GARMIN TOPO Maps

[Desert-Blaster]

Okay ya'll....I'm pretty new here and very new to GPS so please be easy on me

I ride dual/sport and single-track in Arizona, Utah, NM, maybe some in Califorina and do not know which TOPO Maps to get so I am looking for some help

I also want to know can these TOPO Maps be used on more than 1 Garmin GPS (if compatible)

I have a GPSMAP 76Cx (just bought) and am considering these:

US TOPO Map DVD 1:100,000 scale

and/or the

TOPO U.S. 24K Southwest DVD 1: 24,000 scale

Eventually I will make use of the US map, but I'd like to know if the smaller scale Southwest map will really be of use to me. I ride mostly tracks that others have already built, but I will be venturing out to the unknown soon.

Also, what can I do to "get educated" on the GPS and GPS Mapping/use in the outdoors?

Thank you kindly all....

[Maddaddy]

get the garmin topo west 24k. not the national parks.

you can use it on all your GPS's and it is routable.

[Countdown]

Topo is ok to study or a s backup but if you have small handheld, it has way too many lines to use while riding. Also get non-topo so you can switch.

I ride with Roads & Rec but have old Garmin Topo also loaded so I cna refer to it if needed.

[Desert-Blaster]

Originally Posted by Countdown

Topo is ok to study or a s backup but if you have small handheld, it has way too many lines to use while riding. Also get non-topo so you can switch.

I ride with Roads & Rec but have old Garmin Topo also loaded so I cna refer to it if needed.

wow.....roads & recs is an old one & been discontinued

is there a new replacement by another name that riders use???

thanx in advance

[Countdown]

Originally Posted by Desert-Blaster

wow.....roads & recs is an old one & been discontinued
is there a new replacement by another name that riders use???

People find it on e-bay. It is not copy protected or need unlock so if you can borrow a copy all you have to do is copy to hard drive.

Replacement is City Nav only $80 but is a PITA with unlock codes but if you want to auto rouite, it is the one.

[SnowMule]

Personally I'd go with citynavigator over the topo maps. More useful POIs (Fuel, food) than topo (what's with all the "mines" anyways?).

Roads are way more up to date, includes a ton of forest service roads, and the routes are far better than topo will get you.

[technician]

Mule is right, City Navigator will have way more roads and trails marked than TOPO 2008. Check this place out:

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

They have far more detailed state TOPO maps for free.

[Desert-Blaster]

great info ya'll......and super site technician.....they have all if AZ at 1:24

I will check this sitew out more soon, and will definitely send them some donations!!

Thank you one and all for great started noob GPS Info

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by Desert-Blaster

Okay ya'll....I'm pretty new here and very new to GPS so please be easy on me

I ride dual/sport and single-track in Arizona, Utah, NM, maybe some in Califorina and do not know which TOPO Maps to get so I am looking for some help

I also want to know can these TOPO Maps be used on more than 1 Garmin GPS (if compatible)

I have a GPSMAP 76Cx (just bought) and am considering these:

US TOPO Map DVD 1:100,000 scale

and/or the

TOPO U.S. 24K Southwest DVD 1: 24,000 scale

Eventually I will make use of the US map, but I'd like to know if the smaller scale Southwest map will really be of use to me. I ride mostly tracks that others have already built, but I will be venturing out to the unknown soon.

Also, what can I do to "get educated" on the GPS and GPS Mapping/use in the outdoors?

Thank you kindly all....

Free Topo mapsets for Utah, Arizona and NM here:

http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_cotopo.html

Not sure how they compare with Garmin Topos, but they work well for me- I use these along with City Nav and Roads and Rec loaded on my 276C.

[Dragon43]

Great map resources.... Thanks....

[DR. Rock]

Comparison here. For Oregon, Topo24K is vastly superior to Topo2008

[Desert-Blaster]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

Comparison here. For Oregon, Topo24K is vastly superior to Topo2008

Ahhhh......Mr. Mobius, errrr, I mean DR. Rock

I was totally drawn into your Mobius Trip (which is now called Mobius I) and I value all you toss out to us mere inmates stuck at home dreaming about traveling & updating those that follow on advrider.com

So a question for you on the gPS...you use 1 chip - the 4GB?
Do you have another coded 4GB as a backup in case of the unthinkable?

I bought a GSMAP76Cx and a 2GB chip, but after learning more about all of these maps, I might upgrade just to have the extra maps on hand
............afterall, a man can never have too many maps, right

I have also heard many talk about that Roads & Rec Map, what are your comments on that one?

Thank you kindly!!

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Desert-Blaster

So a question for you on the gPS...you use 1 chip - the 4GB?
Do you have another coded 4GB as a backup in case of the unthinkable?

We roll with a 76cx (LDF) and a 60csx (mine). Each has a 4gb card with all the relevant maps loaded for the area we're traveling through. That consumes about 1.5gb. The rest of the card has some backup .pdf files (DRZ service manual, copies of registration & insurance, Scala instruction manual, etc.) and still allows plenty of room to archive the daily track logs. In addition, each unit has a 2gb card loaded with the maps only which is taped to the inside of the battery cover. The two 2gb back-ups are plenty for the maps, and in fact, the 4gb card in LDF's 76cx became corrupted and froze up on day 3 or 4 of Mobius III. It took two seconds to swap in the back-up sd card and she was back in business.

I bought a GSMAP76Cx and a 2GB chip, but after learning more about all of these maps, I might upgrade just to have the extra maps on hand
............afterall, a man can never have too many maps, right

I have also heard many talk about that Roads & Rec Map, what are your comments on that one?

With a 2gb card, you won't be able to load the entire country, but that shouldn't be a problem. If it is, you'll need more memory cards, not necessarily bigger ones. Understand that the topo maps are composed of many small segments, and the GPS's have a limit to the number of segments that can be loaded (~2000+ IIRC) regardless of the memory footprint. For Mobius III, I had loaded portions of CNNA, topo2008, topo24K, and free-ware topo maps for NV and UT. I don't have R&R, so I can't comment on what's on there, but others have reported that a lot of trails are on that mapset that aren't on the others. I didn't find much difference between Topo2008 and Topo24K in NV, however I'm finding major differences between the two for Oregon to the point that I'm not even going to load any Topo2008 segments for Mobius IV.

[Desert-Blaster]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

We roll with a 76cx (LDF) and a 60csx (mine). Each has a 4gb card with all the relevant maps loaded for the area we're traveling through. That consumes about 1.5gb. The rest of the card has some backup .pdf files (DRZ service manual, copies of registration & insurance, Scala instruction manual, etc.) and still allows plenty of room to archive the daily track logs. In addition, each unit has a 2gb card loaded with the maps only which is taped to the inside of the battery cover. The two 2gb back-ups are plenty for the maps, and in fact, the 4gb card in LDF's 76cx became corrupted and froze up on day 3 or 4 of Mobius III. It took two seconds to swap in the back-up sd card and she was back in business.



With a 2gb card, you won't be able to load the entire country, but that shouldn't be a problem. If it is, you'll need more memory cards, not necessarily bigger ones. Understand that the topo maps are composed of many small segments, and the GPS's have a limit to the number of segments that can be loaded (~2000+ IIRC) regardless of the memory footprint. For Mobius III, I had loaded portions of CNNA, topo2008, topo24K, and free-ware topo maps for NV and UT. I don't have R&R, so I can't comment on what's on there, but others have reported that a lot of trails are on that mapset that aren't on the others. I didn't find much difference between Topo2008 and Topo24K in NV, however I'm finding major differences between the two for Oregon to the point that I'm not even going to load any Topo2008 segments for Mobius IV.

I ended up getting TOPO 2009 for the USA, guess they were out of the 2008 version, oh well

I don't want to have an wardrobe malfunction, so I will get a couple extra cards and make sure they are already loaded up with the stuff I will need.

anyway...thanks for all of the great info DR. Rock

I will look forward to seeing more ridings & writings from you soon!!

[markgsnw]

Originally Posted by Countdown

if you can borrow a copy all you have to do is copy to hard drive.

um, please don't advocate this here. We're trying to stay on good terms with Garmin, and ripping them off isn't a great way to accomplish that.