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Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails

Current Version: 0.15

Released October 10, 2008 (revision history)

Download Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails for PC (340 KB)

Download Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails for Mac (114 KB)

Click here to download these trails in GPX format (233 KB)

NOTE: This data is also included in Northwest Trails, which contains snowmobile as well as hiking and other trail types for Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, British Columbia, and Alaska.

What is Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails?

Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails is a mapset of trails designed for upload to any map-enabled Garmin GPS receiver. It is more than just a mapset, though; it is also a community effort initiated to record and collect GPS data for the snowmobiles in the Priest Lake area and provide that data for general public use.

Background

My GPS usage started out in 1995 as a means to map mountain bike trails in my area. Over time I collected a large quantity of track data recording various paths and routes.

Tracks are very helpful when it comes to navigating a route, but the biggest problem with with them is that no GPS can accommodate more than a few at a time. If you are using them for snowmobiling you need to know beforehand what route you want to take and, if you are talking about even a modestly sized network of trails, you have to decide which trails to cull in order for things to fit into your receiver. That's when I started thinking about custom maps for my receiver.

With custom maps like Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails, there is no longer a need to limit the number of trails loaded on the GPS (the maps use only a portion of map memory rather than a limited number of dedicated slots like tracks do). I set out making these maps for my own use and before too long realized that a lot of other people could probably use them, too. That's why I started this web page.

Features

Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails is made to be "transparent", which means that when loaded with other Mapsource products (or the GPSr base map) the trails appear as data laid over the top of the other maps. Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails can also be loaded directly to the GPSr on its own. Custom type definitions are used to help distinguish trail types and make them easy to see on the GPS screen when bouncing along on a snowmobile. These custom types include:

Groomed trails: wide bright green lines with darker green borders
Ungroomed trails: wide medium green lines with lighter green borders
Trail of unknown maintenance status: wide dark green lines with lighter green borders
Minor ungroomed trails: thin dark green dashed lines
Groomed trails that permit no off trail riding: wide bright green boxed lines
Ungroomed trails that permit no off trail riding: wide dark green boxed lines
Ungroomed trails that permit no off trail riding and are closed March 15 - June 30: wide black boxed lines
Routes that are closed to motorized winter use: wide black lines with green borders

Coverage

The mapset currently covers all of the trails within the Priest Lake Ranger District along with the connector trails between Priest Lake and Schweitzer.

Screenshots

Below are a few example screenshots of the maps on a Garmin Colorado 400t. The first image shows the Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails layered on top of City Navigator 2008 with the DEM of Topo 2008 showing through with shaded relief. The second shot shows the mapset layered on top of Topo 2008. The third screenshot shows the mapset as it appears in the Colorado's "Automotive" view layered on top of Topo 2008.

Here is a view of what the Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails look like from within MapSource. Note that the trails will not appear until you zoom in to the 2 mile zoom level or below. (This is when the MapSource map detail setting is at its default of "Medium"; setting the map detail level higher or lower will change the zoom level at which the trails appear.)

Installation

The installation of Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails is straightforward. It can be utilized from within Garmin's MapSource software (on PCs) or uploaded directly to your GPS unit (using freely available utilities).

DISCLAIMER:

The accuracy of the data used to create these maps varies greatly. These maps are to be used for reference purposes only. The author(s) are not responsible for any inaccuracies and no responsibility is assumed for damages or other liabilities due to the accuracy, availability, use or misuse of the data presented. Installation and use of these maps is at your own risk!

Download

For use from within Garmin's MapSource (on PCs), download the zip file below, unzip it, and then execute the mapset installer. This program will install the map files and register the mapset with MapSource. Within MapSource a new mapset product entitled "Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails" will be available in the Product drop down selection list (or from the View | Switch to Product menu option).

For use with Garmin's RoadTrip (on Macs), 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.

GPS Usage

The Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails mapset should overlay any other mapset present on your GPS unit. . It is important to note that when you upload maps to your receiver, the existing mapset on the unit will be deleted. This means that if you want Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails to overlay City Navigator maps, for example, you will need to upload the chosen City Navigator maps along with Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails all at once. To switch between mapsets (if more than one has been loaded to your GPS) simply toggle the hide/show settings for the desired mapsets on your receiver.

Support this Effort

If you find Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails useful and would like to see more data added, or new mapsets created, please consider supporting this effort in one (or more) of the following ways:

Feedback & Referrals

All feedback (comments, corrections, questions, etc.) is welcome and encouraged. Please direct all feedback to the email address shown at the top of this page. I try my best to reply to every email I receive but it is not always possible. I do read every email and appreciate the feedback.

If you like this mapset please let others know about it. More people using and supporting this effort means more additions and corrections are possible.

Data Contribution

The core of all of these mapsets is data. The real heart of that data is tracks recorded out in the field with GPS. Since data of this accuracy is hard to come by from government and other agencies, and I cannot possibly get out there and snowmobile all of the trails (although I'd like ot try!), that's where you come in! Any track data you can supply is needed and most appreciated, and will be integrated into the Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails mapset for everyone to use.

If you would like to collect and submit your track data to the project, please follow these pointers so that your effort can be as useful as possible:

Before you start recording track data, access the Setup menu for your GPS receiver and adjust the recording frequency and quality set of your track recording to the best available. On my unit I generally set the recording method to "Auto" and the recording interval to "Most Often".
Turn on the GPS receiver and allow it to have a clear view of the sky for at least 15 minutes before you begin recording. This allows the unit to connect with as many satellites as possible, which increases accuracy and helps it to maintain satellite lock.
Hold or place the receiver in a location where it can best receive satellite signals as you travel. Be aware of where the antenna is located and the best orientation of the GPSr for signal strength. Patch antennas like those on the eTrex models work best when oriented horizontally, while quad helix antennas like those on the 60 series receivers tend to work best when pointed straight up.
Avoid saving the track to the unit's internal memory before downloading. That reduces the number of points in the data and subsequently reduces the precision of the track.
Send me the track log with the name of the trail(s) recorded and information on the type of trail (e.g. paved trail, dirt trail, unpaved road, etc.). GPX is the preferred format, but I can convert most formats.
Also send along any waypoints along the route like trailheads, attractions, or summits.

Since it will be a while until we record all of the trails in the Northwest, it is useful to include other sources of trail data to help fill in the holes in the meantime. Thus, any information, links, etc. to any detailed trail maps or GIS datasets would be greatly appreciated. In order to use such data in the Northwest Trails project, the data should be:

Publicly available and free to use
Easy to obtain
Accurate and fully classified (for example, trails should have names and surface attributes, etc.)

Monetary Contribution

This mapset is free to download and use but if you find these maps useful please consider making a donation to help offset the costs incurred in producing and offering them (software licenses, website hosting, etc.).

References

Data Sources

In addition to GPS tracks recorded over the years, the datasets utilized for creating Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails include the following sources:

USDA Forest Service
http://www.fs.fed.us/
Provided GIS data for snowmobile trails in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.

Software

Several software applications are used in the production of Priest Lake Snowmobile Trails. ArcGIS is used to merge and cull datasets and edit fields. GlobalMapper is used for the majority of data manipulation and for digitizing of paper maps. cGPSmapper is the primary tool for compiling the data into a Garmin map file.