Well, I'll just add that I think having the maps available on the computer (in BaseCamp, for me) is highly useful. I get as much value out of that as I do out of having them on the GPS receiver.

That and, since I haven't said it lately, thanks Jon for continuing to make these maps available - including for us Mac people!

Howdy.... I'm new to forum (and mapping gps).   I found this hunting for maps to install and simply moved on when I read this:     "download the .tgz file from the link at the top of this page, unarchive it into the resulting .tar file, then unpack that to a .gmapi file. This file can then be installed into RoadTrip with MapManager and onto the GPS receiver with MapInstall.". 

3 extensions i dont know, and 3 programs that I don't want to install on my computer.  After some thought, I decided to ask if this was a available, or could be made available for people like me who would enjoy these maps... But don't want the mess. (or doesnt need all those states) How bout this?

Garmin Washington state trails 1.71 download:    .Kmz    Or   .img

By state, the files should be tiny. No compression needed.  Just download, drag, drop, enjoy.

You're quoting the Mac instructions, so can I assume you're on a Mac? If so, I'm not sure if Jon can help you, so I'll offer some thoughts.

This isn't as hard as it sounds. You don't need to know anything about the file extensions. However, you DO need to have MapManager and MapInstall installed on your Mac. These are Garmin programs and are required in order to install maps on a Garmin GPS receiver. So get them: http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-06 (one download for both items).

Once you have those installed, the process is really this easy:

- Click the link for the mapset you want and save it on your computer.
- Double-click the downloaded .tgz file; this will unpack it to a single .gmapi file.
- Double-click that. MapManager will prompt you to confirm that you want to install this mapset on your computer (for use, for instance, in BaseCamp, and necessary for installation to the GPS receiver). Confirm by clicking "Install." When that completes, click Quit. You can now delete the .tgz and .gmapi files.
- Connect your GPS receiver. It should show up in the Finder.
- Open MapInstall. When it detects your receiver, select the mapset you want to install from the popup; then select as much or as little of the geographic coverage as you want to install on your receiver; and let 'er rip.

I'm not sure how Jon could make it any easier, and having to download (and then install) separate mapsets for each state would be a real pain and waste of time, when it is trivially easy to pick your geographic region from within MapInstall.

Also, if I have NW Topos loaded on my GPS, is it possible to turn off the topos but leave the NW Trails on? I do this from time to time with Washington 24K topo in order to accelerate screen redraws and also sometimes with all the topo lines on there it can be hard to see the roads/trails. In other words, you say the two are "integrated" but is it still possible to separate them?

Yes, they are treated as completely separate mapsets (they are, as they have different internal IDs) and so they can be turned on or off separately from one another.

Yes - but to clarify, you need both NW Trails and NW Topos installed if you want to turn off the topos and still have the trails show up. (That also gets you trails for areas not yet covered by the topos.)

Oh yeah, and Northwest Topos contains all of the trails collected and integrated from Northwest Trails!

There are a bunch of other things that I have put into trying to make Northwest Topos as good as it can be, and I hope the results will speak for themselves.

Definitely - head and shoulders above anything else out there, and still free. Can't say it enough: Thanks Jon!

Thanks Jon!

Fixed in Basecamp 3.0.1!

Interesting topic. I AM a lawyer, and there's no way I could sort this out (not an intellectual property lawyer though it's an area of personal interest). I've certainly often wondered about the IP aspects of this project.

I have to question Fox's assertion or assumption that any of us submitters of data have any legal IP interest in the data we submit. Is a list of geo-referenced dots that our little handheld device creates as we walk a "work" under copyright law? Any more than if we had dropped physical breadcrumbs and called it a "work"? I don't know, but I think there are good reasons for saying it's not.

Then there's the question of whether we retain any such exclusive interest when we voluntarily choose to upload that data for use in a project we know we have no control over. I've always assumed that Jon could choose to license the data, and those of us who submitted data would have an uphill battle asserting that we didn't implicitly waive any exclusive interest in the data. My view is that we DO waive that interest - I certainly intend to, or else I wouldn't send it in!

Maybe Jon should make that explicit with a simple waiver on the submission form. Some might balk at that in the absence of some assurance that the data will never be used "commercially". Again, not me, and I doubt most of us would have any problem with that. I collect data on walks I'm going to take anyway. I can't sell the data myself, and heck, most of my data is probably of mediocre quality anyway, until Jon cleans it up. The real value in this project is not the individual tracks - you can get those at a site like RedTrails (ick). The value is the compilation. Jon alone adds that value, spending what must be countless hours of work to produce something I WOULD pay for - motivated by nothing more than his passion for the project. If Jon got paid for it, I'd say "good for him."

The bottom line is, I sure do hope things never get complicated on this front. What a shame it would be for the project to disappear over what really is a trivial legal issue (your or my interest in the little files we send Jon).

Jon mentioned in another thread that Basecamp doesn't play nice with NW Trails (or other maps with transparent elements), and to try NW Topos in Basecamp instead. I'm trying, but can't seem to get Basecamp to see NW Topos. I use MapInstall to install NW Topos, and that gets it to show up find in RoadTrip, but not in Basecamp. Any other Mac people have any luck with this?

Yeah, good call on the potential Mac issue. Every Mac/Garmin user should take a look at this helpful tip for eliminating Mac OS X's annoying trash "feature" for removable media (which includes modern Garmin GPSr's AND any removable media you put in them):

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Computer+Transfer - FAQ Item D10 - You only have to do this once per device.

The Ken Blais discussed in this article is the listed owner of that apparently defunct or incorrectly-located museum/heliport. Kind of interesting:

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900516&slug=1072092

Sure - I'm no longer into the coin-collecting thing, but I'd be happy to help spread the word and support this effort. I'd probably snag a few.

Jeff

3. Walker Valley ORV Area (near Mount Vernon, WA)
    I pulled the roads for this area from TIGER data combined with aerial imagery, so they should be relatively accurate.  However, the trails don't show up in TIGER or in the aerials, so most of those had to come from DNR maps.  The DNR maps are notoriously inaccurate/low-res.

Ah jeez. I've been thinking about getting a dirt bike again, mainly to ride on some family property on Badger Mountain. Now I can justify the cost (to myself, if not my wife) as a necessary sacrifice for the NW Trails project. But, if I remember correctly, there are some trails in Walker Valley that I might have trouble mapping. (Think "stubs" of track where I fall off the trail...)