View the entire Metro Transit system in an interactive viewer. View and download PDF files of area system maps. See also this collection of downtown Seattle transit maps and, of course, Trip Planner. Census Viewer.
King County Parks: Restoration Sites. This interactive map photo tour shows all the sites on King County Parks lands that were planted with native trees and shrubs in King County ParkFinder. ParkFinder gives users quick and easy access to information about locations and facilities for the parks, natural areas, regional trails, and backcountry trails managed by King County Parks.
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. It contains the new trailhead and trail designations that honor conservationist Harvey Manning's legacy of protecting Cougar Mountain. The entire Backcountry Trails map series comprises 18 maps that are available for viewing and downloading from the Virtual Map Counter as both standard and geospatial PDFs.
Farmers Market Map. Use this interactive map on the Puget Sound Fresh website to find locations of, and information about, farmers markets in the Puget Sound area. You can filter by county and day of the week, and search by market name.
Eastern Upper Peninsula. Northwest Lower Michigan. Manistee National Forest. West Michigan. Southern Michigan. Eastern Ohio. Central New York. Both gifts and memberships count! Provide your contact information so we can keep you updated on new map developments. And to help keep these resources free, please consider supporting our work with a gift today. Full Interactive Map. Use the links below to download map sets directly onto your phone. Keep in mind the Halfmile app has not been updated since It does not include data on the reroute in the Sierra Buttes north of mile mileages will be off by 2.
Halfmile PCT maps have been updated for the hiking season and are available for download now. Pros: Powerful GPS navigation tool. Maps other than the PCT can be downloaded so you can navigate around large fire closures.
Supports waypoint navigation for difficult situations across miles of snow, for example. Cons: Learning curve, especially for hikers unfamiliar with GPS navigation. Pros: Easy downloading of trail data for offline use. Widely used by other PCT hikers. Useful information about town resources accommodations, resupply, post offices, etc. Waypoint comments by other hikers can be very useful. Cons: Gaia is more useful than Guthook in difficult navigation situations such as large areas of heavy snow or long reroutes around large fire closures.
Modern smartphones, in contrast, offer GPS accuracy of around 4. Tall buildings, canyons, and trees can interrupt satellite signals, slowing them down and reducing your device's accuracy.
Clouds and weather, however, shouldn't affect reception. To get the best signal with the satellites, it's best to carry your device outside your pack or in a light waterproof layer. We found that the highest performing — but unfortunately, also often the most expensive — models tend to achieve the best satellite reception.
Electronic compasses — as opposed to a mechanical, differential compass — also improve accuracy when on the move and are included in expensive units like the Montana , but surprisingly in more affordable units like the eTrex 32x.
Even without these additions, however, all of the Garmin units we tested provided quality reception. GPS units usually come with a very rudimentary basic base map that distinguishes roads but not much else.
As we mentioned above, you can buy a GPS unit preloaded with topo maps or buy them separately after the fact. You can also download maps and satellite imagery for free and transfer them to your unit.
The United States Geological Survey offers a wealth of free spatial data. Most states in the US also have a website that distributes spatial data. If you want the best maps, often for free, spend some time tinkering with this data. If you want more convenient, straightforward map access, you can get them for around a hundred bucks from your GPS manufacturer. You can also buy satellite imagery. Often this is unnecessary because you can plan your routes in Google Earth and then send files to your mapping software and device.
Satellite imagery is hard to see on most GPS units and is rarely necessary for the backcountry. Each GPS manufacture offers software designed to organize, analyze, and display the waypoints and tracks you collect with your GPS.
Garmin's Basecamp is our favorite. It's simple, intuitive, cross-platform, and provides everything a basic GPS user needs. For example, you can easily see waypoints or tracks in Google Earth. It is also an essential feature on really basic models like the eTrex 10 , which due to its lack of mapping capability, would otherwise be rendered useless. Do you want a compact version like an eTrex 32x , or are you willing to haul extra weight — like the Montana — for perks like a larger screen?
Is a big GPS screen more important because you would like to be able to quickly see information at a glance while driving? Or are you willing to squint for a more portable unit? Since all of the units in this review are handheld, none are huge — but there is definitely a difference in screen size and display quality between them. The Montana , with a 5-inch diagonal screen, offers the largest screen and also the highest quality resolution. Its smartphone-like touchscreen makes navigation easy, particularly in a car.
So then, buttons or touchscreen? Touchscreens respond faster than button units, but they also consume more battery life, can freeze up in cold conditions, and don't work well with thick gloves. Most touchscreen GPS units we tested are also years behind most smartphones.
Buttoned units work with thick gloves, their batteries last longer, and they are more reliable in extreme temperatures. But they're slower, and it takes longer to type in waypoints. It comes down to preference. Do you prefer a unit that feels modern and operates quickly? Or do you value reliability above all else? GPS units work by communicating with satellites orbiting the earth designed to read and triangulate signals sent from the unit.
In the United States, the Department of Defense manages the GPS network, a series of 33 satellites that transmit both positional and timing data. When a GPS unit contacts at least four satellites, it can pinpoint your position with a decent degree of accuracy, although terrain and conditions can affect this. The more satellites, the faster and more accurately you can identify your position. Satellites send signals to WAAS master stations on the ground.
This message is then relayed to compatible receivers like GPS units to provide a much more accurate location estimate. However, many of the other units we tested were able to achieve accuracy within 10 feet very quickly. We tested handheld GPS units. These units are very capable, able to mark waypoints, track your route, make notes, geocache, pull up altitude profiles, and often much more.
But they are also small enough to wear around your neck or stash in your backpack. But the more features you add to a portable GPS unit, the larger and heavier they become.
Handheld devices are popular for backcountry navigation, particularly because they are so portable. However, not all units are created equally regarding portability, so it is important to consider if you want to carry a GPS in your pocket or will most likely only take one of these devices when you are also carrying a backpack. The Montana is by far the largest and heaviest unit in our review but still weighs only 14 ounces and is only slightly bulkier than a modern smartphone.
The eTrex line falls at the other end of the spectrum — both the eTrex 10 and more capable eTrex 32x are small enough to fit into a pant's pocket. Just as a point of comparison, there are also a variety of GPS Watches that can log backcountry travel information. These are popular among trail runners, mountain guides, hikers, and backpackers. They are a great alternative to handheld units if you're looking to go light but have a much shorter battery life, a significantly smaller display, and may not offer the same capabilities as the handheld units featured here.
Most of the units featured in this review are surprisingly versatile; sporting functions well outside the realm of navigation, ranging from flashlight to calculator to texting.
We won't dive too deeply into each function of each model we tested but rather will discuss a few important ones. You don't need that many waypoints to get you through a trip, even a pretty long one. They're also very easy to save on a computer and then delete after you're back home.
If, however, you plan on holding on to waypoints from multiple trips, conducting involved science surveys, or embarking on a mapping mission — you might want to aim high. The eTrex Touch 35 offers the best capability in the smallest package. Geocaching is a relatively new outdoor activity, essentially using a GPS unit or GPS software for a scavenger hunt of sorts, looking for hidden treasures all over the world.
Most GPS units are set up for this somehow, and some of the ones we tested have preloaded geocaches so you can unpack and play. A huge draw for the geocaching crowd is that a modern GPS unit — with text display — allows them to go paperless.
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