Maps... Thought it would be easier to find.

kott0n · Sep 11, 2012

Hey guys

I'm trying to find detailed maps preferably with additional topography information of WA, OR, ID. I can't seem to find any online that look like they would print worth a damn. Can you recommend any to purchase? or even better, an ebook version.

Thanks

Muddslinger12 · Sep 11, 2012

X-2 to this! If anyone ends up doing a P.M. on this please send a copy to me as well or just post so everyone can see. Thanks!

ocarolan · Sep 11, 2012

The 7.5 minute USGS maps are good. If you only care about topography, or your target area has not been developed with new roads recently, try their discounted older maps. They were $1 each back in May on store.usgs.gov.

Note the color of the lines is keyed to when the road was added in the USGS survey. You can often extrapolate characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood based on that (farms vs sprawl).

I would buy 1-2 for each leg of the route to your retreat, and alternative routes from work to home. In case the towns are barricaded you'll want to know the side roads or where to bushwhack.

For forestland, I find the very best are those USFS maps printed for logging companies back in the 80s. They mark a lot of semi-secret structures you can't find on maps today - caves, abandoned lookouts, etc. Grade and contour of the logging roads is also highly detailed. Tough to find them though, since they were printed on regular paper.

deadeye · Sep 11, 2012

Used to be Metsker's maps now from Blue Sky Should be available at Bi Mart, that's where I used to get them.

Oregon County Maps by Big Sky - Individual County Maps of Oregon

Free site...<broken link removed>

AMProducts · Sep 12, 2012

There are a lot of different places to get maps... you can download any map from the USGS store as a 7.5 quad, however to really get the full effect from these maps they need to be printed on an ANSI C or D size sheet of paper. IIRC REI will sell you the same map printed on Tyvek for like $7, which is actually really cool.

If you're looking for something with more coverage, the delorme offroad atlases are done by state and have more info than you could ever dream of and I highly recommend them: DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer Topographic Map Book Series

Over the years I've bought most of them on various trips, usually they are about $20, and cover 1 state. I think california, texas, and alaska are each broken into several books.

Truenorth · Sep 13, 2012

Not sure if they offer it but REI stores used to have a really good in-store topo map print station that allowed you to choose your map area, the scale and various overlay options. Grid, trails, topo, unpaved roads, FS boundrys, etc. I still have a few of my favorite ORV parks printed on nice waterproof plastic material.

kott0n · Sep 13, 2012

Awesome information. Thank you guys.

Blitzkrieg · Sep 13, 2012

I have two of the delorme map books and bought them long before we moved to WA State.. good stuff

MikeSettles · Sep 15, 2012

I have been downloading the latest 7.5 min (1:24,000) quadrangles from USGS - all of these are 2011 updates, and open in Adobe Acrobat. I set up a map catalog in MS Excel, and put in map names with color-coded backrounds. White backround means I know the name of the map; yellow means that I have downloaded it; green means the I have printed it. Each map covers an area of about 10 x 14 km.
I also have downloaded many "15x30" (1:100,000 scale) maps, which show a much broader region than the 7.5's. These tend to be older productions, from the '70s and '80s, so I expect that man-made infrastructure has changed, but the mountains and rivers are still there. I intend to put a grid of 7.5 quad map names on the larger area maps. It's easier to drill-down to the map sheet(s) you need for a particular mission.
On printing: Each 7.5 min map prints onto nine sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper, and you can print it with "cut marks". Us the cut marks to trim the pages so that you can tape the pieces together.
It's either do it manually (with your own paper, printer, and ink), or buy from USGS.
The new 7.5s, by the way, include a layer (which you can turn off in Acrobat) which is satellite photos of the ground. Each base map includes relief, roads, water, and town/village names, but no vegetation (trees, orchards, etc.). The map legends/marginal data contain all the standard stuff you expect from good topo maps.
If any of you (former Soldiers, Marines, etc.) have 1:25k/1:50k coordinate scales and protractors be advised that the coord scales WON'T WORK on the 1:24k/7.5min maps - you must make your own!