Hundreds of maps. Which ones do you use?

[wiiawiwb]

There are a gazillion maps out there to access on GAIA or other mapping softwares.  Choosing among the many depends on what you're looking for.  There are several major formats I use all the time.  A topo map is a must have. Another is one that provides trails and lean-to locations. A third one provides uploaded hikes/bushwhacks from people who have already hiked in an area. The last is satellite imagery.

 

Beyond those four types are very specialized maps that can be a valuable resource. One example is a map showing state or Federal land boundaries. Cell service coverage maps I've found to be reasonably accurate.

 

The ones I use regularly from GAIA are:

 

1) OpenCycleMap

2) US Topo

3) World Imagery

4) USGS Quad Index

 

I'll also use uploaded hikes from All Trails that will show the course someone took to get from Point A to Point B.   Maybe they bushwhacked and already found a way to circumvent an obstacle or determined they couldn't find their way through. Recently, the All Trails helped me get through a large cedar swamp that would have been a much slower, trial-and-error process.

 

I'll also carry a printed topo map of the area I'll be going to just in case my smartphone is inoperable for whatever reason.  Before I go, I will draw magnetic north lines on the printed map so when I'm in the field I never have to orient the map and can take readings on the fly. Two is one and one is none.

 

Which maps have you found helpful?

Edited September 17, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[MIB]

I start with google earth, mangani's bigfoot overlay and a topographic overlay.    I add in USFS wilderness maps for trails to-from specific locations.    Then I search the old archives online for older versions of maps that have now-abandoned trails.   These are usually USFS or USGS.     If I need to worry about property boundaries, my county has tax lot mapping online.  

 

The maps I've found give a general idea but are not accurate enough or detailed enough ... gotta put boots on the ground.    Three older trails I've been looking for are at least a quarter mile away from where they appear on the maps.   In heavy forest that's out of sight from where they're "supposed" to be so .. not good enough.    Of them, I've finally traced through one end to end, another I've found all but about a 200 yard section (guessing there's a switchback in a meadow that gets a lot of snow which has destroyed the trail), and one .. I've barely found anything, not a trail, just a sense of where one reasonably would have been.   Two others I expect to be similar.    One of those leads near a series of long, thin lakes, partly seasonal.   I think they lie in a fault line because they seem to go on for miles with no deviation.   I suspect that's going to be a "spot" at certain times of year.   Water, cover, no humans.    One is on his way soon though. 

[wiiawiwb]

You mentioned in paragraph, "The maps I've found...".  Are they topo maps? I have yet to find a quadrangle near me that wasn't available online.  Trail maps....that's a horse of a different color.  

 

Have you ever accessed All Trails?  I was shocked to find how many hikes and bushwhacks people had uploaded.  They provide routes to and from areas that trails are not available, nor shown, on any map I've found.

 

The goods news is with a detailed topo map, one can bushwhack to any location. As you've said, seasonal changes can provide unforeseen obstacles. It's been very wet near me and a topo map that shows a creek now has a pond to soldier through, thanks to the efforts of industrious beavers.

[MIB]

^^^^ Yeah, I've found some interesting stuff on All Trails.   I'm startin' to think there are a few people out there as crazy 'bout bushwhacking as I am.      I wish there was a good way to download those, say as .kml extracts, to move to google earth so all my stuff is together.   Maybe there is for paying members?

 

Most of my interests of that sort lie in the Sky Lakes, Mountain Lakes, Wild Rogue, and Kalmiopsis Wilderness areas in SW Oregon.   Many of the trails I'm looking for were fairly heavily used pack trails, often supplying fire lookouts, in the years before roads were built into the areas.   Some were for cattle prior to wilderness designation.   A few were even old military wagon trails from the mid 1800s .. and a substantial percentage of those began as trails used by native tribal people crossing the mountains to forage for seasonal foods in the years before Europeans arrived.    Lot of history being lost ... fading away under brush.   My personal "mission" is to suss out those old trails and trace them with GPS so someday the history can be revived.

 

edit to add: however, relative to bigfoot, I suspect those old trails, no longer used by us, represent low-effort routes for crossing some of the mountain passes and traversing some of the very rugged canyons.   Even when groundwork is mostly gone and some brush has begun to intrude on the trail, it's still easier than a 100% bushwhack.   Many times I've found myself wandering around a mountainside and noticed that the walking was easier than it seemed it should be.   After while I'd realize I was on a truly lost trail with blazes on some trees and maybe a sawed stump or log far from where any logging ever occurred or any European-descended person ever lived.    Finding that sort of thing truly floats my boat.

 

One of the trails I'm currently looking for is so far gone there is no ground work, however, if I just walk up the ridge the easiest, least brushy way, I occasionally run into very old stumps .. sawed flat, not broken by wind, and I know I'm still on the trail.    I have made it about 2 miles up that one and have 6-7 miles to go.

 

MIB

[wiiawiwb]

8 hours ago, MIB said:

^^^^ Yeah, I've found some interesting stuff on All Trails.   I'm startin' to think there are a few people out there as crazy 'bout bushwhacking as I am.      I wish there was a good way to download those, say as .kml extracts, to move to google earth so all my stuff is together.   Maybe there is for paying members?

 

If being crazy about bushwhacking  is wrong, I don't want to be right!!

 

Yes, with AllTrails Pro (paid version is only $20/year right now) you find a map someone has uploaded to All Trails, then download the KML map which goes directly to Google Earth and allows you to save it from there.  Here is the process below. You find the route then click on Download Route, you can then choose from a number of formats (in your case Google Earth KML), then, voila, the route is now in Google Earth where you can save it there. For $20, it might be well worth it for you to sign up and begin dowloading routes to GE.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[NorthWind]

THIS is great news; learning that AllTrails can work with Google Earth!

 

Now if I could just figure out how to import / export to and from my Garmin.

 

[MIB]

Which garmin do you have?

 

I still use an old E-Trex Legend H.

 

Mine imports / exports fairly well with "regular" Google Earth but is harder with the Pro version.   I found a work-around for "Pro" for exporting from the Garmin and loading into G.E.   I fire up Base Camp (think that's what it's called) from the Garmin install, plug in the GPS, and view what's on the GPS in the software first.   Then select the waypoints or routes I want.    I have to export the selection .. and change format.   It's not the default .. I forget, maybe save to .gpx format.    G.E. Pro can import that.

 

I'm not sure I've tried importing into the GPS from G.E. Pro.

 

Hmmm .. reminds me I need to get a newer GPS.   Current one won't do 2021 dates.   I use it less and less all the time though, just use it to trace routes sometimes and to mark waypoints like where I left my truck.   Dates don't matter much for that.

 

MIB

[NorthWind]

3 hours ago, MIB said:

Which garmin do you have?

 

 

 

E-Trex 32x

[wiiawiwb]

10 hours ago, NorthWind said:

THIS is great news; learning that AllTrails can work with Google Earth!

 

Now if I could just figure out how to import / export to and from my Garmin.

 

 

I think you can find/create a trail in All Trails then in Download Route choose GPX file.  Then, you just have to upload the GPX file to your Garmin E-Trex.

 

Are you subscribed to All Trails?

[NorthWind]

10 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

 

I think you can find/create a trail in All Trails then in Download Route choose GPX file.  Then, you just have to upload the GPX file to your Garmin E-Trex.

 

Are you subscribed to All Trails?

 

 

Thanks for the info. I am not subscribed to All Trails. Maybe I should be. I just have an aversion to subscriptions to anything.

[wiiawiwb]

If you need or want topo or trail maps for your ETrex, another option is to download free maps from GPSFileDepot.com.  I've included a link to various maps you can download ones that are specific to Oregon. 

 

https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/state/or

 

Another option is to sign up with CalTopo as it is free. You can focus in on an area and print maps or download them as well. Advanced maps, such as private lands with land owner names, require a subscription. I've been using CalTopo maps online for a long time and find them to be excellent.  I focus on a certain area and print out very detailed maps of just that spot.

 

https://training.caltopo.com/all_users/desktop/download

Edited September 27, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[Madison5716]

Topozone online.

[Catmandoo]

I use a different approach. I have DeLorme Gazetteers for an overall view. I have old DeLorme topo software. Garmin bought DeLorme and my GPS unit became a brick. The old map software displays down to USGS  details.  Old topo software has the 'roads less traveled'. The newer software does not and deletes many trails and logging roads in favor of vehicle navigation displays. I am a man and was born with the direction gene so I don't need the vehicle navigation equipment.

 

The USGS site can have several versions of the same map in the way of old survey dates and recent publishing. Look at the survey date and print date. Go for the old ones if you can and they are free to down load in pdf form so you are able to zoom like crazy on your computer and print.

 

Bureau of Land Management maps and survey plat images. Colorful maps can be found for various outdoor activities. The survey plat images have details that go back over 100 years in the Oregon areas that I looked at. Pioneer trails, cabins, telephone lines and trail cabins. I had a mission into Oregon and checked survey plat images. The area that I was going to has a pioneer trail that was used before 1900. I hiked the trail for a short ways and found tracks of a bounding animal. I can't find my notes on the distance between hoof groupings but the animal was running full tilt boogie. I did not find any tracks, claw marks or scuffs from a possible pursuing animal. The area has white tail deer and black bears. Maybe other large predators. Big ravens too. Worth another look when I have the time. There was deer poop everywhere.

Navigating the Bureau's site can be difficult. To find survey plats, one should have accurate info on townships, ranges and sections.

The adventure starts with:  Bureau of Land Management ---> Federal Land Records ------>General Land Office Records ---> Survey Plats & Field Notes ---->survey details --->survey plat details --->plat image.   The plat images are not 'pretty pictures' but the history is there.

 

I do not download detailed maps / images onto a small, low-res battery powered screen.  Paper works for me.

[wiiawiwb]

Paper maps have been around for probably thousand of years. When the battery runs out or the smartphone hiccups, a map will be there to guide you.  Your absolutely right that older maps can provide information not found on updated ones.

 

I always spend time at night scouring the topo map and aerial map of areas that I go to. I want to be able to visualize the map while in the field so I know what major terrain features are in the area. God forbid the map gets lost, and the electronics go on the fritz, I have a pretty good idea what I'm dealing with in all directions.

[BlackRockBigfoot]

We actually used Gaia last weekend.  I was pretty impressed with it, so much so that I will probably get the paid version.