Airbusdriver Report post Posted June 19, 2011 I have been looking for some good topo maps of the national forests, etc. Primarily for hunting/scouting, but also also for hiking with my family. World of Maps in Mesa is apparently getting out of the topo business, and now carry a third-party version which are pretty dismal. Has anyone used the National Geographic program that lets you print out your own topos? I hate to spend $50 on a map program then find out it's not what I expected. I also have a Garmin eTrex GPS, but the $100 tag for the topo maps is a little stiff...anyone tried the shared topo files for GPS? http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/state/all I know that there are some pretty good quality hunt unit maps out there, but at $40/unit, it gets a little pricey. Just curious as to what others are using. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elkaddict Report post Posted June 19, 2011 I have been using the gpsfiledepot arizona topo maps for about a year and I think they are great! They are pretty big file size so don't know how much you can load on your Etrex. they are free and much better than the $100 garmin topos. Download it and give it a try, all you have is a little time invested. Also the map will be on your computer(be sure and download Basecamp from garmin) and you can make waypoints, routes,etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted June 19, 2011 The National Geographic Topo program is one I use and I love it. however, I don't think you can download the maps to your GPS. You can transfer waypoints and routes from your GPS to the program and you can transfer waypoints back to your GPS, but not the base topo map itself. You can get the topo maps on your GPS from other sources and then transfer waypoints using the topo program. I find the program is very easy to use and I love being able to print my own customized maps with my waypoints on them. One of our sponsors, Flatline Maps, makes a great product that is a combination of topo map and forest service road map. It's great for learning the unit. It's a hard copy map that is designed to last and you can just store it in your truck so it's always there for you. This is an excellent product also. http://www.flatlinemaps.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaptSam Report post Posted June 19, 2011 I have been using the gpsfiledepot arizona topo maps for about a year and I think they are great! They are pretty big file size so don't know how much you can load on your Etrex. they are free and much better than the $100 garmin topos. Download it and give it a try, all you have is a little time invested. Also the map will be on your computer(be sure and download Basecamp from garmin) and you can make waypoints, routes,etc. He should be able to load a TOPO to his Etrex. I have a Garmin Etrex Legend and can load a TOPO of Wisconson on mine. I haven't read where anyone has downloaded MapSource from GPSfileDepot, only to get maps. This is possible without having the MapSource key to start or run the program. I left my Western Mapsource in AZ and couldn't install Mapsource on my new laptop. But discovered I could get the program from GPSFileDept for free. I like this version for MapSource better than what came with the Garmin. There is a cool feature that will allow you to view your wpts, routes, and tracks in Google Earth. That is cool. I've used this feature to see some of my favorite haunts in 27....burn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron G. Report post Posted June 20, 2011 I have been looking for some good topo maps of the national forests, etc. Primarily for hunting/scouting, but also also for hiking with my family. World of Maps in Mesa is apparently getting out of the topo business, and now carry a third-party version which are pretty dismal. Has anyone used the National Geographic program that lets you print out your own topos? I hate to spend $50 on a map program then find out it's not what I expected. I also have a Garmin eTrex GPS, but the $100 tag for the topo maps is a little stiff...anyone tried the shared topo files for GPS? http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/state/all I know that there are some pretty good quality hunt unit maps out there, but at $40/unit, it gets a little pricey. Just curious as to what others are using. Thanks. I noticed the same thing about Wide World of Maps when I went in there the other day and was asking about getting topo maps on waterproof paper. They didn't sound too interested and the unit maps they had that they showed me on waterproof paper were 1:100000 scale. I have the National Geographic program which is nice, but I've gotten tired of printing out 8.5x11" maps, and even 11x17" maps don't do it for me... The National Geographic maps are digital images of the USGS 7.5 minute quads which is nice for advanced scouting or even downloading your waypoints and tracks to see where you were after hunting or scouting trips. The National Geographic maps are not installable on Garmin GPS's (at least the models I'm familiar with). For GPS and computer maps I have used the SW Topo and AZ Topo from gpsfiledepot.com with good success. These are installed on the gps via Garmin Mapsource. You can't really beat those maps for free. I recently purchased gps maps from HuntingGPSMaps.com. These are also installed via Garmin Mapsource and even though I've only been using them for a couple of months, I'm really liking them. Lots of detail (land ownership marked, hunt unit boundaries, wilderness boundaries, forest road labels, and more) and fast redraw on my Garmin 60CSX. You can buy a chip or the downloadable version. It is $130 for the downloadable version and $99 for micro sd card. For paper maps, I just ordered a couple of maps from mytopo.com. Decent prices, and semi-custom maps. I'll have more info on how I like them after I receive them sometime next week. Ron Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted June 20, 2011 I use the National Geographic software state topos too, and really like them, but like others have mentioned, you can't download them to a GPS - just transfer waypoints, etc. back and forth. I like to carry a laptop connected to my GPS to get a continuous route plus the screen size of a laptop is way more useful than just a GPS, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted June 20, 2011 I got topos for my gps from huntinggpsmaps.com also. Love thos maps on my gps. They show land ownership and road and trail numbers. So I use that on my gps and national topo to print out maps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Airbusdriver Report post Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks for all of the input so far. I downloaded the MapSource, etc, and found the tutorials (5 printed pages worth). I will try installing some when I get the time. I'm still trying to figure out how to use my GPS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
