[Objective] To determine the area of soil covering, in order to guide the planning and designing in hilly area land reclamation project.[Methods] Using GIS technology, seven indicators including soil construction, traffic condition, site conditions, soil physical and chemical properties were chosen to evaluate the priority of soil-covering demand of a typical land reclamation project in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province.[Results] ① The grade Ⅰ priority of soil covering demand of farmland accounted for 46.2% of the total area of the field. The comprehensive benefits of covering soil were high and should be covered by soil preferentially. ② The grade Ⅱ priority of soil covering demand of farmland accounted for 23.7% of the total field, where the covering soil should be made practically according to soil source. ③ The region of grade Ⅲ and grade Ⅳ totally accounted for 30.1% of the field, which had less benefit or necessity of covering soil.[Conclusion] The evaluation results reflected the fact in land reclamation project area and classified the demand of covering soil, which could provide the theoretical foundation for the design and engineering practice.