National Geographic Maps, based in Evergreen, Colo., has just released one of its first in a series of maps depicting all 50 states, and it’s of colorful Colorado.

Colorado was one of the first choices for the map designers because of its topography, and because they are based in the state.

“Colorado is an absolutely beautiful place to map,” said Dan Ortiz, of National Geographic Maps. “What's great about this map is that it's got a beautiful, vegetative coloration, which is quite different from most wall maps. The other thing that's great about this map is that we've used a digital elevation model to create the mountains - shaded relief. It's just a beautiful combination of the vegetation in Colorado and the beautiful topography."

The map not only highlights the state’s topography, but has some added features as well, including roads, towns, all the fourteeners, state parks, national parks and ski resorts.

As Ortiz says, the process of putting the map together is fairly complex. First, they have to use something called a geographic information system, which is a computer that calculates all of the topographical features.

“Probably the trickiest part of all is actually colorizing the vegetation and the mountains,” says Ortiz. “And we worked real long and hard on that to get a pallet that really looks great hanging on the wall."

All of the proceeds from the map sales go back to the National Geographic Society, which Ortiz says works to promote global understanding and conservation. But there are also local groups that benefit from the sales.

National Geographic Maps helps to support the Volunteers of Outdoor Colorado, which motivates and enables citizens to become stewards of Colorado's public lands, and the company is also involved in the Colorado Mountain Club, which works to preserve Colorado Mountains for future generations.

For more information, or to order a map, click on the link below this story.