Garmin Colorado/Utah topo maps

Does anyone know if the Garmin Colorado/Utah topo maps have OHV trails/single track on them? Do they have a way to distinguish between the motorcycle single track and hiking trails where we are not allowed?

2nd question - anyone know if I buy the micro sd card maps they sell at REI if I can also use those on my computer? Thanks!

Rick

I bought my topos about 8 years ago. They do not distinguish between types of trails. Trails are shown as a single dotted line and called "trail" when you point to one. There may be newer better maps. Also at least for New Mexico the maps are based on very old data. Many trails and roads shown have all but disappeared. If you are planning to ride in a national forest, it would be a good idea to get the latest forest service maps for an area. They do tend to show such restrictions. Also there are special trail maps available for many popular riding areas such as Salida CO, Crested Butte CO, Moab, etc. These are the best to have. I usually buy them locally after looking at them. But I imagine they are available online.

Are you talking about topos to load on your gps? If so, ramz showed me his abovethetimber maps on his 60csx last summer, vastly superior to the garmin topo I was using.

http://www.abovethetimber.com/ColoGPS.htm

I've got the topo 2008 and it shows really very little. Im still figuring it out, but so far Im fairly unimpressed. Its kinda hard to distinguish between roads and topo lines unless you know exactly what your looking for. My best results have been from loading other gpx tracks.

Like I said though, Im still figuring it out.

Has anybody been running the new Topo Southwest 24k? It looks very interesting. Also, is anybody running MapSource on a Mac yet? Some map sets say they are Mac compatible, but will Mapsource run on OS X yet?

I should have clarified ... garmin sells both a 100k and 24k topo map. Do you know which one you are using Sub?

I don't own any of Garmin's 1:24000 data, nor any from Above the Timber, so no comment.

I have an older edition of Garmin's 1:100,000 topo data. The contour data is almost worthless, but the back roads are decent. Anything smaller than a 4x4 trail is unlikely to be shown.

Honestly, for back road data, the best that Garmin had is their discontinued US Roads & Recreation set.

The free data from the miscjunk site (for Garmin receivers only) has vastly superior contour and land management data (compared to the Garmin products I have), but I find their road data to be inferior... at least for the Front Range and the regions around South Park. I haven't really used it much beyond those areas... so who knows. They're using public data sources and there is great disparity in the detail and accuracy between the datasets available across regions.

I am the mapping instructor for COHVCO’S TIGeR Teams.
Last year I was all over the state giving classes on how to get your trails into the Forest Service’s data base. The TIGeR Teams have spent a lot of time determining the best equipment, easiest to use, affordable and available at this time.
We use Garmin MAPCSX76 MapSource with all 3 programs available –Garmins Topo, Above the Timbers and Colorado Topo. They are all helpful; but the best maps you can’t load on you GPS they are 7 ½ quads we use in GlobalMapper with the Forest Service data and satellite images.
You can create and check you data in GlobalMapper and then transfer it into MapSoruce.
Then it can be loaded into your gps.
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Sorry the Maps you want aren’t available at this time.
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This summer I’m doing trail mapping in The San Juan’s,--I’m still looking for more help
If anyone’s interested see Looking for a few Good men
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http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=408191
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Arvada Cycle
7335 w 33 rd Ave
Wheat Ridge Co. 80033
303-422-3957
George@arvadacycle.com
TIGeR Team Mapping Instructor
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+1 I downloaded all the free topo sets off this site for my etrex venture cx and really like it, but carry maps... I have used mostly in Utah and Wyoming. I use a Garmin Colorado 400t for work alot and it has topo preloaded with shaded releif and good road and trail system but still almost prefer my etrex because it smaller and lighter.

No, the cards only work in the GPS itself. That's why I passed on them since I like to plan the trip on the computer.

Somebody else asked about the new US 24K Southwest DVD. It does allow viewing on the computer & covers 4 states instead of one. I recently bought it.

I'm not blown away by the detail of the trails so far, but it's a small improvement over Topo 2008. As a test, I pulled up the area around Sprucewood near Rampart Range. You're probably all familiar with this area.

You can see how the trail behind it is shown & called "Trail". I don't even see the trails across the street from it...it's probably the larger dotted line, but that's labeled "dirt road".

I would never buy maps on SD because they are not updateable, get the CD/DVD.

Go to the Garmin Site and they will tell you how to convert your maps to use on Mac. Lots of good info in the GPS section..

I'm glad that I haven't dropped $100 on Garmin Topo yet.

Is the 24000 worth it or should I just get the Above the timber map?

Looks like above the timber soon, I'll still use the topo 2002 for now (free for me)...

+1 I have been impressed - I have SW Utah to Summit County loaded on the 60csx and its accurate and FREE check it out and drop a donation if you like

miscjunk.org

My etrex came with the 100k