Support CalTopo: GPS Maps
There are still some environments where a smartphone won’t do, and you need the battery life and weather resistance of a dedicated GPS. SAR is one of those environments, but it’s also one that demands accurate, high-quality maps. Once you’ve gotten used to tracking your location on a satellite image, or dodging cliffs on a steep descent using slope angle shading, it’s hard to go back to a confusing mess of blocky contour lines rendered in 160×240 resolution.
Enter custom GPS maps from CalTopo, available with large-area coverage on 32GB MicroSD cards. Preload the same high-quality maps that power caltopo.com onto your GPS and never worry about having to download imagery or deal with inadequate maps again. Before I get too deep into the cheerleading, bad news first.
Garmin doesn’t want to just sell you a GPS, they want to sell you a pure-gravy BirdsEye subscription as well. The only way that works is if they’re the only game in town when it comes to GPS imagery, which they accomplish by “locking” their units to only work with official Garmin maps. In order to use CalTopo’s custom GPS maps, you need to unlock your GPS as described here. I’d be willing to pay a licensing fee to Garmin in order to get my maps officially sanctioned, since that would allow me to sell trouble-free cards through major retailers, but I’ve asked and they’re not interested.
So on to the good news. You live in California, Oregon or Washington and are in the market for some maps that will work with a newer Garmin GPS that you have unlocked. As an added bonus, you’d like those maps to match your printed CalTopo maps 1:1. You’re in luck! The following are real screenshots taken from my 62s.
Yosemite Valley, Rodeo Beach and Mt Shasta.
The three layers available are:
- Scanned USGS Topo Maps, to an equivalent zoom of 15.
- 2 meter per pixel aerial imagery, to an equivalent zoom of 16. NAIP Aerial layer used for California, US Topo Imagery layer used elsewhere.
- Slope angle shading with Forest Service maps replacing USGS topos where available.
Some additional screenshots, of Mt Rainier and the San Juan Islands:
Check out the CalTopo Store today!
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