network around the lake. State Route 274 crosses the interior to the southeast of the lake, while Route 638 runs through the northern part of the county. Belle Center lies farther north, and Rushsylvania is positioned in the eastern interior, so the northern half of Logan County is not organized around one dominant urban center.
On the western and southwestern side, De Graff and Quincy provide additional location markers, while West Liberty sits close to the southern boundary. Zanesfield and Valley Hi appear east and southeast of Bellefontaine, and surrounding labels such as West Mansfield and Ridgeway help show where Logan County meets nearby areas. Instead of memorizing every road at once, it is useful to picture Bellefontaine, Indian Lake, and West Liberty as three broad reference points and then place the smaller towns between them.
An official Logan County annual report describes the county as part of west-central Ohio and notes that it contains 12 villages and 17 townships. The city-index map on this page intentionally highlights only six major communities, so it should not be read as a complete list of every incorporated or named place. The goal of the map set is to make county-scale relationships clear: where the larger communities sit, how the main roads connect them, and how lakes, streams, and higher ground shape the space between them.
Indian Lake and the spread of the major communities
The community map highlights Bellefontaine, De Graff, West Liberty, Russells Point, Lakeview, and Belle Center. Their arrangement is more informative than the ranking numbers beside the names. Bellefontaine stands by itself in the south-central interior, Lakeview and Russells Point form a close pair by Indian Lake, Belle Center is farther north, De Graff occupies the southwest, and West Liberty sits close to the southern edge. This pattern shows that Logan County has several distinct local centers rather than one continuous urban strip.
The numbers in the city index are best treated as part of the map’s ranking display rather than as a substitute for current official population data. For geographic reading, the important point is that Lakeview and Russells Point sit immediately beside the county’s largest visible lake. Their closeness explains why the northwest looks denser in place names and local roads than much of the surrounding rural area. Bellefontaine, by contrast, is an inland center where larger roads meet before spreading toward the lake, the western villages, and the southern boundary.
West Liberty and De Graff also help reveal the county’s shape. West Liberty lies along the U.S. 68 corridor south of Bellefontaine, while De Graff is farther west near routes that connect toward State Route 235 and 47. Belle Center provides a northern reference near Routes 273 and 638. Looking back and forth between this simplified map and the general road map makes the route network easier to understand because each road can be tied to a recognizable community rather than followed as an isolated line.
Indian Lake is the strongest visual landmark in the northwest. Its broad water area separates Lakeview and Russells Point from the more rolling interior around Bellefontaine and Zanesfield. Roads bend around the lake, while several watercourses enter or leave the surrounding area. Anyone using the maps for a visit to the lake will get more value by pairing the community map with the water map, since the second view explains how the lake fits into a wider river system rather than appearing as an isolated blue shape.
From Indian Lake to the Great Miami and Mad river systems
The water map divides Logan County into several recognizable drainage areas. Around Indian Lake, the North Fork Miami River and South Fork Miami River are labeled near the lake, and the Great Miami River continues southward from the northwest part of the county. A USGS monitoring site immediately below Indian Lake is identified as part of Logan County and the Upper Great Miami hydrologic unit, confirming the importance of this water system to the county’s northwest.
Farther east, the Mad River becomes the main water reference. It runs through the southeastern part of the county, with smaller tributaries joining from the surrounding hills. USGS monitoring locations at Zanesfield and West Liberty both identify the Mad River within Logan County, providing an official point of comparison with the map. Rush Creek crosses the northeastern interior, and its branching tributaries show that the eastern side is broken into many small valleys rather than one broad flat drainage corridor.
Several smaller named water bodies add useful local reference points. Rushcreek Lake appears in the central-eastern interior, Bell Lake lies farther west, and Shirk Lake is shown to the east. Silver Lake appears south of Bell Lake, while Black Lake, Braden Lake, and Newell Lake are marked closer to the southern and southwestern parts of the county. These lakes are much smaller than Indian Lake, but they are valuable when matching the water map to a road or terrain location where few towns are labeled.
This water map is intended for geographic orientation, not for flood-zone, engineering, property-boundary, or navigation decisions. A blue line shows the mapped position of a river or stream, but it does not tell the reader how much water is present on a particular day. For floodplain details, lake conditions, water quality, or infrastructure questions, current Ohio Department of Natural Resources, USGS, or local agency information should be used instead.
Campbell Hill and the county’s sharp elevation contrast
The elevation map makes Logan County look very different from the road map. Its legend gives an actual county range of roughly 292 to 471 meters, with a mean near 343 meters. Much of the west and northwest appears in lower green tones, while clusters of brown and dark brown rise around Bellefontaine and across the east-central and southeastern interior. The result is not a simple north-to-south slope; the highest terrain is concentrated in distinct upland groups separated by lower valleys.
Campbell Hill provides a real-world explanation for the dark high-elevation area near Bellefontaine. The Ohio historical marker for Campbell Hill records an elevation of 1,549.09 feet and identifies it as Ohio’s highest point. Because the site is in Bellefontaine, the county’s elevation pattern is not an abstract map effect: Logan County genuinely contains the highest point in the state, surrounded by a broader zone of elevated terrain that stands above the Indian Lake and western lowlands.
The higher ground is broken by narrow lower corridors rather than forming one continuous plateau. When the Mad River, Rush Creek, and smaller tributaries are located on the water map and then matched to the elevation map, many of those streams follow green or lighter-colored valleys between the brown uplands. This comparison is useful because it explains why the water network branches the way it does and why some roads curve through lower passages instead of crossing the highest ground directly.
The Indian Lake area shows the opposite pattern. Broad lower terrain surrounds the lake and the Great Miami River system, and the elevation colors change more gradually there than around Bellefontaine’s eastern hills. A trip across the county from Lakeview or Russells Point toward Bellefontaine therefore crosses a meaningful change in relief. The map does not replace a detailed topographic survey, but it gives a strong county-scale picture of how quickly the landscape changes between the northwest and the central uplands.
Comparing roads, water, and elevation from the same landmarks
A practical way to use the set is to keep one landmark fixed while switching maps. Start with Bellefontaine on the general map and note U.S. 68, State Route 540, and the roads heading west. Then move to the water map and look for the Mad River system east and south of the city. Finally, open the elevation map and compare the same area with the higher terrain around Campbell Hill. The three views turn a simple place name into a clearer picture of transportation, drainage, and relief.
Indian Lake works just as well as an anchor. The general map shows Lakeview and Russells Point beside the lake and the network of Routes 720, 366, and 117. The community map simplifies the settlement pattern, while the water map adds the North and South forks of the Miami River and the Great Miami River below the lake. The elevation map then shows why this part of the county feels lower and more open than the Bellefontaine uplands.
For the southeast, Zanesfield, West Liberty, and the Mad River create another useful sequence. Find Zanesfield and Valley Hi on the road map, follow U.S. 68 toward West Liberty, and then trace the Mad River on the water map. On the elevation view, the river occupies lower corridors beside higher hills. This method is more informative than memorizing town names in isolation because it connects each settlement to the land and water around it.
Road numbers can also be used as guides. U.S. 68 provides a strong north-south line through Bellefontaine and toward West Liberty, State Route 47 enters from the west, Routes 274 and 638 cross the northern interior, and U.S. 33 forms a major southeastern route. These maps are not live traffic tools, so current closures, construction, and travel times should always be checked elsewhere. Their strength is showing how the routes fit inside the county as a whole.
Choosing the right Logan County map for the task
The general county map is the best starting point when roads, communities, and the county outline all matter at once. It is especially useful for locating Bellefontaine in relation to Indian Lake, West Liberty, De Graff, Rushsylvania, and the surrounding counties. The map also keeps the major route numbers visible, which makes it suitable for a printed county overview or a quick location reference before opening a more specialized map.
The community map is cleaner when the main goal is to compare the six highlighted places. The water map is better for Indian Lake, the Great Miami River, Mad River, Rush Creek, and smaller lakes, while the elevation map is the clearest choice for the contrast between the western lowlands and the hills around Bellefontaine. Placing the community and elevation maps side by side can be particularly useful in classroom or presentation material because the settlement pattern can be compared directly with the terrain.
The downloadable JPG files are larger than the on-page WebP previews and are better suited to close reading, printing, or inserting into a document. They are still county-scale reference maps rather than legal or engineering products. Parcel surveys, legal boundary determinations, flood insurance decisions, and construction design require authoritative current data and, when appropriate, professional surveying. For general geographic learning, however, the four views provide a detailed and coherent picture of Logan County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are Indian Lake and Bellefontaine within Logan County?
Indian Lake is in the northwestern part of the county, with Lakeview and Russells Point close to its shoreline. Bellefontaine is farther southeast and slightly south of the county’s center, where several major roads meet. The map therefore shows two very different reference areas: a lake-centered cluster in the northwest and an inland road center around the county seat.
Why is Campbell Hill important on the Logan County elevation map?
Campbell Hill is in Bellefontaine and is recognized as the highest point in Ohio. The official historical marker gives its elevation as 1,549.09 feet. On the county elevation map, the Bellefontaine area sits within a much higher cluster of terrain than the western and northwestern lowlands, so Campbell Hill provides a useful real-world landmark for understanding the county’s strong elevation contrast.
Do the Great Miami River and Mad River occupy the same part of the county?
No. The Great Miami River system is associated with Indian Lake and the western side of Logan County, while the Mad River is a major feature of the eastern and southeastern interior. The water map shows the two systems in different parts of the county, with smaller streams feeding each network. For precise watershed boundaries or current stream conditions, USGS and Ohio agency data should be consulted.
Map File Information
The ZIP contains high-resolution JPG files for the Logan County general map, major-community map, water map, and elevation map.
- File Type: JPG
Related Maps
Sources and references
- Logan County, Ohio official website – county government and local information
- Logan County 2025 Popular Annual Financial Report – county location, seat, area, communities, and points of interest
- Remarkable Ohio – Campbell Hill – official historical marker information for Ohio’s high point
- USGS National Hydrography – river and stream reference data
- USGS 3D Elevation Program – elevation and terrain data
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles – county boundaries, roads, and geographic features
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.
