Topo maps

[+Geogetit]

I want to get topo map for my Montana 650 and am looking into at Expert GPS maps they seem to be good but have never had to use topo maps until now..am planning on doing some hiking..i also see that Garmin has them available also..i am sure they both have pro's and con's and am looking for some input so as to make a decision..if you have used one or both or another that you think is highly rated i would appreciate any advice..Thanks in advance

[+Cardinal Red]

I want to get topo map for my Montana 650 and am looking into at Expert GPS maps they seem to be good but have never had to use topo maps until now..am planning on doing some hiking..i also see that Garmin has them available also..i am sure they both have pro's and con's and am looking for some input so as to make a decision..if you have used one or both or another that you think is highly rated i would appreciate any advice..Thanks in advance

 

You are referring to this product from TopoGrafix?: ExpertGPS

 

That product will let you grab a specific area to which you can add custom details. Say like marking trails on a favored hiking area. But it is not a product that will load large areas for general navigation. Did you actually download the free trial to test what it can do? It is a time limited fully functional demo. I have put jpg aerials with waymarks indicated on my unit that were captured with ExpertGPS. Great for a little extra insight for a very specific location, but the coverage in some areas is still spotty. I use a Garmin Topo Map Chip which fully covers several States for road and terrain navigation. Most paying users opt for their DVD products instead.

 

added the underlined word after reading the response about free maps.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Cardinal Red

[tr_s]

Well I regularly hike and use freely available topo maps based on Open Street Maps data. I haven't used any ExpertGPS maps so can't comment on them but I certainly find the OSM maps that I use perfectly adequate for hiking. I have used some Garmin maps (provided free initially with my GPS) but don't use them anymore as I find the OSM maps better.

 

I have visited the british isles a couple of times, and agree those maps were very good.

 

However, I think you are lucky with that. For many countries with swaths of uninhabited backcountry, the commercial topos can't be beat.

For instance for Sweden I can get the Openmtbmap which contains almost all of the state produced topography data; however, many features such as streams, marshland, shelters etc seems to be missing.

[+Team-Facetious]

I agree it's area dependant. I feel though that the OP should look at what's available from OSM mapping as that's free before splashing cash on Garmin maps, which of course may be necessary in some areas if OSM coverage is poor.

I agree it's very area dependent. I've used OSM mapping and some other topos from gpsfilesdepot and they work just fine for me. One of the problems I haven't splashed down any money to Garmin maps is that I am right on the border between Ohio and Wv and find myself hiking in both locations. On Garmins site this is two different maps I would need to purchase, and that gets expensive fast.

[topografix]

I want to get topo map for my Montana 650 and am looking into at Expert GPS maps they seem to be good but have never had to use topo maps until now..am planning on doing some hiking..i also see that Garmin has them available also..i am sure they both have pro's and con's and am looking for some input so as to make a decision..if you have used one or both or another that you think is highly rated i would appreciate any advice..Thanks in advance

I'm the author of ExpertGPS. Because your Montana supports Custom Maps, you can send a digitized USGS 1:24K topo map, scanned paper map, OSM street map, or aerial photo to your GPS to use as a custom basemap. ExpertGPS will prepare and send these maps for you, and they can be up to 10,000 x 10,000 pixels in size. That's enough to cover most multi-day trips.

 

Personally, I find that sending a color orthophoto (high-res aerial imagery) to the GPS to be more useful in navigating for the types of activities I do in the field. I always print a large topo or aerial with UTM grid lines to carry along as well. There's nothing like a paper map to give you the big picture.

 

Feel free to contact me if this tutorial doesn't answer your questions about custom basemaps on your Garmin Montana 650:

http://www.expertgps.com/send-maps-to-gps.asp

 

Happy caching!

 

- Dan Foster

[+cliptwings]

I'm sure ExpertGPS is a very good product, but I have not used it. If you are looking for a free alternative to commercial topo maps, I think you will be very pleased with the maps in gpsfiledepot.com. I have downloaded their Arizona Topo and am very impressed with its accuracy and display. The best thing about them, if you don't like them, you haven't lost anything!

[+Geogetit]

I must say ..that this is a wealth of information..i as a newbie am trying to digest it....i forgot to add that i would be geocaching with it ..but that pretty much falls into the same parameters as hiking.... i wrote to expert gps and asked them if it would bring up the caches if lets say i entered a query... would it indicate them on their or any topo maps.i surely do appreciate the info that you have posted..thank you...... now i need to figure out how to apply it..plan to leave on a month long trip with lots of geocaching and hiking...