Which Garmin map to purchase???

[The Harm]

So my buddy Snake and I took the Lawrence to Wamego route that I downloaded from Safari's sight. It was a blast!!! Wish I had the camera but the girlfriend needed it for a work function. Anyways I have not purchased any more maps for my 60CSx so following the route with the basic map is a slight bit of a challenge. I read through the posting about GPS stuff and found that Troy suggested buying the North American Topo maps. I've been unable to locate them in any store or on-line it seems that garmin has discontinued this item. So my question is what to do now?? Any suggestion? I was unable to find any other products from garmin that matched the Topo maps??

[ajayhawkfan]

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/topous.jsp That is the new Topo. I have some friends that have it and love it.

I use the old topo AND City Navigator NT http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapS ... ynavnt.jsp. The second is used for auto-routing. Topo does not auto-route.

I purchased a 2 gig chip and it holds all of City Nav and 30% Topos for the following states, MO, KS, WI, WV, ME, VT, NH, IL and parts of NE, CO, NM, MI, ND, SD, VA, MN.

[The Harm]

Thanks for the info, I ordered the maps last night!!! I'm stoked

[troy]

ajayhawkfan knows what he is talking about. He taught me quite a bit about the Mapsource software and the various map products. I was surprised to learn that the map products are more than just maps---they each expose unique features within MapSource. For example, as ajayhawkfan pointed out, the topo map products do not allow you to do auto-routing. That is, pick a point to point and have a route auto-built. The City Navigator map products do. Another cool feature he showed me with the City Navigator maps is that you can slide an indicator from highways to trails and it will try to auto-route you on the least maintained roads---pretty cool feature for us dualsport riders.

By the way, I still only have the topo maps, but I want the other maps to get these features.

[kcstrom]

Are the trails in the topo maps that aren't in CityNavigator useful for dual sport riders or are they mostly for hikers and such?

kcstrom

[troy]

Ajayhawkfan may be able to better answer this as he has experience with both maps. I only have TOPO. It is my understanding that the TOPO maps show trails (as you indicate) as well as more exact shore lines and details regarding state parks, etc. Most importantly, the TOPO maps show topography--go figure. So, if like safiri, you are good at reading and interpreting the topo lines, you can understand where the high and low areas are, how steep parts are, where the ridges are, etc. That can help you build an interesting route.

To directly answer your question, the topo maps do sometimes have ATV trails indicated on them--which can be of much interest to dualsport riders. However, in my experience, these trails are usually grossly inaccurate. The maps show trails that are not there and a lot of trails exist that are not shown on the topo maps. The topo maps also show a lot of roads that no longer exist or are now private.

Luc, the flying Frenchman from Manhattan (no longer in Manhattan), had a GPS unit, but did not have any maps other than the very limited built-in highway system map. He used free, third-party routing software to build routes (like I use Marengo) and then loaded the routes on his GPS. So while riding, he had his route, but no roads! This allowed him to easily navigate his turns, but on the downside, he did not have indications of cross roads and if his route did not work out, routing around was a guessing game--which can be fun, too!

..indications of cross-roads...by the way, this is an important side-affect of having a GPS unit on your handlebars. When flying down backroads gravel, you can see when cross-roads are coming up. I don't know about you, but I've scared myself plenty of times flying 60MPH through an unmarked dirt road intersection that I did not see until I was in it. With the GPS, I can "look ahead" and slow down appropriately.

You got options.

[ajayhawkfan]

Are the trails in the topo maps that aren't in CityNavigator useful for dual sport riders or are they mostly for hikers and such?

kcstrom

The trails are not very helpful for riding around here.

Both maps have plus' and minus'. I have both loaded on my GPS. When riding I normally have the TOPO showing because I want to detail Troy described. I like know what river and stream I am crossing, the name of the hill, etc. However CityN has it place as well. When I want to auto route from on way point to the next is very help full. You can chose between the quickest or direct. The quickest usually has you on black top. The direct gets you there the shortest way (you never what kind of road you will be on). The CityN also has many point of interest waypoints such as national monuments, towns, gas stations, restaurants, motels, etc.

When I am riding for waypoint to waypoint that are a long distance apart, I will use CityN to route the trip and then change maps to TOPO to see the detail while riding.

I hope that helps. If you have additional questions give me a call. I have sent you an PM with my phone number.

Eddie

[safiri]

When I am riding for waypoint to waypoint that are a long distance apart, I will use CityN to route the trip and then change maps to TOPO to see the detail while riding.
Eddie

So ... on the GPS, not using a computer, you can have CN build a route and then use that route within TOPO?

Or do you still need a computer along to run MapSource?

[ajayhawkfan]

When I am riding for waypoint to waypoint that are a long distance apart, I will use CityN to route the trip and then change maps to TOPO to see the detail while riding.
Eddie

So ... on the GPS, not using a computer, you can have CN build a route and then use that route within TOPO?

Or do you still need a computer along to run MapSource?

I do not need a computer. It is all on the GPSr.