Maps

[meastwood]

I'm interested in getting a map book for washington state to assist with finding areas to hunt in.  I'm interested in either the "Washington Atlas and Gazetteer" by Delorme or the "Road and Recreation Atlas" from Benchmark.  Does anyone have any input on these?

[MIKEXRAY]

I have used a Wash atlas & gaz for years and it is a great book in my opinion.  I use it for hunting, fishing new lakes, camping in a new area, snowmobiling etc.  I like the detail and it has a lot of great info.  If I'm going to a new lake it shows you where the boat launches are , campgrounds etc.  I use mine so much I have to get a new one about every five years, I end up taking pages out for a last minute snowmobile ride or hike in new area. No experience with the other book, this one is well worth the money. Mike

[Curly]

The Gazetteer is great!  I've been using OR and WA ones for over 20 years.

[Kazekurt]

Gazetteer is good.  I'd also recommend buying a map program for a GPS.  There are some great ones out there that show land owner names(for getting permission) and all public land.  This is extremely helpful as many state parcels aren't well marked or are funny shapped with no clear boundary designations(like fences) to show you were ownership changes.  DNR quadrangle maps are also great but you'ld have to buy a lot of them to get the whole state.

[Curly]

My brother would always take his Gazatteer and use a highlighter to mark the GMU boundaries on the map.  Great tool if you are going scouting a certain GMU. 

[3nails]

I am a huge fan of Green Trails maps and Google Earth.

[Simcoe hunter]

Google Earth.  Rino 530 hcx with map software.  Gazeteer.  But I used to get by with a compass, map and a grid tool back iin the day.

[uplandhunter870]

i like the gazetteer by delorme, lots of good info and covers the entire state. if i need a better map of an area i will typically pick up a 7.5' topo by the usgs.  also consult google earth quite a bit i also have the 100k topo software from nat geo for the garmin handhelds works ok on older hand sets like mine but i think it works great on the newer handsets like my dads garmin oregon

[Simcoe hunter]

Hey 870.  How do you load a map from Nat Geo to a Garmin GPS?  Say a Rino 530 hcx model.  Does Nat Geo give you that option when you are downloading the map?

[MLHSN]

Unfortunately, you can't upload maps from National Geographic Topo to Garmins but you can with the magellan Tritons.  You can, however, load waypoints, etc to the garmin from NG TOPO.

I usually use a combination of maps, I have both the Gazateer's mentioned.  I prefer the Delorme.  But I only use that for big picture.  I use National Geographic TOPO for the 100k and 24k maps.  I also use the Green Trails maps because the trails are more up to date and the mileage is marked as well as the trail number and road numbers are marked.  I also have a number of old out of print maps that I use to check out old high route trails that are out of print.  If you want to find some remnants of old trails to hike while scouting I would suggest checking out Rocks and Routes.  Last but not least, I use flashearth.com for good satellite photos of the areas.

Here's a link to the Rocks and Routes PDF.
http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/pacnw/pdf/routes_rocks_nomaps.pdf