Garmin Topo Usa Maps

[+Puddlewalkers]

I have been considering buying the Garmin TOPO USA Maps for my 60csx. After reading the reviews on Amazon I am having second thoughts. What options are there for topographic maps on the Garmin GPS? In your opinion, what is the best approach?

 

I am looking for topo maps to compliment my geocaching, camping and hiking. I will be on vacation this summer to western national parks, but also will be doing hiking in Minnesota parks.

 

I know that Garmin has the US Topo 24k maps for national parks. I was hoping to have decent topo maps for the whole US, and in particular the state of Minnesota.

[CenTexDodger]

I have been considering buying the Garmin TOPO USA Maps for my 60csx. After reading the reviews on Amazon I am having second thoughts. What options are there for topographic maps on the Garmin GPS? In your opinion, what is the best approach?

 

I am looking for topo maps to compliment my geocaching, camping and hiking. I will be on vacation this summer to western national parks, but also will be doing hiking in Minnesota parks.

 

I know that Garmin has the US Topo 24k maps for national parks. I was hoping to have decent topo maps for the whole US, and in particular the state of Minnesota.

 

My impression is the reviews on amazon compare the garmin maps to some specialized topo products such as NG Topo and DeLorme. Compared to those it is not as good. Also if you are just going to use it on the PC those other are probably a better choice. However, The Garmin maps are the only ones you can download onto your GPS, so in that respect they are the only game in town.

 

I have Topo USA and City Select, and I think they two compliment each other nicely. I took it (Topo loaded in my 60cs) into the mountains in New Mexico northeast of and it had good detail. i was very pleased with it. It did a good job for me but YMMV. You can go on the map viewer on the Garmin site and preview both the USA product and the 24k maps

 

The Topo USA is based on USGS 100k Topos. They are old and dated in some areas (city streets) but they show good detail of natural features, campgrounds and such. However if the park service has moved park roads recently, those moves may not show up.

[rynd]

I have been considering buying the Garmin TOPO USA Maps for my 60csx. After reading the reviews on Amazon I am having second thoughts. What options are there for topographic maps on the Garmin GPS? In your opinion, what is the best approach?

 

I am looking for topo maps to compliment my geocaching, camping and hiking. I will be on vacation this summer to western national parks, but also will be doing hiking in Minnesota parks.

 

I know that Garmin has the US Topo 24k maps for national parks. I was hoping to have decent topo maps for the whole US, and in particular the state of Minnesota.

 

My impression is the reviews on amazon compare the garmin maps to some specialized topo products such as NG Topo and DeLorme. Compared to those it is not as good. Also if you are just going to use it on the PC those other are probably a better choice. However, The Garmin maps are the only ones you can download onto your GPS, so in that respect they are the only game in town.

 

I have Topo USA and City Select, and I think they two compliment each other nicely. I took it (Topo loaded in my 60cs) into the mountains in New Mexico northeast of and it had good detail. i was very pleased with it. It did a good job for me but YMMV. You can go on the map viewer on the Garmin site and preview both the USA product and the 24k maps

 

The Topo USA is based on USGS 100k Topos. They are old and dated in some areas (city streets) but they show good detail of natural features, campgrounds and such. However if the park service has moved park roads recently, those moves may not show up.

 

I'll add that the Topo USA maps are not routeable but they cover the entire US and don't need to be unlocked . I think the 24k maps are routeable, but their coverage is limited and they have to be unlocked.

[peter]

I think the Garmin USTopo maps have gotten an undeserved bad rap in some quarters. No, they are not a substitute for getting the regular street maps, like CitySelect or CityNavigator, and manmade features such as roads are frequently very dated. But that's because the USGS source for topo maps has those flaws and Garmin's maps accurately show the same features that appear on the corresponding USGS 1:100,000 series (and the 1:24000 series isn't much better in terms of up-to-date road coverage).

 

So if you already have the CitySelect or CityNavigator product and are looking to supplement it with some more detail in areas away from roads then I'd recommend you get the Garmin USTopo maps. Look at some areas with which you're familiar on the MapViewer at http://www.garmin.com/cartography and zoom way in to see the level of detail provided. I find that it does a good job of showing the significant hills/creeks/swamps/etc. that are worth knowing about when planning a hike away from roads.

 

OTOH, if you're looking for the first map product to get for your 60CSx, then in most cases I'd recommend looking at CitySelect or CityNavigator to get the more current road data (and auto-routing).

Edited March 16, 2006 by peter

[+nioda]

If you are wondering about the quality than go to their website to the cartography section and take a test drive on the web. It shows exactly what you would see with the software, just no functionality. My 2 cents... It's not bad but there is alot of detail missing.

Edited March 16, 2006 by nioda

[GeoBobC]

One other "feature" of the Topo maps: you can see how things USED to be. I can see where airstrips where; they're now covered by strip malls >) Really, I agree they are quite useful because most geo objects like mountains and streams don't move much. If you need more detail, carry a paper map.

[+Milbank]

One other "feature" of the Topo maps: you can see how things USED to be. I can see where airstrips where; they're now covered by strip malls >) Really, I agree they are quite useful because most geo objects like mountains and streams don't move much. If you need more detail, carry a paper map.

 

I like the garmin topo maps now, but I would like to see the next version be routeable and one on DVD.

[+Puddlewalkers]

Wow! These maps are old. For urban and suburban walking and hiking, particularly in the area I live, they are not going to add much beyond what I have with City Select v7. I imagine they might be handy for trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior. I'll have to think about that one.

 

I will probably buy the 24K for my trip out west this summer, but hold off on the TopoUSA, and wait for an update. I know, don't hold my breath.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

[GeoidPS]

May be Peter can post topo transparencies on his site. With these, you can overlay on City Select, but the jeep trails will not be routable like on the 24K maps.

I hope that one day Garmin will have 24K maps for the entire US, but I don't see this happening anytime soon.

[+ohgr]

I've got kind of a followup question: Can you use older versions of the Topo US software on a 60csx? I think mine is Version 3.2 didn't want to install it on the laptop until I knew because I didn't want to have to scrub it off later, or even worse screw up the new toy.

 

Ohgr

[peter]

I've got kind of a followup question: Can you use older versions of the Topo US software on a 60csx? I think mine is Version 3.2 didn't want to install it on the laptop until I knew because I didn't want to have to scrub it off later, or even worse screw up the new toy.

It'll work fine on your 60CSx.

 

As pointed out before in this thread, the Garmin USTopo maps are very dated with regard to manmade objects like roads and buildings (they still show the high school in my hometown that burned in the mid-60s) because that's what the USGS maps show. But the natural features are shown accurately and that's what these maps should be used for. So I'd suggest also getting either CitySelect or CityNavigator maps to have more current road and POI data. But the Topo maps are good at showing the terrain, streams, swamps, etc. that are important when hiking.

[+ohgr]

Thanks for the info Peter, I had never looked into upgrading the version but found out that the mapsource updates seem to cover all of the mapsource line.

[bgray9]

Thanks for the info Peter, I had never looked into upgrading the version but found out that the mapsource updates seem to cover all of the mapsource line.

I bought the NG 24k topos for Arizona first, then later bought the Garmin 100k topo usa. I do a fair bit of hiking here in Arizona and since having both I'll take a paper copy from the 24k and have the 100k loaded on my Legend C. I find I really don't use the paper copy much, as the 100k gives me enough info to find my way around. But I'm hiking in areas with a lot of elevation change. I suppose in areas that are relatively flat and few major features, the 100k might not be as useful. But for me, I'm finding that the 100k really meets my needs and if I had it to do over, I probably wouldn't have even bought the 24k.

[+CiscoHiker]

Another question regarding the Garmin topo maps. When I find a road / trail that is new or moved is it possible to map this new road on the topo map software somehow?

[kerecsen]

If you need more detail, carry a paper map.

 

The absence of a decent topo map was one of the reasons I left the dedicated GPS market behind and got a PDA instead. I can scan my up-to-date paper hiking maps into the PDA and use them with perfect confidence (no routing, but I never actually needed it anyway).