+Scouterkevin Chil & Kids Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Hi, I'm living in New Brunswick, Canada and wish to hike a section of the trail this spring. We are looking at hiking from Front Royal (Virginia) to Harper Ferry (West Virginia). Does anyone have digital topos for that area that they could share? I use Oziexplorer. Really looking forward to visiting your area. Thanks, Kevin Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Consider these a start. You can also use the maps at topozone.com. If you're serious about doing this, you really, REALLY need more info then just some digital topos. I suggest you at least start with the Appalachian Trail Conference website. Quote Link to comment
+Scouterkevin Chil & Kids Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 Thanks Mopar, I had looked at those maps already and they seem to be lacking the resolution that I was hoping for. I have been looking at the Conference Website as well. We are serious about how we will go about this. At least two of our party have previously hiked the entire trail from start to finnish. Just hoping to find some detailed topos to supliment the trip. Quote Link to comment
+Icarus68 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Aren't topos included in the ATC guides anymore? Or are my copies just that old? Quote Link to comment
+jonboy Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 MapTech has worked with the ATC to produce a digitalized map set of the whole AT: http://www.maptech.com/land/appalachiantrail/index.cfm This is going to cost you a few bucks, you are not going to get reliable data free. There are also some trail data files posted on the TOPO! website: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo/search.cfm There were some files produced for parts of the AT posted here, but I found them to be quite inaccurate in areas of which I had first hand knowledge. In anycase, you would have to buy TOPO! to use them. The trouble with OziExplorer is that it does not produce seamless maps, and Murphy's law dictates that the trail you are on will wander over the seam of enough different maps to make you crazy. Also, Oziexplorer will not import TOPO! or Terrain Navigator files. You could print them out and scan them, but we are talking about 2,000 miles of trail here, more than three hundred maps, it would be cheaper to buy the Maptech product. Quote Link to comment
+Scouterkevin Chil & Kids Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 Thanks for the reply. I'm really only looking for the 56 mile section stated above. Even if it did cross onto a couple maps you can merge them in Ozi now to give a more customized map of just the area of interest. For some reason I thought digital 1:50,000 topos were available for most of the states at no cost. I thought Canada was the only country still charging for such info. Thanks anyhow. Quote Link to comment
+BMSquared Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I don't know about all states, but I know in New Jersey the topo maps are available through the Rutgers servers for free. They seem to be part of their online government document repository program. Other colleges probably offer similar resources. Just do a Google search or check with the Environmental agency website for links to the topo maps. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality should be able to lpoint you to the right place. I am not posting the Rutgers link here for 2 reasons. 1. I don't remember it. 2. I think we would swamp the servers if everyone went and grabbed the maps. Quote Link to comment
+jonboy Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 If you have the required GIS knowhow, you can go to the USGS website and download free DRG files of 7.5 minute quads you want. You will have to determine the specific USGS quads you want, and when you finally have them, you will still not have accurate AT Data, as the position of the AT shown on these maps will be decades old. I could not begin to do all this, and by the time I got done, I would have spent far more in time and consequently cost myself more than if I simply laid out the $50 for the entire AT. Either way you are going to have to pay, either in sweat equity or in cash. Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 If you REALLY want to pursue Jonboy's suggestions (and I also feel you would get better results buying the paper maps) here's a few resources for those areas that will require a working knowledge of GIS: Virginia Geographic Information Network West Virginia State GIS Technical Center West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Digital Spatial Data Archive National Parks Service GIS Data & Information USGS DRG Quote Link to comment
+DeskJocky Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I bought a few maps from the ATC and I was very impressed with them. A few advantages of them are: 1. They directly benefit the trail. 2. They are printed on a water resistant paper 3. They are up to date 4. And again, they directly benefit the traiil... Quote Link to comment
+Scouterkevin Chil & Kids Posted December 14, 2004 Author Share Posted December 14, 2004 Thanks everyone! The West Virginia GIS service gave me the 1:24000 topos of the last half of my trip. I'm really only looking for them to give me a general idea of the area that we will be hiking and to plot the caches that will be along the way. I will be using council maps for any info pretaining specifically to the trail. If only I could find similar 1:24000 topos of the Virginia half. Once again, thanks for all the help and links. Quote Link to comment
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