Taking Chengzi Township in Chifeng City as an example, with the support of GIS technology, we extracted elevation and slope information using DEM maps and conducted spatial overlay analysis with the spatial pattern maps of land use in the years 2001 and 2011, in order to systematically analyze the terrain gradient features of the spatial pattern distribution and changes of land use in the study area over the last ten years, and to explore the impacts of terrain factors on the selection of land use modes and the spatial patterns of land use. The study results are as follows: (a)Terrain factors play a dominant role in the spatial pattern of land use in the vertical direction. With an increase of the elevation, the woodland changes into the main land use type, the relative area of cultivated land in various elevation ranges increases initially, and then decreases, and the proportions of urban village, industrial and mining lands, traffic and transportation lands, water areas, and water conservancy facilities lands decrease gradually. Meanwhile, the diversity of land use diminishes. The land use type that is closely associated with human society’s production activities and living is mostly distributed over 0° to 3° slopes, and urban village and industrial and mining lands are mainly distributed over slopes of below 8°, indicating that they are greatly influenced by terrain factors and have high selectivity of slopes. (b)Terrain factors have a significant impact on the conversion of different land use types in the study area. There are certain differences in the conversion of land use types in different terrain areas. Low-terrain areas are the areas where the spatial pattern of land use changes most significantly, indicating that the spatial pattern of land use is affected by the joint action of natural conditions and human activities, and terrain is the background factor in the formation of the spatial patterns of land use.