National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

These topo map programs are great to map out your routes and print your maps at home. I've used this program to map out tips for several years. It's easy to find trails, survery the area, see elevations, and search for features like campgrounds, established trails, and mountains. These are the same maps you get from local dealers and that the forest service uses but you have them on your own computer to use all the time. We have recently even started to use them to map walking distances for my wife in town as well as my trips. It's nice to know the terrain of a hike whether it's a hike to a secluded spot on the river with the dogs or a backpacking trip. They have been invaluable on trips along with our GPS. In case the GPS can't find satelites you should always have printed maps. They are easy to read. I always print mine on the waterproof adventure paper so they will stand up to our trips. That paper is thick, won't tear, and is waterproof. Depending on your printer the ink may bleed through the back of the adventure paper but that's only an issue if you print double sided. With our printer I can print on both sides so I have an overview map of the area on one side and a close-up view with details on the other. I highly recommend both the map program and the adventure paper.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

I have to laugh at some of the critical comments. I've used this product the past 7 or 8 years and it's always done what I expected it to do. These maps have NEVER been transferable to a GPS; Garmin and the other GPS sellers make their own proprietary maps for their units, and they're not as detailed as these NatGeo maps are. Want a bigger map? Get an 11x17 printer. Need to fit what you need on 8.5x11? Reduce the printing size.

I've never loaded maps into my GPS. I prefer to print a map form TOPO! with the UTM coordinates, then while in the field I read the UTM position on my GPS and locate it on the map for a nice, broad view -- way better than looking at a small screen. Since I like to keep my maps folded in my pocket I always print on the waterproof Adventure Paper (I can fit a lot on the 11x17 size printing on both sides).

Before printing I'll place waypoints, routes, labels, and sometimes even a trail profile -- all on the map I take with me. I can even print the UTM of each waypoint to match up with my GPS. After the trip I upload all the GPS tracks and waypoints to my mac and onto a TOPO! map that I can save as a file for future reference.

This software has saved my butt on several occasions. As an outings leader with the Sierra Club I consider this software an absolute essential. It's not perfect (i.e., inability to print waypoint list). But anyone who says it's a "complete ripoff" is just looking for attention.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

Although National Geographic and REI claim that this software is "compatible" with GPSs such as Garmin, you need to read the fine print. You can't download the maps to your GPS! AFTER your trip, you can download waypoints and overlay them on the maps. In other words, if you don't make it back alive because you got lost because you couldn't read the map on your GPS, then your heirs can download your last steps before your demise and view them on a lovely 3-D map on your home computer.

This is a complete ripoff.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

This is good if you want to have one product that serves as a map for all of california, including urban areas. It is detailed and functional. There are two problems. 1) Besides heading to Kinkos, you can only print maps that are 8x11. You end up with a lot of sheets of paper. 2) You only carry with you what you print. This seems obvious, but when improvising on trail it leaves you limited. After buying this software I still find myself gravitating towards old fashion maps and books for an entire park.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

Those user reviews who lament that this software does not upload maps to their GPS have not read REI's specs. The specs state:

"•Transfer your custom waypoint and route information directly to or from most handheld GPS units"

The specs say NOTHING about uploading TOPO! maps to your GPS.

I believe the only software that is capable of uploading maps to your GARMIN GPS is Garmin maps/charts software--get ready to layout more bucks to Garmin.

The TOPO! software capability of uploading waypoints and routes to your GPS is an extremely useful capability. It is worth the cost of the software. All wpts/route info can be saved for use at other times.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

Full of bugs.
Data transfer:
Both the GPS upload and download buttons take you to a download only page.
Find:
If you want to "find" a place by name go to "edit". If you want to find the same place by coordinate go to "view". Defies common sense.
The Find window highlights the wrong (dead) buttons (FIND is highlighted instead of GO).
The "Find within X miles of anchor" does not work.
Print:
Unable to print waypoint list (this is a very basic flaw that Topo addresses by telling you to take a screenshot!). Incompatible with X printer list is vast.
Finally, customer support is only by email and the emails are computer generated responses that rarely if ever understand your issue.
With so many other great mapping solutions out there, I wouldn't consider Topo for the Mac.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

The latest update now plays very nicely with Macs and GPSes. Could be a bit more intuitive, but after spending 5 minutes with the manual, it's very easy to use.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

This program works as it is advertised. I use it with a Garmin Maps62st on a Mac and haven't had any issues so far and works great!
If you are expecting to load the maps into your GPS, then you haven't read the product description carefully. Nowhere does it say you can do that! Companies that make GPS units make it so that you can't just load maps into their units so that you will have to buy their map software. That's one of the reasons I like this program so much. You get more detailed maps than what I got with my GPS for less money and I can print them on adventure paper to get waterproof maps I can use out in the wilderness with a compass and the GPS. I personally never rely only on the GPS to navigate mainly because the screen on the GPS is small and I fear the batteries might die or it might get broken and then I could end up lost. When I get home, I can download my tracks or waypoints from my GPS and see where I've gone on a computer screen with much more detail than the screen on the GPS.
I also use it to plan trips and upload waypoints and descriptions onto the GPS on routes I'm not familiar with. I recently started to use it to see the distances and elevation changes I've gone through while cycling.
Overall, I have to say that this was one of my favorite and most used thing I have bought for my outdoor adventures, aside from my hiking boots and trekking poles.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

I have had this software for a couple of years now and use it with every outing. Search function works pretty good. Printing options are really nice. You have the option to add titles, notes, photos notes, elevation profile, etc. Uses USGS topos, most of the information is pretty good.

The software does get a little choppy on my laptop, which is older (HP dv9000). On my main computer, there are no problems.

One thing that get a little annoying is having 9 cds for different regions. I wish they would have used a dvdrom or somehow figured a way to have better compression.

The 3D fly over is alright. It works but I prefer to use this in conjunction with Google Earth which has much better 3D profiling.

Having the map be 8.5x11 is not that big of an issue. If needed, I just bring more than one page. Dealing with a smaller map is actually pretty convenient. If having a large map is a big issue then you can always order custom maps by mail through the software.

Having the waterproof paper is nice but I have also used back/white laserjet prints for days hikes.

Comments about National Geographic TOPO! Outdoor Recreation Mapping Software - California:

I have been using Topo back when it was a Wildflower Productions product in the early 90's.

I use it primarily for:
-creating geotiff raster maps for shareware GPS mapping applications
-documenting my travels (used to be hiking/backpacking, but now that I have kids and more money, Jeeping, dry carcamping, and rock art hunting)
-sharing travel instructions and highlights with my friends and family members who wish to follow a similar route

This is a GREAT product if you can get a boxed set of XportPro (now discontinued) to go with it to export GeoTiff maps for use in other GPS mapping programs, such as OziExplorer. This in turn can let you create maps for WinCE GPS devices running NoniGPSPlot. NatGeoMaps used to be able to unlock this functionality by calling customer service, but they have recently quietly killed off their entire TopoPro line of products (including for ArcGIS).

Admittedly, geotiff, mrsid, and other georeferenced raster maps can be downloaded for free from most states, but it will take quite a while to do so and you will miss out on the ability to annotate your maps with pictures and comments as most shareware programs do not have this functionality.

Similar mapping functionality can be had from Google Earth, but this forces you to rely on "cloud computing" which isn't practical in the field when Internet access isn't available.

Sharing annotated maps is much easier using Google Earth, but once again, you need to feel comfortable keeping your data on a remote server (Google Map data is only secured by obscurity and is publically viewable by anyone who has the right URL).

Since my entire family is running Topo, it is no big deal to share .tpo files instead. I also have the confidence of knowing that this data will be available to them on their laptop regardless of where they are traveling.

If I didn't have the ability to pull out GeoTiff from the State Series, I'd give this product a 3 star rating.