Local Terrain?

Two dimensional maps of ancestral residences are great, but knowing something about the actual terrain and topography of the area is helpful as well. One of the things that I always take note of when visiting an ancestral area is the local terrain and geographic features that can impact travel. Living in the mountains is different from living on the prairie. Sometimes things that appear close on a paper map are not as close as one thinks when boots are on the ground and the best path between two places is not always a straight line.