Cambridge Iowa Map
Explore Cambridge, Iowa, with this interactive street and satellite map.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.
Interactive Map of Cambridge, Iowa
How to Use This Cambridge, Iowa Map
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Cambridge, Iowa. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of Iowa or beyond.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Cambridge.
Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.
| City | Cambridge |
| State | Iowa (IA) |
| County | Story County |
| Country | United States of America |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| Latitude | 41.898321 |
| Longitude | -93.529104 |
| Population | 827 |
| Density | 239.4 /km² |
| Incorporated | Yes |
| ZIP Code | 50046 |
| Area Code | 515 |
| County Seat | Nevada |
| School District | Ballard Community School District |
About Cambridge, Iowa
Cambridge is a locality in Story County, Iowa, United States. It is a small community with a population of 827. The population density is 239.4 people per km². Cambridge is located at 41.8983°N, 93.5291°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Cambridge is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 50046.Cambridge occupies a quiet stretch of central Iowa where the landscape resolves into a vast, rhythmic expanse of tilled earth and open sky. It lies 10.5 miles south-southeast of Ames, IA (from Ames, IA: bearing 154°T), and is situated 9.5 miles south-southwest of Nevada. Ballard Creek carves a deliberate path through the terrain, its banks lined with the tangled growth of cottonwoods and willows that break the relentless horizontal line of the surrounding soybean and corn fields. The air here holds a particular clarity, especially as the sun dips low and casts long, violet shadows across the furrows, turning the dust into a fine, golden haze. While the horizon remains largely flat, the distant silhouettes of Blank Ridge provide a faint, serrated boundary to the west, and the dense, dark timber of Stephens State Forest - Woodburn Unit looms only a few miles away, offering a stark contrast to the manicured agricultural grid.
Cambridge functions as a steady, enduring anchor within this fertile basin, its daily operations tied closely to the seasonal cycles of the soil. Life moves with an unhurried, practical grace, centered around the modest amenities of Cambridge City Park, where the local pace is marked by the shifting light rather than the frantic demands of a larger metropolis. History is etched into the very geometry of the streets, reflecting the legacy of early settlers who recognized the resilience required to thrive in this prairie environment. Though Laverne Lake sits a short distance away, the local economy remains focused on the land itself, maintaining a quiet, literate civility that values the weight of a harvest and the steady, reliable connections between neighbors.
Nearby Outdoor Places
- Cambridge City Park (Local Park) — 0.0 mi, 069° E
- Ball Park (Local Park) — 0.1 mi, 037° NE
- Heart of Iowa Nature Trail (State Recreation Area) — 0.3 mi, 193° S
- C.J. Shreck Access (State Recreation Area) — 1.7 mi, 144° SE
- Christiansen Forest Preserve (Local Conservation Area) — 2.5 mi, 283° W
- Askew Bridge/Cambridge Pond (Local Conservation Area) — 2.6 mi, 346° N
- Billy Sunday Birthplace Rock (Monument) — 8.2 mi, 333° NW
- Monolith (Public Artwork) — 8.9 mi, 320° NW
- Elwood the Gnome (Attraction) — 9.6 mi, 324° NW
- Stuart Smith Park Trees Rock (Monument) — 9.7 mi, 327° NW
- Stuart Smith Park Garden Rock (Monument) — 9.7 mi, 327° NW
- Octagon Center for the Arts (Gallery) — 9.8 mi, 334° NW
- Ames City Auditorium (Theatre) — 10.0 mi, 333° NW
- Brunnier Art Museum (Museum) — 10.1 mi, 327° NW
- Lush Auditorium (Theatre) — 10.8 mi, 327° NW
- North Grand Cinema (Cinema) — 11.4 mi, 335° NW
- Big Creek State Park (State Park) — 11.7 mi, 243° SW
- Overlook (Viewpoint) — 12.2 mi, 325° NW
- Kids Create (Arts Centre) — 12.9 mi, 227° SW
- Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 23.2 mi, 151° SE · 12k acres
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About This Cambridge Map Page
This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cambridge, Iowa. Coordinates: 41.898321, -93.529104. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.
Detailed location data for Cambridge includes the ZIP code (50046), telephone area code (515), county seat of Story County (Nevada), and school district assignment (Ballard Community School District).
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any US town, county or landmark by name; offers USGS topographic maps and USGS aerial imagery as base layers; overlays a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) so the map can be read like a printed topographic quad; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as a USNG grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require cell coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | SimpleMaps US Cities Database; coordinates matched to USGS GNIS definitive data |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; USGS The National Map topographic and aerial imagery (public domain); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Wikipedia validation | Article content matched to USGS GNIS coordinates via Wikipedia geosearch API. |
