Using Online Maps

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This site makes extensive use of online maps provided by other web sites, allowing us to concentrate on writing trail descriptions. Although each of these sites provides help information, here are a few suggestions on how they can be used with this site.

Using Google Maps for Driving Directions

Google Maps (maps.google.com) provides location maps and driving directions like several other web sites but with a twist: you can request directions to a latitude/longitude coordinate if you don't know the street address. Trail descriptions on this site give trailhead coordinates so you can request directions from wherever you are coming from.

To get directions, enter your starting location (just a zipcode is fine if you already know how to get to the nearest highway), then the keyword to: followed by the trailhead coordinate, all on the same line. You can use Topozone.com (see below) to obtain coordinates of other locations.

Using Topozone.com Maps for Trail Locations

Topozone.com (www.topozone.com) provides an online library of scanned USGS maps in several scales. Users of paper maps will especially appreciate that the maps have been "stitched" together so there is no longer the problem of where you want to go being near the map corner. They will also note that the scanned maps contain the same errors as the original.

Each trail description references one or more online maps, of size and scale designed to show the particular trail. These maps can be zoomed and scrolled or changed to a different scale using the control panel on the L.

Click anywhere on the map to recenter the map at that point.
Click an arrow on the map border to scroll the map in that direction.
Click a button in the control panel to the L to change the scale of the source map (1:24K/25K,1:100K, 1:250K) You will probably want to change the viewing scale also.
Click a button in the control panel to the L to change the size of the map image on the screen (Small, Medium, Large). Smaller maps display quicker if that is all you need.
Change the View Scale from the dropdown list. Maps display most clearly if this number is twice the scale of the original map but you can experiment.
Change the coordinate format from the dropdown list. The coordinate of the map center (where the red marker is) is shown at the top of the map.
Change the coordinate datum from the dropdown list.
The Show target check box controls whether the red marker is shown at the center of the map.

There is also a View Maps box at the upper L of the map page that you can select to view a map of any named point.

Viewing Historic USGS Maps

There are two collections of historic USGS 15' series scanned maps available, Maptech and UNH. Dates of these maps vary from the late 1800's to mid 1900's. Each map is scanned in 4 sections with wide overlap, but you cannot scroll between sections. Depending on your browser, the whole map segment may initially appear onscreen much too small to read - click on the image to zoom and then scroll to the area you want.

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