Abstract: Topographic factors affect land use changes to a certain extent and have an important influence on regional land use patterns and spatial structure characteristics. The study area of this study is Fang County in the Northwestern Hubei Province. We used DEM to extract elevation and slope information, and generated the topographic index. With the help of the spatial analysis function of GIS, we systematically analyzed the land use terrain gradient effect of Fang County by using terrain index, distribution index and land use intensity index. Subsequently, we explored the land use spatial structure characteristics of Fang County using the fractal theory. The results showed that: (1) The spatial distribution of land use types in Fang County had obvious topographic gradient characteristics. Height, slope and topography had an important influence on the formation of land use patterns in Fang County. (2) Waterbody, transportation land, residential area and industrial and mining land, and arable land were mainly distributed in area with low terrain niche index. Garden land, grassland, and unused land were mainly distributed in area with medium terrain niche index, while forest land were mainly distributed in high terrain niche index area. (3) The comprehensive index of land use intensity in Fang County decreased gradually with the increase of topographic index. (4) The distribution of land use types in Fang County had obvious fractal characteristics, and the fractal dimension was between 1.275 3-1.759 3. The orders of stability of all types of land were: waterbody, residential area and industrial and mining land, garden land, forest land, arable land, grass land, transportation land, unused land. The results of this study can provide scientific supports for decision-making of the overall land use planning and land resource allocation in this region.