Utah Map Availability?

[Shandog]

A quick couple of Questions. Whats the map availability like in Utah? Is it hard to get maps of certain areas and do they usually have to be ordered in? or maybe theres a place where everyone gets their maps?
I'm looking for the Southeastern section for Roost, Swell ect. Scales of 1:100,000 and 1:24,000.

Thanks Everyone.

[rockgremlin]

Utah Department of Natural Resources has a pretty good map selection for all parts of the state.

[Iceaxe]

You can get all the Utah maps for free from the Utah Division of Water Rights.

Here is the page to download the 1:24000 scale maps
http://nrwrt1.nr.state.ut.us/cgi-bin...ew.exe?Startup

If you use my route descriptions http://Climb-Utah.com I tell you in the general notes which maps you will need.

If you are looking for all US maps here is a good source

Libre Map Project
http://libremap.org/

They have a lot of maps but not everything.

good luck

[qedcook]

I also like this page because it has the maps organized by section:

http://geology.utah.gov/maps/topomap/index.htm
http://geology.utah.gov/maps/topomap/7_5Quads/index.htm
http://geology.utah.gov/maps/topomap...uads/index.htm

I also like this page for higher quality maps

http://gis.utah.gov/usgs-topographic...pographic-maps

[Scott Card]

All these free maps begs the question is there a reason to spend a 100 bucks for the National Geographic maps? Pros and cons anyone? I am considering buying it, maybe.

[denaliguide]

just drop the $100 and get TOPO! for utah. i see it on ebay all the time. this way you will have any utah map that you want, in whatever scale you want and can print it yourself. plus you can annotate the maps, add your own symbols, gps waypoints can be sent and recieved to the maps, you can create a route and open in google earth, you never have to navigate on where the 4 corners of the maps meet, and you can share your maps with friends who have TOPO! via .tpo files. it just has a lot of nice features to it.

what's a topo quad going for these days? last time i bought one they were like $4. i can't even remember the last time i bought one.

i have used the drg maps in the past and unless something has changed you needed a different viewer to print them. is this still the case?

just saw it on ebay for $79.95 new

[Iceaxe]

What he said.... ^^^

I own Topo Utah, Wy, AZ Idaho, NV, AZ and probably a few others I can't remember.

It's a good program.

[oldno7]

^^^^^

What they said, I have really appreciated being able to share files.

[ratagonia]

All these free maps begs the question is there a reason to spend a 100 bucks for the National Geographic maps? Pros and cons anyone? I am considering buying it, maybe.

Helps to have at least an 11x17 printer.

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.

Tom

[Cirrus2000]

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.

Tom

But when you go with denaliguide, he brings the laptop and printer. Never stuck without!!!

[denaliguide]

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.

Tom

But when you go with denaliguide, he brings the laptop and printer. Never stuck without!!!

you beat me to it!

actually i have a printer that does 13x19, and i can plug it into my cigarette lighter. put it on the hood, fire up the laptop and print at the trailhead. plus i can also download the days photos to the laptop and have a clean sd card for the next day.

[Iceaxe]

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.

Tom

I've stopped at "Whispering Sands" in Hanksville and printed out maps a couple of times, they charged me $5 to use their computer and printer for 30 minutes.

Even called home once on a sat phone to get some GPS cords....

I've also used cybercafes in Springdale and Zion... Seen maps pulled up on iphones.... now days you are never to far from the interwebz.

And with my laptop and Topo I download routes dirctly to my GPS at the trailhead....

[denaliguide]

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.
Tom

seems like thats the same thing.

[jb]

Free, scanned 7.5' quads come as .tif files from the Utah AGRC, and as such are easily manipulated, cropped, annotated, and printed with standard image processing software. If you don't require a set of waypoints to navigate, this is entirely adequate. Even if you do want waypoints, it's cheaper and not much more difficult--unless you need lots of waypoints--to just extract them from the acme mapper site. Even as a certifiable map nerd, I've got a pretty long list of uses for $100 before something like TOPO.

[Iceaxe]

If your time is worth anything you will make up the $100 ($79 on eBay today) within a few hours not having to screw around with downloading, manipulating, cropping, stitching, etc.... YMMV

I hate it when a route is right at the intersection of several maps. The Low Spur route I added to climb Utah this week is right at the intersection of three maps. Topo makes it easy to deal with.

Low Spur
http://climb-utah.com/Roost/lowspur.htm

One other hint.... I haven't checked in a while but the SL county Library system used to have several different copies of Topo. That is how I first got hooked on the program.... I'm sure everyone who checked out the program deleted it from their hard drive when finished.

[denaliguide]

looks like a trip to the slc library is in order the next time through. just for examination purposes of course.

[nelsonccc]

All these free maps begs the question is there a reason to spend a 100 bucks for the National Geographic maps? Pros and cons anyone? I am considering buying it, maybe.

Helps to have at least an 11x17 printer.

The downside is, if plans change, you are limited to the maps you have with you that are printed out. Vs., limited to the quads you have with you.

Tom

If I need anything bigger than a 8.5x11 I use Topo, then create a PDF and e-mail it to kinkos. It costs like a $1 a sq ft. or $2 a sq ft for the good paper. But most of the time I just use the 8.5x11 adventure paper and use packing tape to put it together.

[qedcook]

If you don't own a GPS, you can usually get the equivalent software for free when you buy a gps. I bought my gps for $120 and the software it came with is awesome. Plus, no compatibility issues.

[jb]

If your time is worth anything you will make up the $100 ($79 on eBay today) within a few hours not having to screw around with downloading, manipulating, cropping, stitching, etc.... YMMV

No doubt it makes some things more convenient, but Iceaxe may be a special case, as it is in his interest to make many attractive maps swiftly for his website. My thought is simply this: if $100 is a nontrivial amount of money for you, just ask yourself how much time it will save, really. I purchased my last quad several years ago, and only own perhaps a half dozen. In all the time since--though I browse maps often-- I have certainly not spent more than an hour or two, total, actually constructing maps. Have you? If so, save some time and knock yourself out with the software. If not, save the money.

[Iceaxe]

I almost forgot.... For those on a budget JDMCOX Software has an excellent aerial photo and topo maps program called "USAPhotoMaps" available online for FREE!

JDMCOX Software
http://jdmcox.com/

The program you want to download is USAPhotoMaps.

I used to use this program all the time but not so much any more. The program does have one awesome feature. You can toggle between the USGS topo maps and the USGS aerial photo of the same area.