Join us in celebrating CalTopo Day on April 16th! Read on to hear from CalTopo founder Matt Jacobs about where we’ve come from, what’s important to us as a company, and where we are headed next. People often ask me when I created CalTopo, and I struggle to find the right answer. Is it when […]
When the powder dries up, it doesn’t mean ski season is over- for some people, its just getting started. While winter has ended prematurely across much of the Western US, there is still time for fun skiing and this guide will cover the layers and tools useful for spring skiing. As the snow line recedes, […]
Our users plan, explore, and document adventures all over the world. Along the way, many of those maps are shared publicly- creating a massive, community-driven collection of routes, tracks, waypoints, and local knowledge. The Shared Maps layer makes that information visible directly on the map, turning the contributions of other users into a powerful resource […]
We’re excited to roll out the latest updates to Map Objects and SAR tools– now live on the web and expected shortly in version 1.25.1 of the mobile app! While the individual changes may seem small, these small quality of life improvements can add up in a big way. SAR users in particular will notice […]
While many backcountry skiers might covet steep couloir and alpine faces, I love hunting for those perfect trees – widely spaced, brush free, with silky powder between. My name is Kyle McCrohan and I’m a PNW skier and author of the blog climberkyle.com. My goal is to share a few tools for finding good tree […]
Update 11/17/25: Wow! We’re blown away by the interest in this opportunity. We will be closing applications on November 21st so if you’re planning to apply, get your application in by Friday! Do you love planning your adventures almost as much as going on them? Do you geek out over routes, slope shading, and weather […]
No matter where an adventure or SAR mission takes you, you can now bring more of the power of CalTopo with you. With today’s announcement from T-Mobile, we’re excited to finally share that the latest version of the CalTopo app is satellite ready and compatible with T-Mobile’s T-Satellite service. When T-Mobile invited us to prepare […]
Search and rescue (SAR) has always been at the heart of CalTopo. Read on to hear from CalTopo founder Matt Jacobs about exciting upcoming improvements that we have planned for SAR users. CalTopo’s origins date back to one of my first searches in 2009, and the mapping difficulties I encountered on it. While both the […]
We’re thrilled to introduce the Avy Observations overlay! This tool displays reported avalanche occurrences from participating avalanche forecast centers directly in your CalTopo map. Now, you can visualize recent and past avalanche reports in an area alongside all your other mapping data, helping you to make more informed decisions before heading into the mountains. See […]
We have two big updates that we’re excited to share! More High Resolution Elevation Data It’s that magical time of year: we just finished importing the latest high resolution elevation data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). And why should you care about more high resolution elevation data coverage? Traditional elevation datasets typically have […]
