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Topographic maps of the backcountry work with your compass and GPS
The following is an update of our original web page uploaded in 2002. The original page, archived below, remains a good description of the role of maps in finding your way in the backcountry. However, the production and distribution of useful topographic maps has evolved dramatically in the past five years. And a new option becomes available. Here is the rest of the story.
All topographic maps published in the United States are based on the (only) complete federal photographic aerial land survey done in the 1960s, which resulted in the 7.5 Minute Quadrangle map series of 57,000 paper maps covering all fifty states. The 7.5 Minute Quad topo maps of Oregon total more than 1,900 sheets. In the recent past, map and blueprint stores carried the complete set for their State and perhaps popular maps for nearby States. The United States Geographic Survey carried an inventory of all USGS topo maps at centers across the nation. Outdoor stores carried the more popular maps for hunting, hiking and other adventures.
Individual entrepreneurs such as Al Cardwell's Geographics in Oregon, use the USGS data base to produce a series of convenient maps of popular recreation areas such as the Three Sisters Wilderness in Oregon. This Geographics map combines corners of three or four Quad maps onto one conveniently folded sheet at about the same 1:24,000 scale as the Quads. The reverse side of the paper Geographics map has a larger scale map "socialized" to provide information about trail heads and other amenities. These maps should be in everyone's pack, but they do not replace the grid lines and detail of the original Quads on which they are based.
Mountain bikers, skiers, hunters and flyfishers have their own topo maps published by entrepreneurs. They provide a service because they concentrate on the trails for, say wilderness lakes. They can adjust the scale to cover parts of several Quad maps on a single convenient sheet. They contain up to date data which is not found on the Quad maps.
However, these private maps do not provide the detail, accuracy, grid lines and other information needed by today's informed backcountry navigator. None of the private maps that I have seen are GPS friendly. Most users do not know what they are missing because they do not know that the UTM Grid can be used to locate a GPS position within a few yards by eye alone. Most do not understand the value of finding exactly where they are on a detailed topo map.
Map Tech's Terrain Navigator and National Geographic's TOPO
computerized maps are based on the Quads.
You need to be able to communicate the location of points on the map other
than by pointing to a spot. The easiest way to do this is by naming
coordinates on a grid (say, the intersection of Highway 20 and 27th Street). One
such grid is the Latitude and Longitude Grid used by Lewis and Clark, by sailors
and by pilots. Another is the Public Land Survey Grid providing metes and bounds
to identify ownership of plots of land. The Public Land Survey Grid is not
referenced by GPS receivers.
The most useful grid in modern land navigation is the Universal Transverse
Mercator Grid (UTM). The UTM Grid is imprinted (or can be user completed
with pencil and yardstick) on all USGS Quad Maps, enabling one to pinpoint and
communicate easily, a location accurately to a few yards. The GPS receiver will
give you your location in UTM Coordinates, of little use if you do not have a
map imprinted with the UTM Grid. Certain computerized map programs will display
and print the UTM grid.
More and more people are finding that buying a simple $99.00 computer program such as Map Tech's Terrain Navigator or National Geographic's TOPO is very helpful in planning adventures. Both computer programs contain all of the USGS Quad maps and other scaled topo maps for a particular State.
None of the available GPS receivers can be loaded with 1:24,000 Quad map data.
Garmin GPS Receivers must be loaded with their proprietary $99.00 Garmin Map Source program with 1:100,000 scale maps. (This program must be purchased in addition to the cost of the GPS.) These maps do not appear to have the actual detail of the USGS 1:100,000 series. You need paper topo maps to find your way in the backcountry!
The $99.00 box of National Geographic TOPO maps for the State of Oregon alone has 8 CD data disks containing all of the 1,900 1:24,000 Quad maps and related 1:100,000 topo maps. The $99.00 Garmin MapSource program for the ten western states is on one CD!
Most map-enabled GPS receivers can be loaded only with a small geographic area, say the Oregon Cascades, of a single State. High-end GPS models have an option to add a data chip (at extra cost) so that more of a state can be loaded, but most users only recreate in small areas that can be loaded on the regular map enabled GPS. (Motor home travelers may need more area but there are other options for them including a laptop computer plugged into the cigarette lighter.) Avid Geocachers use palm pilots and other mini portables.
In short, just use a Garmin eTrex H GPS and have a paper 1:24.000 topo map in your pocket. And a compass, of course!
Using the map, compass and GPS together
Wanna
play? Maps show you the way
A good map says one thing: Adventure
Keith Ridler
The Bulletin
2002
And judging by the number of maps for the area, Central Oregon offers plenty of just that.
But trying to pick out something like the "Top Five Maps of Central Oregon" is a
lot like trying to pick out the two best golf clubs in a 14-club set.
Like golf clubs, individual maps are created for specific purposes. It's tough to rank them in importance.
Still, not all maps are created equal. They come in different scales, some showing great masses of land with little detail and others showing tiny areas with great detail, including topography.
Some maps have the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid that is designed to be used today with small hand held receivers for the global positioning system (GPS). Some maps don't provide much backcountry detail but are invaluable as an introduction to the highlights of a given area.
"Maps are the foundation of navigation," says Bob Speik, a long-time mountaineer and local instructor in the use of maps. “You could get along without a compass but not without a map.”
For picking out some top maps for Central Oregon, it's best to start with the big picture, and then work down to more detailed maps.
Two map atlases tend to play a big role for local adventurers: the "Oregon Road & Recreation Atlas" and the "Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer." Both cost around $17 and offer roughly the same thing in an easy-to-use book format. The first shows maps in a 1:250,000 scale, and the second in a somewhat more detailed
1:150,000.
"What we're trying to do is make a detailed road map in which you can easily visualize where you are, where you're headed and what the lay of the land is," says Stuart Allan of Allan Cartography in Medford, which is putting out a
new edition of "Oregon Road & Recreation Atlas" in early May. "It's not super detailed; you don't take it hiking."
Going to a smaller scale are a pair of maps that can come in handy: the Deschutes and Ochoco national forest maps, $6 apiece, have a 1:126,720 scale.
These are not the maps to take if you're wondering far from your vehicle, but they do a good job of pointing out the area's highlights, such as campgrounds, trailheads and notable features.
"The Deschutes map really is, from my perspective, a map that gets you introduced to the area, and perhaps whets one's appetite on what might be out
there," says Bill Queen of the Deschutes National Forest, noting the map was updated in 2000. "But I wouldn't just take the Deschutes National Forest map with me as my sole source. It has a large variety of information on it, but it's
not a map that you want to pick up and travel cross country from point A to point B because it doesn't have any contour lines on it. But it's certainly the best overall map that shows a wide variety of recreation opportunities available on the forest."
The Deschutes National Forest has four ranger district maps … Bend, Fort Rock, Crescent and Sisters … that are incredibly detailed road map originally designed to be used by forest fire fighters to plot strategy.
These maps are available at the Bend/Fort Rock Ranger District office on Highway 97 in Red Oak Square in Bend or the Deschutes National Forest Supervisor's Office on Highway 20 near Pilot Butte in Bend for $3 apiece. Those maps increase to $4 on March 1.
The Ochoco National Forest has two Ranger District maps: Paulina/Big Summit and Prineville/Big Summit. Those maps are available at the Ochoco National Forest office at the east end of Prineville on Third Street
Because of their size, these ranger district maps are somewhat unwieldy and nearly impossible to open inside a vehicle.
"They show forest roads, old logging roads, rabbit trails, everything," says Jenn Fishback of Bend Mapping & Blueprinting, Inc. which sells the Ranger District maps as well as many other regional maps. "I have a lot of (trail) runners use them.”
The Bureau of Land Management, sometime this summer, is planning to come out with a map of the lower Deschutes and John Day rivers. That map will replace the now outdated and out of print Central Oregon Public Lands map.
"The land status has changed significantly over the last few years with land exchanges," said John Hanf of the BLM's Prineville District. "We had folks buying those maps and having problems because they were accessing what was shown as public land on the map which wasn't."
The BLM opted not to put out a map for the entire district this summer. What's not covered on the new map is already available in the Deschutes, Ochoco and Malheur national forest maps, Hanf noted.
Two companies put out detailed county maps for Central Oregon: Pittmon and Metzger. These maps … ranging from $3 to $5 … don't have contour lines but show roads in great detail, though recently built roads might not show up.
"There are so many changes in this area that they can't keep up," notes Fishback.
That's about it for maps to use while in your vehicle. If you're heading into the country on foot, you're going to want a map with contour lines and, if you plan on using a GPS, a map with the UTM Grid.
With a small GPS receiver and a topographic map with the UTM grid, you can pinpoint your location to within a few feet. A GPS unit will give you two numbers that can be found on the edges of the map. Where lines emanating from those two numbers intersect on the map is where you are.
“It’s as simple as finding the intersection of 20th and 27th”, says Speik.
One of the most popular backcountry maps for the region is the Three Sisters Wilderness map by Geo-Graphics. It has a 1:26,966 scale and the UTM grid marks, plus all the popular trails.
Geo-Graphics also makes detailed maps for most of the other wilderness areas in the state.
The next step is the United States Geological Survey topographic maps at 1:24,000 scale, often called "quad maps," which can make traveling in the backcountry not only safer but more fun by seeing all the detail of the surrounding area.
For comparison, the typical Oregon road map in the glove compartment is usually at a 1:500,000 scale. To fit Oregon on a 1:24,000 scale would take
about 1,900 maps the size of a state road map.
In fact, the entire conterminous 48 states, Hawaii and territories are covered by these USGS topographic 1:24,000 maps, numbering about 57,000 in all. For Alaska, maps on this scale are available for areas around Anchorage, Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay and at larger scales for the rest of the state.
Quad maps for the entire state are available at Bend Mapping & Blueprinting, Inc.
for $5 each. Quad maps for national forests in Oregon and Washington are available at the Deschutes National Forest Supervisor's Office at $4 apiece.
Maptech, a New Hampshire company, sells an interactive computer program using CD-ROMs containing these quad maps for the entire United States. The Pacific Northwest set of thirteen CDs for Washington and Oregon plus the 3 D program costs $149.95. Their Web site is www.maptech.com.
Maps can also be ordered directly from the U.S. Geological Survey, which also has plenty of other offerings, many free, including a handy topographic map symbols pamphlet. USGS customer service people can be contacted at 1-800-USA-MAPS, or at its Web site (www.usgs.gov).
A map isn't much good if you don't know how to use it. Speik's tutoring class, "Wilderness Navigation: Map, Compass and GPS," costs $30 per person for a three-hour session for groups of two to five people. Speik can be reached at
385-0445.
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This pdf form will need to be signed by you at the trail head
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