Nat Geo releases free Topographical maps

[TimHolt]

FREE!! Printable USGS PDF Quads
A Quick, Easy, and Free way to Download any Quad in the Country
National Geographic has built an easy to use web interface that allows anyone to quickly find any quad in the country for downloading and printing. Each quad has been pre-processed to print on a standard home, letter size printer. These are the same quads that were printed by USGS for decades on giant bus-sized pressed but are now available in multi-page PDFs that can be printed just about anywhere. They are pre-packaged using the standard 7.5 minute, 1:24,000 base but with some twists:
Page 1 is an overview map showing the Quad in context
Pages 2 through 5 are the standard USGS Quads cut in quarters to fit on standard printers
Hillshading has been added to each page of the PDF to help visualize the topography

Here is the link

[NC Roamer]

Thanks for the posting the link. Their interface for finding the map of a specific area is very smooth.

The USGS provides very accurate and detailed maps, although they can be a bit dated in places. I used them for many years in my former line of work (civil engineer and land surveyor).

[wanderlust]

Thanks Tim, very cool link.

[TimHolt]

I thought they looked pretty cool...
Now they need to make an app...

[TWP723]

WOW! That's freakin' awesome! Thanks Tim!

[wanderlust]

Originally Posted by TimHolt

I thought they looked pretty cool...
Now they need to make an app...

It works great on my iPad. The map opens in a PDF then you can open it in iBooks and save it there.

[tbwill]

I would also suggest that if the area you are looking for is in a National Forest the US Forest service has free USFS Topos available. The base maps they use are from the USGS but they have been enhanced to show Forest Service facilities, campgrounds, trails, etc. They are not broken into four individual sheets like the NatGeo product, but if you don't need the easy print function and just want to view them on a computer or tablet they have much better definition, plus they are a lot smaller...about a third of the size on the ones I have compared. The link below takes you to the page where you can select the State and Forest you're interested in. The maps are in pdf format and they are also available in TIFF format if you explore around the site a little. I have opened them in iBooks on my iPad and you can zoom in very easily. Here is the link:
USDA Forest Service FSGeodata Clearinghouse - FSTopo Map Images / States & Territories

[jamesmc321]

"PDF Maps" is an app that basically downloads these maps and uses the GEO tags on them so you can be hiking, etc.. and it will show you your location on the map. ** some of the maps cost to download, but many are these free ones

I use it all time around NYS when hiking.

[DocBrown]

This is super cool. I often carry a table now with trail maps, as a supplement to trailer guides. This is going to be very useful!

Originally Posted by jamesmc321

"PDF Maps" is an app that basically downloads these maps and uses the GEO tags on them so you can be hiking, etc.. and it will show you your location on the map. ** some of the maps cost to download, but many are these free ones

I use it all time around NYS when hiking.

Also cool! I just downloaded it. Thanks!

[John7349]

Thanks TimHolt
Valuable info!