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TopoZone and Google Maps


June Bug
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Not a destination, but online tools to suss out what might be waiting at your destination;  especially useful for contemplating bikepacking routes.    I'm using a place I'm interested in (Red Canyon in SE Utah) as an example.  

I stumbled across this awesome web site called TopoZone.com.  It has free access to USGS topographic maps and there is a print option as well.  You can zoom in for details (for example, what's the elevation of this contour line?) or pull back for the big picture. 

And yes, view on a full size monitor.  Cell phones and tablets wouldn't work well. 

One can order custom maps from TopoZone for a charge. 

Combined with Google maps 3d view, it's an excellent way to preview topography and get a better understanding of terrain and perhaps locate roads and trails. . 

This particular TopoZone link is to the South Fork Red Canyon, San Juan County, Utah, which has caught my attention for bike packing potential out to Lake Powell (water!) and back.

If you scroll down, this specific information is provided: 
elevation, coordinates, the USGS  topo map for this particular landform, links to nearby similar land forms (in this case valleys) and the related USGS topo map where that particular land form occurs. 

For example, the south fork of Red Canyon is found on the USGS Chocolate Drop topo map. 

It was fun spending an hour or two toggling back and forth between googlemaps 3D view and the topo map. 

I may be the last person to realize this, but Google maps will respond to queries for landform names if given enough info. I used "Red Canyon, San Juan County, Utah" as the address query.   The result showed one red marker ("Red Canyon") in the middle of Lake Powell, because the mouth of Red Canyon is now in the middle of the damn lake. The second red marker, North Fork Red Canyon, marks the confluence of the north and south forks of Red Canyon.  Then click on satellite view and zoom in.  

These areas in SE Utah have zip for vegetation, so what you see is what you get.  I don't know how well this would work for forested areas. 

Anyway, if you're thinking about going somewhere new and route planning, combining Google Maps 3d view and TopoZone are a great combination. 

 

 

Edited by June Bug
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