Topographic Maps

A good topopraphic (topo) map is the hikers best companion on the trail.

Unlike a road map, your topo will provide you elevation and altitude information, trail data,and water sources.

My personal favorite source for my maps is the Terrain Navigator program from MyTopo.  This is a very robust program used by hikers and SAR teams across the country.  For more info on Terrain Navigator, visit here.  I have been using this software since 1998 and am very happy with it.

MyTopo also offers custom mapping options.  These maps are not cheap but they are a wonderful product. http://www.mytopo.com/.

There are several other products out there from Delorme and National Geographic.  The National Geographic maps of our National Parks are excellent.  The detail is great, it is printed on a waterproof paper with UTM grids laid out.

To view and learn the many topo symbols check out the USGS site here.

To read one of my posts on navigating a topo map go here.