TOPO 2008 and Garmin G60Csx

[+GreenMountainTreasureHunters]

Hi,

 

We just loaded a mapset from topo 2008 onto our G60csx. When we looked at a couple of cache coordinates that are near trails, the trails don't show up. Is there a setting we need to change to determine what to view, or is that detail just not available for this particular area (in VT)

 

Thanks

[+imajeep]

Topo 2008 generally doesn't show trails, because it's a 1:100K map. To see major trails, you normally have to get a 1:24K set, like Garmins US Topo National Parks maps. And not even those show all trails.

[+GreenMountainTreasureHunters]

Topo 2008 generally doesn't show trails, because it's a 1:100K map. To see major trails, you normally have to get a 1:24K set, like Garmins US Topo National Parks maps. And not even those show all trails.

 

Oh, bummer. I was under the impression that it would have trails. It's still good of course to know about major features between oneself and the cache but I guess we will have to consult paper maps to really figure out what trails make sense, how far from the trail the cache is, etc.

 

How do folks normally do this? It would be difficult to locate exact coordinates on a paper map, and I'm not sure what maps to buy to show the trails we're likely to be using.

[GeoBobC]

I see trails on my 60Cx with Topo 2008. Check out the PCT in Washington. It's visible in Mapsource and also on the 60Cx. You may need to turn off City Navigator (in Map Setup) or other map products because they take precedence over Topo.

[+GreenMountainTreasureHunters]

I see trails on my 60Cx with Topo 2008. Check out the PCT in Washington. It's visible in Mapsource and also on the 60Cx. You may need to turn off City Navigator (in Map Setup) or other map products because they take precedence over Topo.

 

I don't have any maps loaded in the 60csx except topo and the base maps that come with it. We are definitely seeing topo maps -- the contour lines are there. Just no trails, not even the forest roads. Guess our area just doesn't have the detail of some others? I'll check and see if I can see any within mapsource.

[TopangaHiker]

I see trails on my 60Cx with Topo 2008. Check out the PCT in Washington. It's visible in Mapsource and also on the 60Cx. You may need to turn off City Navigator (in Map Setup) or other map products because they take precedence over Topo.

 

Yeah, but the PCT is a major trail.

[GeoBobC]

"Just no trails, not even the forest roads" suggests that it's not a major/minor trail issue.

[+imajeep]

I see trails on my 60Cx with Topo 2008. Check out the PCT in Washington. It's visible in Mapsource and also on the 60Cx. You may need to turn off City Navigator (in Map Setup) or other map products because they take precedence over Topo.

 

The PCT isn't a trail, it's a major superhighway! I didn't know it was on there--I suppose the AT is, as well.

[CenTexDodger]

I see trails on my 60Cx with Topo 2008. Check out the PCT in Washington. It's visible in Mapsource and also on the 60Cx. You may need to turn off City Navigator (in Map Setup) or other map products because they take precedence over Topo.

 

I don't have any maps loaded in the 60csx except topo and the base maps that come with it. We are definitely seeing topo maps -- the contour lines are there. Just no trails, not even the forest roads. Guess our area just doesn't have the detail of some others? I'll check and see if I can see any within mapsource.

 

You have to be zoomed in to the highest resolution. Check in MapSource. If the trails show up there, they will show on the GPS. I camp in a Wilderness area that is part of a larger national forest. The trails that are in the area show up on my GPS. The trails will be a brown dotted line, and the contours are faint enough that the trails are easy to see.

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited July 24, 2007 by CenTexDodger

[+GreenMountainTreasureHunters]

 

You have to be zoomed in to the highest resolution.

 

 

Ah, you're right, once we zoomed in I at least got the forest road. I didn't find the trail I was looking for, but it's a minor trail so it probably isn't in there. Oh well.

 

Thanks, and I'd still like advice on purchasing paper maps to supplement the GPS, and how folks handle that.

[GeoBobC]

You can change the zoom level at which trails will display by increasing the "detail" level in Map Setup. Try "More" or "Most".

[mtbikernate]

Keep in mind that before a trail can show up on any mapping product, that trail has to have been inventoried first. An awful lot of places don't have all their trails digitized for their own use, let alone having released that data to commercial cartography companies.

 

Furthermore, trails tend to change an awful lot more often than roads due to the general forces at work in the woods (fire, weather, erosion, the whims of people who may choose a reroute, etc). Consider all the massive flooding and erosion in Rainier Nat Park, or the annual fires in the SW. Events like this often force major trail reroutes either because of inaccessibility or because the event itself has wiped out or obscured the trail.

 

When purchasing any digital mapping products or paper topo maps, don't assume that it will have much, if any trail information unless the map's express purpose is to show you trails (like Trails Illustrated maps, but even those aren't spot-on accurate).

[+briansnat]

I've yet to find a mapping software product that shows most trails. You will sometimes see long standing, major trails such as the AT, Long Trail and PCT, but even these are often terribly out of date.

 

This is largely because trail systems are constantly in a state of flux in most areas. They are moved due to erosion, private land issues(when a landowner decides he no longer wants the trail on his land) and numerous other reasons. As someone who does volunteer trail work, I can tell you rarely does a week go by that we don't reroute a section of trail and rarely do 6 months go by when we don't close old trails and/or create new ones.

 

Any topo software that was released with trail data would be obsolete before it even hit the shelves.