US Topo and USGS Store, free digital topo maps

[Bogo]

The USGS Store has freely downloadable topo maps. The newest maps, 2012 and newer, have GeoPDF georeferencing data. There is an ongoing project to add georeferencing data to all US topo maps and somewhere on the web I ran across the timeline for the project. Basically they are doing them state by state and will all be updated to have georeferencing data by the end of 2014. It took me a bit to figure out their store so I gave a brief description of how to use it. Also when downloading it doesn't always send you all you requested so check off what you got against what you wanted.

US Topo has some overview of the US Topo series. Link to store: The USGS Store - One stop shop for all your maps, world, United States, state, wall decor, historic, planetary, topographic, trail, hiking, foreign, satellite, digital The maps are downloadable in digital form for free. The US Topo series, dates 2012 and newer, should all have georeferencing data. With the right viewer they should be viewable just like a GeoTIFF. Sadly there isn't a viewer for Android yet. There is one for iOS. It is still possible to view them on your Android, just use Adobe's Acrobat PDF viewer. It has worked fine for every one I've tried so far. The thing is you don't have the GPS pinpointing your exact spot on the map. That's minor.

On using the store. It is cumbersome. You first have to put flag pins on the map. Then you click on the flag pin and it pops up a selector listing all the maps that cover the flag pin's spot. From that you can select the maps you want to download.

Now for downloading them. There is a blue pill shaped button (View Download List) to take you to the download page. Click on it. It will bring you to a list of all the ones you selected. Looks to be in the order you selected them. Scroll down to you see the button for download and click on it. Your computer will eventually give you a file save dialog, save the zip file to somewhere you can find it. I'd recommend it's own directory/folder as you will need to unzip the file to verify you downloaded all of the ones you wanted. Don't clear the download list yet. It will take awhile if you selected allot of files, but check back often. I've noticed it will sometimes stop before all files have been downloaded so don't clear the download list yet. Unzip what was downloaded, and see if you got all the requested topo maps. On the download list, check off for removal the ones you got on the download list and remove them. If any are left, click on download again, lather, rinse, repeat.... One thing I did find out is if I do anything with the store the download finishes after the current file so I just let the store's download page sit until downloading has stopped. Often I've been able to get at least 10 files downloaded in one shot, and managed a high of 22 one time.

 

[re_guderian]

Having to use acrobat on Android isn't "minor", it's a showstopper.

 

[sdnative]

Thanks for the heads up. I downloaded a bunch of these a few years ago, but now am going back and getting all the updated ones for my area.

 

[Bogo]

They may display properly under other PDF viewers. On Android I haven't tried others yet. Under Ubuntu xpdf segfaults on them, but I think that is because they changed the UI code and never tested it against it as xpdf is not in their core set of utilities.

I've been grabbing the Yellowstone NP & Grand Teton NP area, and will go and grab the Big Horns, Black Hills, and Glacier NP areas after that. Disk usage is adding up.

 

[sdnative]

Cumbersome is an understatement. Why can't it be as easy as "download all the 24k maps in this region"?

 

[Bogo]

I know... I'm not sure how to setup a multi-grab other than if you set a series, or by newest. Not all series are complete.

Sofar I've grabbed all of western WY from a couple tiles east of Cody west to the border. There are a few that aren't updated in the set, but they are easy to spot. The middle ones in these part lists are the old ones.

WY_Trail_Lake_20120607_TM_geo.pdf
WY_Triple Peak_341750_1980_24000_geo.pdf
WY_Tripod_Peak_20120702_TM_geo.pdf

WY_Woodruff_Narrows_20120702_TM_geo.pdf
WY_Wyoming Peak_341988_1980_24000_geo.pdf
WY_Yellow_Mountain_20120612_TM_geo.pdf

I'll put fifty or so in the download list, and slowly work my way through it. Often it only does 8 to 10 per download, other times the whole list will get done in one download. The only real thing I see governing how many get transfered is if the transfer rate gets slowed down, it is likely to get stopped. That leads me to wonder if they boot the oldest transfers at the end of the current file when they get overloaded.

 

[Bogo]

Completion status list: About the US Topo
Ignore the US map graphic and go to the list further down. Most states are finished for having georeferencing data added. Looks like the after 2010 work is adding additional layers to the maps.

 

[Spook50]

Are there certain nav apps that work better than others with these? I'd love to have good topographic maps that I can use with an iPad or other tablet.

Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

 

[RobRed]

Are there certain nav apps that work better than others with these? I'd love to have good topographic maps that I can use with an iPad or other tablet.

Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

Pdfmaps from avenza. Available in the app store.

Sent from my iPad 2 using IH8MUD

 

[Bogo]

I don't know of any app for Android that integrates map viewing with the GPS for locating oneself on the map. Avenza is supposed to be working on one for release later this year.

 

[Spook50]

Whichever platform (iOS or Android) has better support for these, I think that'll be what sells me for either a newer iPad or an Android based tablet. Everything else I want to do, both platforms have good apps for. But this would be a great thing to have.

 

[sdnative]

How do you plan to use these? Just view them on your iPad with gps? Or part of a larger vehicle based navigation setup? Just curious.

I plan on using a laptop or iPad in my truck and would like to integrate these maps into my setup, including APRS tracking and messaging. Do you know of any good apps for this?

Also, I notice the new maps have a lot of non-topographic details missing like dirt roads and structures. And there are subtle differences in the shape of the contour lines. I do like the vector graphics and the ortoimagery though.

 

[Bogo]

My understanding is the topos are a work in progress and started out with the LIDAR data. The contour lines should be much more accurate than any previous maps. Missing layers are scheduled to be added.

My use is reference for photography, trip planning, and general reference.

 

[Spook50]

How do you plan to use these? Just view them on your iPad with gps? Or part of a larger vehicle based navigation setup? Just curious.

i'd love to do a whole iPad based media/nav system, and with good topo maps be able to have an app that would overlay a breadcrumb-like trail of the paths/roads I travel so that I could map the old defunct logging roads that I like to wheel in the Cascades.

 

[RobRed]

i'd love to do a whole iPad based media/nav system, and with good topo maps be able to have an app that would overlay a breadcrumb-like trail of the paths/roads I travel so that I could map the old defunct logging roads that I like to wheel in the Cascades.

Get your wallet out. I'm already doing it so join the club!

 

[Spook50]

Get your wallet out. I'm already doing it so join the club!

We've already got the iPad (though I'd like to upgrade to a 64gb with 3G) so I've got a good start there. Though I would very much like a tablet that has expansion slots for SD/MicroSD cards.

It looks like the most expensive single purchase for getting it set up will be the DAC for sending its audio to the deck. Someone pointed me toward one that looks pretty well rated and will charge the iPad during use as well, which is a big plus.

Though the biggest reason I'm wanting a tablet at all is for good, customizable navigation.

Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

 

[lovetoski]

Though the biggest reason I'm wanting a tablet at all is for good, customizable navigation.

Overland Navigator is simple yet seems to cover all the normal needs for b/c travel. Craig (the developer) is creating an iPAD version, release date not set. It will be a free upgrade to the current windows version. I bought the windows version so I can start using it, but will switch to iPAD setup as soon as he releases it.